Author: Antonaras, A.
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Title: Roman and Early Christian Glassworking 1st c. B.C. - 6th c. A.D. Production and Products. Vessels from Thessaloniki and its environs (in Greek)
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Type: Book
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Publisher: Sideris
Publication's Location: Athens
Year: 2009
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Notes: In Greek.
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Abstract: From publishers blurb: This volume examines in detail, for the first time in the Greek scholarship, the production of glass and glass vessels in the eastern Mediterranean from the Hellenistic Age through the Early Christian period, analyzing production techniques and decoration. It establishes the socio-economic framework of glassmaking and glassmakers’ social status in the Roman world generally and in Thessaloniki specifically, while identifying probable local products. It presents all the excavation finds from Thessaloniki and its environs between 1912 and 2002. A typological classification is created for these 754 objects, which encompass the overwhelming majority of common excavation finds in the Balkans, as well as for the decorative themes that appear on the more valuable pieces. Comparative material was studied from the entire Mediterranean, verified in its entirety through primary publications. A summary of the excavation history of these vessels’ find-spots is provided, with details for each excavation, in many cases unpublished and identified through research in the archives of the relevant museums and Ephorates of Antiquities. The uses of glass vessels are presented, and there is discussion and interpretation of the reasons that permitted, or imposed, the choice of glass for their production. The finds are statistically analyzed, and there is a chronological overview examining them century by century on the basis of use and place of production. Finally, there is an effort to interpret the data from the study in historical terms, and incorporate results into the political-economic evolution of the region’s political history. Relatively unfamiliar glassmaking terms are explained in an extensive Greek-English glossary of glassworking technology and typology terms. The typological-chronological chart with shapes and periods of use for each form and a one-page chart with the shape and the number of each form make it easy to locate each shape and compare it with other finds. The material is fully documented in drawings and photographs, and every object in the catalogue is illustrated. The 602 geographical terms in the work, many unknown, are presented in detail in a geographic index with reference to the country/region to which each belongs today; both ancient and modern site names are identified.

Reference:
Antonaras, A., Roman and Early Christian Glassworking 1st c. B.C. - 6th c. A.D. Production and Products. Vessels from Thessaloniki and its environs (in Greek) (Athens, Sideris, 2009)

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