Mineralogy and geochemistry of Mediterranean sand resources as a raw material for glass production and trade in Antiquity.

Id:KUL_3E071103

K.U.Leuven

Natron glass was the predominant type of ancient glass in the Mediterranean and Europe from the middle of the first millennium BC until the ninth century AD (Freestone, 2006). It combined quartz sand with a soda-rich mineral flux (natron) and lime bearing material, shell or limestone. ‘Primary’ workshops produced raw glass and were distinct from ‘secondary’workshops that shaped glass into specific objects (Freestone, 2006). ‘Primary’ production centres of such raw glass, active from the 4th to 8thcentury AD, were identified in Egypt and Syro-Palestine (Picon and Vichy, 2003). Some authors have suggested that early Roman primary production also took place elsewhere in the Hellenistic and early Roman world (e.g. Jackson et al., 2003; Leslie et al., 2006). In 70 AD, the ancient author Pliny the Elder wrote in his Natural History, that also sands from the coast of Italy, Gaul and Spain were used. This, however, was never confirmed by excavations or through scientific analysis. In this stud

Timeframe:

1 Oct 2007 → 30 Sep 2010

Keywords:

Mineralogy Geochemistry Glass production Antiquity

Discipline codes:

• PHYSICAL SCIENCES (P)
  • Earth sciences, geophysics
    • Geochemistry
    • Mineralogy
    • Geology, mineral deposits

Classifications:

• Ph. D.