Vitreous Materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean: A Window to the East Mediterranean World

The explosion of research in the field of ancient and historic glasses has opened up glass studies in recent years. However, our deeper understanding of the technology and provenance of Bronze Age Egyptian and Roman glasses in the Mediterranean has not been mirrored by our studies of glasses and other vitreous materials found in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. There are few studies which collate the material culture of the region and still fewer which explore the patterning of vitreous materials in the landscape. Our knowledge of where the material originated and who used it is still incomplete. Therefore, in 2005 a group of scholars in the fields of glass studies and Aegean prehistory came together as part of the Sheffield Centre for Aegean Archaeology’s Round Table discussions to bring the subject up to date. The central themes to this discussion were based upon provenance, occurrence and the role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Nine papers are presented from the discussions by experts in Bronze Age glass and faience and Aegean specialists, who examine a fascinating and diverse selection of topics surrounding the production, movement, use and role of vitreous materials in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. The contributions from John Bennet, Karen Foster, Paul Nicholson, George Nightingale, Marina Panagiotaki, Mark Peters, Thilo Rehren, Sue Sherratt and Mike Tite bring together our current understanding of these materials and their role in the societies who used them.