Pages: 141-161 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp265141161
The chemical composition of window panes from the Byzantine churches on the Tepsen Plateau (south-eastern Crimea, mid-eighth to mid-tenth century) and at Gorzuvita (south-western Crimea, eleventh century or slightly earlier) was investigated. The glass belongs to the Foy-2.2 compositional group and represents recycled Egyptian Foy-2.1 glass. The raw material may have derived from sixth- to mid-seventh-century buildings erected in the region during a major Byzantine construction campaign. Coloured cullet, probably tesserae, was also used. Its elevated tin content and low antimony content suggest that it originally dated no earlier than the fourth or fifth century AD. Positive correlations between several elements and boron suggest that small quantities of high-boron cullet may also have been added to the batch. Minor compositional differences may reflect local production of window panes for separate glazing campaigns. Comparison with window glass from the tenth century church at Veseloye (Sochi) reveals fundamental differences in the supply of glass for ecclesiastical construction in Crimea and the north-eastern Pontic region. Around the turn of the millennium, Crimea, like Western Europe, relied on the recycling of earlier glass, whereas the north-western Caucasus was supplied with Levantine plant-ash glass and western Anatolian high-boron glass. One possible explanation is that Crimea had access to earlier glass suitable for recycling, whereas comparable material may have been unavailable in the Caucasus.
Keywords: window glass, chemical composition, North Black Sea region, middle Byzantine period, SEM-EDS, LA-ICP-MS, Foy-2.2, glass recycling
Information about author:
Olga Rumyantseva (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-5648-6079
Anna Mastykova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dmitry Ulyanov St., 19, Moscow, 117292, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0001-7521-5071
Maria Chervyakovskaya (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Chemistry. A. N. Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Acad. Vonsovski St., 15, Yekaterinburg, 620016, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-7075-5433
Vasiliy Chervyakovskiy (Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation). A. N. Zavaritsky Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Acad. Vonsovski St., 15, Yekaterinburg, 620016, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-0400-6819