The question of ash glasses in the Roman period focusing on finds from Poland

This paper presents the results of physico-chemical analyses of approximately 170 products, beads and vessels from the Roman period coming from the territory of Poland. These are the soda high potassium artifacts, which may be considered as ash glasses. Glasses with higher potassium content (HKG) were melted using the ash from halophyte plants in the workshops of the Roman East and probably other places in the Mediterranean. These were mainly coloured glasses used to produce ornaments, mosaic vessels, decorative plaques and tesserae. In the Roman period, especially in its later stages, and in the Franconian period, ash glasses began to be produced also in the western provinces of the Empire, and these were mainly the low magnesium specimens (LMG). However, questions about the frequency of ash glasses in the Roman period and the location of production centres as well as the kinds of alkaline raw materials require further research

il. ; 24 cm

ill. ; 24 cm