Iron Age Glass Technology in South East Europe

The thesis provides a comprehensive scientific study of Iron Age glass technology in South East Europe, examining glass beads from the territories of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia. In order to investigate the compositional types present in the region during the first millennium BCE, 613 samples dated to the period were analysed using SEM-EDS, EPMA, and LA-ICP-MS. The results indicate a higher variability in compositional types during the first centuries of Early Iron Age and a later consolidation of technological recipes. Seven main compositional types were discerned as well as a variety of colourants and opacifiers. Most glasses can be provenanced to the eastern Mediterranean, while a few LMHK and high-potash samples are likely to be of European origin. The results indicate that although the knowledge of pyrotechnology existed among the various cultural groups in question, raw glass was imported to the region. A distinct transitional type between faience and glass is present in the Lika region of Croatia. The specific chaîne opératoire for this type included extension of the imported glass with additional silica and colouration with characteristic metallurgical byproducts. Local production has been proposed for this glass type, however, the results indicate otherwise, although at present a local bead manufacture cannot be conclusively disproved. Similar conclusions are reached about the Novo Mesto glass assemblage, as compositional analysis reveals it to consist entirely of eastern Mediterranean glasses. The supply of glass to South East Europe relied on social and trade networks which extended from North East Alpine region and Italy to Greece, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean, positioning the region as the intersection of various economic and cultural influences. During the Iron Age, glass was still considered a prestigious material and it played an important role in establishing and maintaining inter-communal relationships among elite groups at regional and inter-regional levels