Ancient Glass: An Interdisciplinary Exploration

by Julian Henderson

Overview

This book is an interdisciplinary exploration of archaeological glass in which technological, historical, geological, chemical, and cultural aspects of the study of ancient glass are combined. The book examines why and how this unique material was invented some 4,500 years ago and considers the ritual, social, economic, and political contexts of its development. The book also provides an in-depth consideration of glass as a material, the raw materials used to make it, and its wide range of chemical compositions in both the East and the West from its invention to the seventeenth century AD. Julian Henderson focuses on three contrasting archaeological and scientific case studies: Late Bronze Age glass, late Hellenistic-early Roman glass, and Islamic glass in the Middle East. He considers in detail the provenances of ancient glass using scientific techniques and discusses a range of vessels and their uses in ancient societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139610070
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/04/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	29 MB
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About the Author

Julian Henderson is Chair of Archaeological Science in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham. The author of The Science and Archaeology of Materials, he has published more than 200 contributions to books and journals, including in Antiquity, the Journal of Archaeological Science, the Journal of Glass Studies, and the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectroscopy.

Table of Contents

1. Glass as a material: a technological background in fiaence, pottery and metal?; 2. Ways to flux silica: ashes and minerals; 3. Silica, lime and glass colorants; 4. Glass chemical compositions; 5. Early glass: archaeology; 6. Scientific analysis of early glass; 7. Hellenistic to Roman: a change from small- to large-scale glass production?; 8. Scientific studies of Hellenistic and early Roman glass; 9. Islamic glass: technological continuity and innovation; 10. Chemical analyses of Islamic glasses; 11. The provenance of ancient glass; 12. Conclusions.