UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Roman Glass

Freestone, I; (2021) Roman Glass. In: Richet, P, (ed.) Encyclopedia of glass science, technology, history and culture. Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, USA.

[thumbnail of 2021 Freestone Roman glass-Wiley Encyclopedia-accepted .pdf] Text
2021 Freestone Roman glass-Wiley Encyclopedia-accepted .pdf - Accepted Version
Access restricted to UCL open access staff

Download (1MB)

Abstract

Roman glass technology was based on soda‐lime‐silica glass made by fusing a two‐component mixture of naturally occurring sodium carbonate from Egypt with quartz‐rich sand, which contained calcium in the form of beach shell or limestone. The primary glass material was fused in tank furnaces with capacities in excess of several tonnes in the eastern Mediterranean, broken up into chunks, and exported across the Empire to be fabricated into vessels, sheets, and beads in many secondary workshops. Colorant technology involved the use of opacifiers based upon antimony and later upon tin, whereas pinks and reds based upon gold nanoparticles appeared in the fourth century CE. Recycling was common practice and becomes increasingly apparent from the sixth century. There is a gradual decline in the soda content of glass throughout the millennium, and the use of Egyptian natron as a flux, diagnostic of the Roman tradition, appears to have ceased in the ninth century.

Type: Book chapter
Title: Roman Glass
ISBN-13: 9781118801017
DOI: 10.1002/9781118801017.ch10.3
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118801017.ch10.3
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
Keywords: Roman Glass, Byzantine glass, Roman technology, Archaeometry
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125284
Downloads since deposit
0Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item