The Production and Circulation of Carthaginian Glass Under the Rule of the Romans and the Vandals (Fourth to Sixth Century ad): A Chemical Investigation

Abstract

Fifty-seven glass samples from Carthage dating to the fourth to sixth century AD were analysed using the electron microprobe. The results show that these samples are all soda-lime-silica glass. Their MgO and K 2 O values, which are below 1.5%, suggest that they were made from natron, a flux that was widely used during the Roman period. The major and minor elements show that these samples can be divided into four groups, three of which correspond to the late Roman period glass groups that were found throughout the Roman Empire: Levantine I, and 'weak' and 'strong' HIMT. Of particular interest is our Group 2, which is technologically and compositionally similar to HIMT glass and the CaO and Al 2 O 3 values of which are similar to those of Levantine I. Glass of similar composition has been reported by several authors and is predominantly found dating from the late fifth to seventh century. This could represent a 'new' glass group; therefore further study is needed to determine its origin. Also, this study suggests that the Vandal invasion in North Africa did not disrupt the glass trade between Carthage and the Levantine coast.

Emerging Glass Industry Patterns in Late Antiquity Balkans and Beyond: New Analytical Findings on Foy 3.2 and Foy 2.1 Glass Types

“…This further suggests that the traditional view of the dramatic economic decline during the late antiquity turmoil in peripheral parts of the Balkans might not be completely accurate. The analogous situation is described in the late antiquity Carthage after the Vandals conquest [ 49 ].…”

“…Correlations of strontium with manganese (0.54) and of manganese with SrO/CaO ratio (0.6) in the HI group indicate that a part of its strontium comes from manganese ore. The SrO/CaO trendline extrapolates backwards at around 70, above the values characteristic of low-manganese Levantine glass (45)(46)(47)(48)(49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55). However, a part of Sr in Egyptian sands might also come from other Sr-bearing minerals or from the diagenetic alteration of aragonite into calcite [11].…”

The Supply of Glass at Portus Ilicitanus (Alicante, Spain): A Meta‐Analysis of HIMT Glasses

“…; Siu et al . ). For example, all the HIMT glasses documented at Augusta Praetoria in Aosta (Mirti et al .…”

“…Given the overlap of the two groups at low iron concentrations, a second criterion was applied, whereby all samples with Fe 2 O 3 < 2% were attributed to HIMTa. Data were taken from Rius et al (), Mirti et al (), Freestone et al (, ), Foy et al (), Uhlir (), Arletti et al (, ), Wolf et al (), Blin and Vanpeene (), Gómez‐Tubío et al (), Carmona et al (), Da Cruz (), Foster and Jackson (), Rehren et al (), Castelo et al (–12), Schibille (), Palomar et al (), Schiavon et al (), Schibille et al (, ), Conte et al (), Möncke et al (), Rosenow and Rehren (), Agua et al (), Di Bella et al (), Gliozzo et al (), Gliozzo et al (,b, ,b), Maltoni et al (, ), Rehren and Brüggler (), Jackson and Paynter (), Smith et al (), Ceglia et al (), De Juan Ares and Schibille (,b) and Siu et al (). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…), Carthage (Siu et al . ), Marseille, Bordeaux, Port Vendres and Toulouse (Foy et al . ) and Rome (Gliozzo et al .…”