Analyses of glass tesserae from Kilise Tepe: New insights into an early Byzantine production technology

Neri, Elisabetta; Jackson, Mark; O'Hea, M.; Gregory, Tom; Blet-Lemarquand, Maryse; Schibille, Nadine

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.036

Cited by 19 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant, lead-tinoxide opaque glass was used from the fourth century in yellow glasses, as well as in green glasses coloured by copper oxide (CuO), and in red glasses coloured by cuprite (Cu 2 O). Examples of such glasses were found in opus sectile panels in Greece (Brill and Whitehouse 1988;Brill 1999, sections VH, VI, VJ), at Shikmona in Israel (fifth c., Freestone et al 1990), at Kilise Tepe (fifth to sixth c., Neri et al 2017), Hagios Polyeuktos (sixth c., Schibille and McKenzie 2014), and Sagalasses in Turkey (sixth c., Schibille et al 2012), at Petra in Jordan (fifth to seventh c., Marii 2013), and in Cyprus (fifth to seventh c., Bonnerot et al 2016). During the early Islamic period, the use of lead-tin-oxide glass continued as attested in a set of glass tesserae found at Khirbet al-Mafjar in Jericho, Palestine (eighth c., Fiorentino et al 2017Fiorentino et al , 2018, and Qusayr' Amra, Jordan (eighth c., Verità et al 2017), as well as eastwards in Samarra (ninth c., Schibille et al 2018b;M.…”

Section: )mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In other cases, Pb(Sn,Si)O 3 crystals have been found more evenly dispersed in the glass. Such crystals were identified in yellow and green glasses from Hagios Polyeuktos (Schibille and McKenzie 2014), Shikmona (Freestone et al 1990), Kilise Tepe (Neri et al 2017), San Giovanni alle Fonti (Neri et al 2013), Schleitheim (Heck et al 2003), Cyrpus (Bonnerot et al 2016), Khirbet al-Mafjar (Fiorentino et al 2017), and Amorium (Wypyski 2005) by means of SEM-EDS, EPMA-WDS, Raman spectroscopy/microscopy or LA-ICP-MS.…”

Section: Archaeological Glass Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some discrepancies are also observed in the published data for red glasses. For instance, microstructural analysis of samples of red glass from Kilise Tepe indicated that they were opacified by Pb(Sn,Si)O 3 crystals dispersed in striped structures and with Na 2 O + K 2 O ranging between 12.4 and 21 wt% (Neri et al 2017; samples KT NS 003, 007, 019). This observation would immediately recall the lead-tin anime method of opacification as presented in Fig.…”

Section: Archaeological Glass Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tin-based opacifiers in archaeological glass and ceramic glazes: a review and new perspectives

Matin

2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Tin-based opacification by tin oxide and lead-tin-oxide particles was used in glass production since the first millennium BC and in ceramic glazes since the eighth century AD. Opacification process is often characterised by significant amounts of tin oxide and lead oxide dispersed into glassy matrices or by identification of the opacifying particles by means of microstructural or (micro-)XRD analyses. The processes of opacification and manufacture are usually more difficult to establish from compositional and microstructural analyses because they leave little diagnostic traces. This review aims to integrate compositional data on archaeological glass and glazes and in particular the Pb/Sn values, with descriptions of the opacification processes in historical treatises, observations at traditional workshops, and the results of previous replication experiments to shed further light on technological issues underlying these methods of opacification and highlight new research perspectives.

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Section: )mentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Archaeological Glass Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Archaeological Glass Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tin-based opacifiers in archaeological glass and ceramic glazes: a review and new perspectives

Matin

2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Concerning the mosaic tesserae, glass tesserae of a Levantine manufacture have been attested by several studies in a number of monuments dated from the 6 th century onward, often together with other compositional categories. These include: the late antique church at Kilise Tepe, Turkey (Neri et al 2017), the basilica of Hagia Sophia in Costantinopole, Turkey (Moropoulou et al 2016); a number of basilicas in Ravenna, Italy, such as St Severo (Classe), St Apollinare in Classe, St Vitale and the Neonian Baptistery (Vandini et al 2006;Verità 2010;Fiori 2015); the church of Hagios Polyeuktos at Saraçhane in Constantinople, Turkey (Schibille and McKenzie 2014); the chapel of St. Prosdocimus, inside the basilica of St Giustina in Padova, Italy (Silvestri et al 2014); the Cross Church in Jerash, Jordan (Arinat et al 2014) and the Petra Church, Jordan (Marii and Rehren 2009). Therefore, it would seem possible to link the use of a Levantine glass in the production of tesserae used in the decoration of Byzantine monuments.…”

Section: Khv2 and Kht2: Levantine Vessels And Tesseraementioning

confidence: 99%

Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho, Palestine)

Fiorentino

Chinni

Cirelli

et al. 2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The paper reports and discusses data obtained by archaeological and archaeometric studies of glass vessels and tesserae from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (near Jericho, Palestine). Archaeological contextualisation of the site and chrono-typological study of glass vessels were associated to EPMA and LA-ICP-MS analyses, performed to characterise the composition of the glassy matrix (major and minor components as well as trace elements). Analyses allowed achieving meaningful and intriguing results, which gain insights into the production and consumption of glass vessels and tesserae in the near East during the Umayyad period (7-8th centuries). Within the analysed samples, both an Egyptian and a Levantine manufacture have been identified: such data provide evidence of a double supply of glass from Egypt and the Syro-Palestinian coast in the Umayyad period occurring not only in the glassware manufacture, but also in the production of base glass intended to be used in the manufacture of mosaic tesserae. Thus, the achieved results represent the first material evidence of a nonunivocal gathering of glass tesserae from Byzantium and the Byzantines in the manufacture of early Islamic mosaics.

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“…In the eastern Mediterranean, the transition to a tin-based opacification seems to have been a much faster process [22]. Alongside the use of calcium stannate, eastern Mediterranean glasses are occasionally opacified by calcium phosphate from the fifth century onwards ( [24] and references therein). Antimony white re-appears in the Islamic world in connection with Egypt 2 natron-type glass in the ninth century for a short period and then only as patches on some Islamic glass weights [25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preliminary Thermal Investigations of Calcium Antimonate Opacified White Glass Tesserae

et al. 2020

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Calcium antimonate (in the hexagonal or cubic form) dispersed in the glass matrix is an artificially synthesized phase commonly documented as opacifier for white glasses during the Roman period. Glasses of this type occasionally contain variable amounts of lead oxide. There is no consensus about the origin and role of the lead component in white glasses, whether it was functional to modify the workability of the glass and/or to help the precipitation of the particles, or whether it was an unintentional pollutant introduced with the raw materials. A group of lead and lead-free white mosaic tesserae from the fourth-century CE villa of Noheda in Spain were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and high temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) to evaluate the impact of variable amounts of lead oxide in the precipitation of calcium antimonate on the viscosity of the glass. The analyzed glasses show thermal events that have been related to the composition of the glass via multicomponent linear regression model. CaSb2O6 and Ca2Sb2O7 formed in the glass during the cooling phase and the glass was not reheated. Lead oxide influences the thermal behavior of the glass, lowering the onset temperatures of all the events, implying a more cost-effective production process. We propose that lead was added intentionally or that lead-bearing raw materials were selected specifically by the ancient glass artisans.

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Analyses of glass tesserae from Kilise Tepe: New insights into an early Byzantine production technology

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Tin-based opacifiers in archaeological glass and ceramic glazes: a review and new perspectives

Tin-based opacifiers in archaeological glass and ceramic glazes: a review and new perspectives

Considering the effects of the Byzantine–Islamic transition: Umayyad glass tesserae and vessels from the qasr of Khirbet al-Mafjar (Jericho, Palestine)

Preliminary Thermal Investigations of Calcium Antimonate Opacified White Glass Tesserae

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