Glass of the Roman World

Front Cover
Justine Bayley, Ian Freestone, Caroline Jackson
Oxbow Books, Jul 31, 2015 - Social Science - 272 pages
Glass of the Roman World illustrates the arrival of new cultural systems, mechanisms of trade and an expanded economic base in the early 1st millennium AD which, in combination, allowed the further development of the existing glass industry. Glass became something which encompassed more than simply a novel and highly decorative material. Glass production grew and its consumption increased until it was assimilated into all levels of society, used for display and luxury items but equally for utilitarian containers, windows and even tools.

These 18 papers by renowned international scholars include studies of glass from Europe and the Near East. The authors write on a variety of topics where their work is at the forefront of new approaches to the subject. They both extend and consolidate aspects of our understanding of how glass was produced, traded and used throughout the Empire and the wider world drawing on chronology, typology, patterns of distribution, and other methodologies, including the incorporation of new scientific methods. Though focusing on a single material the papers are firmly based in its archaeological context in the wider economy of the Roman world, and consider glass as part of a complex material culture controlled by the expansion and contraction of the Empire. The volume is presented in honor of Jenny Price, a foremost scholar of Roman glass.
 

Contents

Preliminary report on the excavations of the site ofBeni SalamaWadi Natrun 2003 20059
1
2 The Hambach glass production in the late Roman period
23
3 A Gazetteer of glass working sites in Roman London
33
4 Provenance studies and Roman glass
44
A preliminary survey
57
6 Composition technology and production of coloured glasses from Roman mosaic vessels
61
7 Roman glass from East to West
77
New data on Narbonensis province
97
Contextual analysis of Late Roman glass assemblages from Ephesus and Petra
124
12 A Roman dionysiac cameo glass vase
138
13 An unusual mouldblownbeaker from Barzan southwestFrance
146
14 Flat glass from Butrint and its surrounding areas Albania
153
15 Two wooden glazing bars found in Vindonissa Switzerland from the collection of the Swiss National Museum
165
16 The reuseof Roman glass fragments
170
17 Roman enamels and enamelling
178
18 Beyond the Channel Thats quite a different matter A comparison of Roman black glass from BritanniaGallia Belgica and Germania Inferior
190

9 Roman and later glass from the Fezzan
112
10 Some exceptional glass vessels from Caesarea Maritima
116

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About the author (2015)

Justine Bayley worked at the Ancient Monuments Laboratory, now part of English Heritage, from 1973-2010, leading its Technology Team from 1981. Their work included identifying remains of past industries and examining and analysing finds from archaeological excavations. She acted as scientific advisor and specialist contributor to many EH- and developer-funded archaeological projects as well as carrying out a range of research projects.

Ian Freestone is Professor of Archaeological Materials and Technology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. His previous career included a Professorial position in Archaeology at Cardiff University and as a scientist at the British Museum. He is a specialist in early materials and technologies and is currently interested in early glass industries.

Caroline Jackson is Reader in Archaeological Meterials in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests are in the study and scientific analysis of archaeological materials, specialising in glass and other vitreous materials such as faience, particularly relating to Bronze Age Egypt and the Aegean and on Roman glasses from consumption contexts.

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