Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring the unknown Balkans: Early Byzantine glass from Jelica Mt. in Serbia and its contemporary neighbours

  • Published:
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

A Correction to this article was published on 03 September 2018

This article has been updated

Abstract

The concentrations of Na, Mg, Al, Si, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, Sr, Zr, Sn, Sb and Pb in 40 archaeological glasses from the Early Byzantine Jelica site in Serbia, are determined by PIXE/PIGE. Geochemical and multivariate analysis shows it corresponds to Foy series 2.1 and 3.2. Regionally, it is similar to the contemporary 6th century composition from Lower Danube (Bulgaria), Caričin Grad (Serbia) and Butrint (Albania). The results indicate that trade routes between these inland regions and the rest of the Empire were mostly open even during turbulent times of the 6th century.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 03 September 2018

    The affiliation of the first author was incorrectly published in the original article. The author’s correct affiliation is given in this correction.

References

  1. Sayre EV, Smith RW (1961) Compositional categories of ancient glass. Science 133:1824–1826

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Brill RH (1988) Scientific investigations of Jalame glass and related finds. In: Weinberg GD (ed) Excavations in Jalame: site of a glass factory in Late Roman Palestine. University of Missouri, Columbia, pp 257–294

    Google Scholar 

  3. Henderson J (2002) Tradition and experiment in first millennium A.D. glass productions and the emergence of Early Islamic glass technology in Late Antiquity. Acc Chem Res 35:594–602

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Mirti P, Casoli A, Appolonia L (1993) Scientific analysis of Roman glass from Augusta Praetoria. Archeomotry 35:225–240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Freestone IC (1994) Appendix: chemical analysis of ‘raw’ glass fragments. In: Hurst HR (ed) Excavations at Carthage, vol II, 1. The circular harbour, North Side. The site and finds other that pottery. British Academy Monographs in Archeology, No. 4. Oxford University Press, Oxford, p 290

  6. Foster H, Jackson C (2009) The composition of ‘naturally coloured’ late Roman vessel glass from Britain and the implications for models of glass production and supply. J Archeol Sci 36:189–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Freestone IC, Wolf S, Thirlwall M (2005) The production of HIMT glass: elemental and isotopic evidence. In: Annales du 16e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre. London, UK, 2003, AIHV, Nottingham, pp 153–157

  8. Freestone IC, Gorin-Rosen MY, Hughes MJ (2000) Primary glass from Israel and the production of glass in Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period. La Route du verre, Lyon, pp 65–83

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gratuze B, Barrandon JN (1990) Islamic glass weights and stamps: analysis using nuclear techniques. Archaeometry 32(2):155–162

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Foy D, Picon M, Vichy M, Thirion-Merle V (2003) Caractérisation des verres de la fin de l’Antiquité en Méditerranée occidentale: l’émergence de nouveaux courants commerciaux. In: Mergoil M (Ed) Échanges et commerce du verre dans le monde Antique, Aix-en-Provence et Marseiile, Montagnac, (Monographies Instrumentum 24), pp 41–86

  11. Phelps M, Freestone IC, Gorin-Rosen Y, Gratuze B (2016) Natron glass production and supply in the late antique and early medieval Near East: the effect of the Byzantine-Islamic transition. J Archeol Sci 75:57–71

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Foy D, Vichy M, Picon M (2000) Lingots de verre en Mediterranee occidentale (IIIe siècle av. J.-C.—VIIe siècle ap. J.-C.). In: Annales du 14e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Historie du Verre, Italia/Venezia–Milano, 27 October–1 November 1998, 51–7, AIHV, Lochem

  13. Rehren T, Freestone I (2014) Pattern in glass use in the Roman and Byzantine worlds: a reports on current research at the institute of archeology and UCL Qatar. Archeol Int 17:74–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Rehren T, Cholakova A (2010) The early HIMT glass from Dichin, Northern Bulgaria, UCL. Interdiscip Stud 22–23:81–96

    Google Scholar 

  15. Cholakova A, Rehren T, Freestone I (2015) Compositional identification of 6th c. AD glass from the Lower Danube. J Archaeol Sci Rep 7:625–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.08.009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Smith T, Henderson J, Faber EW (2016) Chapter 11: Early Byzantine glass supply and consumption: the case of Dichin, Bulgaria. In: Gan F, Li Q, Henderson J (eds) Recent advances in the scientific research on ancient glass and glaze. Series on archaeology and history of science in China, vol 2. World Scientific, Singapore

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  17. Drauschke J, Greiff S (2010) Early Byzantine glass from Caričin Grad/Iustiniana Prima (Serbia): first results concerning the composition of raw glass chunks. In: Zorn B, Hilgner A (eds) Glass along the silk road from 2000 BC to AD 1000. Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums, Mainz, pp 53–67

    Google Scholar 

  18. Ivanišević V, Stamenković S, (with a contribution by Greiff S) (2010) » Glass « Workshop from Caričin Grad (Iustiniana Prima). In: Zorn B, Hilgner A (eds) Glass along the Silk Road from 200 BC to AD 1000. RGZM, Mainz

  19. Stojanović MM, Šmit Ž, Glumac M, Mutić J (2015) PIXE–PIGE investigation of Roman Imperial vessels and window glass from Mt. Kosmaj, Serbia (Moesia Superior). J Archaeol Sci Rep 1:53–63

    Google Scholar 

  20. Stamenković S (2009) Kasnoantičko staklo sa Gradine u Vrsenicama. In: Popović M, Bikić V (eds) Vrsenice, Late Roman and Serbian Early Medieval Fortress. Arheološki Institut, Beograd

    Google Scholar 

  21. Križanac M, Mrkobrad D (2012) Кacнoaнтичкo и paнoвизaнтиjcкo cтaклo ca Гpaдинe y Постењу (Late antique and early Byzantine glass from Gradina in Postenje). Збopник н.c./Zbornik n.s. 08/2012 (Beograd), Muzej primenjene umetnosti, pp 7–22

  22. Križanac M (2015) 5th-6th century glass in Serbia and territory of Kosovo. In: Lazar I (ed) Annales du 19e Congrès de L’association internationale pour l’histoire du verre (Piran, 17th–21st September 2012), Koper, pp 337–349

  23. Križanac M (2009) Glass from Early Byzantine Gradina on Mount Jelica (Serbia). In: Ergün L (ed) Late Antique/Early Byzantine glass in the Eastern Mediterranean. Hürriyet Matbaası, Izmir

    Google Scholar 

  24. Lightfoot C (2007) Trade and industry in Byzantine Anatolia: the evidence from Amorium, vol 61. DumbartON, Oaks Papers, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington D.C., pp 269–286

  25. Šmit Ž, Milavec T, Fajfar H, Rehren T, Lankton JW, Gratuze B (2013) Analysis of glass from the post-Roman settlement Tonovcov grad (Slovenia) by PIXE–PIGE and LA-ICP-MS. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B 311:53–59

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Gómez-Tubío B, Ontalba Salamanca MÁ, Ortega’Feliu I, Respaldiza MÁ, Amores Carredano F, Gonzáles’Acuña D (2006) PIXE–PIGE analysis of late roman glass fragments. Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B 249:616–621

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Tamilarasu S, Velraj G, Ray DK, Acharya R (2016) Chemical analysis of archaeological clay potteries by PIGE and PIXE methods using proton beams from tandem accelerator for provenance study. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 310:363–370

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Bro R, Smilde AK (2003) Centering and scaling in component analysis. J Chemom 17:16–33

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Schreurs JWH, Brill RH (1984) Iron and sulfur related colors in ancient glasses. Archaeometry 26(pt. 2):199–209

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Wedepohl KH, Simon K, Kronz A (2011) Data on 61 chemical elements for the characterization of three major glass compositions in late antiquity and the middle ages. Archaeometry 53:81–102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Jackson CM (2005) Making colourless glass in the Roman period. Archeometry 47(4):763–780

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Gorin-Rosen Y (2000) The ancient glass industry in Israel: summary of the finds and new discoveries, La Route du verre. Ateliers primaires et secondaires du second millénaire av. J.-C. au Moyen Âge. Colloque organisé en 1989 par l’Association française pour l’Archéologie du Verre (AFAV). Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée Jean Pouilloux, Lyon, pp 49–63

  33. Al-Bashaireh K, Al-Mustafa S, Freestone IC, Al-Housan AQ (2016) Composition of Byzantine glasses from Umm el-Jimal, northeast Jordan: insights into glass origins and recycling. J Cult Herit 21:809–818

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Foy D, Picon M (2005) L’origine du verre en Méditerranée occidentale à la fin de l’Antiquité et dans la haut Moyen Âge, La Méditerranée et le monde mèrovingien: tèmoins archèologiques BAP. Supplèment 3, Èditions de l’ APA, pp 99–110

  35. Nenna M-D, Vichy M, Picon M (1997) L’Atelier de Verrier de Lyon du 1er Siècle après J.-C., et l’Origine des Verre “Romains”. Revue d’Archaéométrie 21:81–87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Gliozzo E, Turchiano M, Giannetti F, Santagostino BA (2015) Late Antique glass vessels and production indicators from the town of Herdonia (Foggia, Italy): new data on CaO-rich/weak HIMT glass. Archaeometry. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12219 (in press)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Gliozzo E, Lepri B, Saguì L, Turbanti Memmi I (2015) Colourless glass from the Palatine and Esquiline hills in Rome (Italy): New data on antimony- and manganese-decoloured glass in the Roman period. J Archaeol Anthropol Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-015-0264-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Schibille N, Sterrett-Krause A, Freestone IC (2017) Glass groups, glass supply and recycling in late Roman Carthage. Archeol Antrhropol Sci 9:1223–1241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0316-1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Conte S, Chinni T, Arletti R, Vandini M (2014) Butrint (Albania) between eastern and western Mediterranean glass production: EMPA and LA-ICP-MS of late antique and early medieval finds. J Archaeol Sci 49:6–20

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Freestone IC (2006) Glass production in late antiquity and the early Islamic period: a geochemical perspective. In: Maggetti M, Messiga B (eds) Geomaterials in cultural heritage. Geological Society, London, pp 201–216 (special publication 257)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Freestone I, Degryse P, Lankton J, Gratuze B, Schneider J (2018) HIMT, glass composition and commodity branding in the primary glass industry. In: Rosenow D, Phelps M, Meek A, Freestone I (eds) Things that travelled, Mediterranean glass in the first millenium CE. UCL Press, London, pp 159–190

    Google Scholar 

  42. Ceglia A, Cosyns P, Nys K, Terryn H, Thienpont H, Meulebroeck W (2015) Late antique glass distribution and consumption in Cyprus: a chemical study. J Archaeol Sci 61:213–222

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Roman Balvanović acknowledges the support by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Serbia through project “Physics and Chemistry with Ion Beams”, No. III45006; the work of Žiga Šmit is supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (research core Funding No. P6-0283). The analyzed samples are from the excavations of the Jelica-Gradina site, a project of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Serbia through the Project No. 177012, under the direction of Mihailo Milinković, to whom authors kindly thank for the valuable information about the site. The samples are kindly provided by National Museum Čačak. Photographs: Veljko Ilić, National Museum Belgrade.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Physics (010), Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, P.O. Box 522, Belgrade, 11001, Serbia

    Roman Balvanović

  2. National Museum, Trg Republike 1a, Belgrade, 11000, Serbia

    Milica Marić Stojanović

  3. Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, University of Ljubljana, Jadranska 19, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Žiga Šmit

  4. Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, P.O. Box 3000, 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Žiga Šmit

Authors
  1. Roman Balvanović
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Milica Marić Stojanović
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Žiga Šmit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roman Balvanović.

Appendices

Appendix A: The results

See Tables 3 and 4.

Table 3 Major and minor elements (% wt, normalized to 100% of oxides)
Full size table
Table 4 Trace elements oxides (ppm)
Full size table

Appendix B: Photographs of the samples

See Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13.

Fig. 10
figure 10

Jel 1 samples

Full size image
Fig. 11
figure 11

Jel 2 samples

Full size image
Fig. 12
figure 12

Jel 3 samples

Full size image
Fig. 13
figure 13

The outliers

Full size image

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Balvanović, R., Stojanović, M.M. & Šmit, Ž. Exploring the unknown Balkans: Early Byzantine glass from Jelica Mt. in Serbia and its contemporary neighbours. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 317, 1175–1189 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5987-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5987-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation