Richards, Liam; (2025) Provenance and Technology of Fused Mosaic Glass from the Early Imperial Roman Period. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

With the incorporation of Syria-Palestine in 60-80 BCE and Egypt in 30 BCE into the Roman Empire, the Roman glass industry grew to unprecedented levels. Products of this growing industry include a group of mosaic bowls and other open vessels found across the Mediterranean and Europe, as well as mosaic plaques and inlays with ties to Ptolemaic Egypt. This study aims to provide a clearer picture of their provenance and the technologies employed to colour and opacify the glass using compositional and structural analysis. 83 glass fragments from the Victoria and Albert Museum, and 23 objects from the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology have been analysed for 58 major, minor, and trace elements using LA-ICP-MS at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Non-invasive Raman Spectroscopy was carried out on the objects in the Conservation Science Laboratory at the Victoria and Albert Museum to identify opacifiers. The glasses are soda-lime-silica glasses and most suggest the use of natron as a flux; some glasses contain high concentrations of ash-related components, which suggests a plant ash component. The colourants generally are consistent with what is expected to be found in Roman glass. Opacification was generally due to compounds of antimony and metallic copper. The raw materials and recipes for several colours differ between the plaques and inlays and vessels, which suggests that different glassworking traditions existed. Four compositional groups were identified based on the minor and trace elements commonly associated with the glass making sand. Comparing typology, base glass composition, and colourant technology revealed that there were two regionally distinct technological traditions, one based in Egypt producing mosaic plaques and inlays, and the other based in the West, producing mosaic vessels. In addition, a formerly unidentified glass compositional group has been described. This group originated in Egypt, with similar characteristics to later Roman and Byzantine groups. The most striking characteristic is the moderately high levels of components associated with the addition of ash, regardless of colour, which suggests that vegetal ash was used in conjunction with natron as the flux.

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