Glass trade through the Adriatic Sea: preliminary report of an ongoing project

Abstract

A repertoire of 1357 glass samples from Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia was used to investigate glass trade in the Adriatic Sea. The achieved overview begins in the 1st century and, after a peak of occurrences between the 4th and the 7th century, continues until the 16th with a decreasing number of pieces of evidence.Between the 1st and the 3rd century, Levantine (Roman Mn) and Egyptian (Roman Sb) products coexist in percentages that can be considered comparable at the current state of studies. The end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century mark a substantial decrease in Levantine imports. Indeed, Jalame-type glass first and Apollonia-type glass later appear to supply a small slice of the market. Egyptian products, on the contrary, continue to arrive in abundance. The HIMTa and the Foy Série 2.1 glass represent the most widespread products in the Adriatic area for about three centuries. Conversely, the Foy Série 3.2 experiences flowering in northern Italy, Slovenia and Serbia, while it shows limited diffusion in southern Italy, as well as in Tyrrhenian Italy, Sicily or other areas of the Mediterranean basin such as Spain. Based on this observation, it thus seems reliable to exclude Foy Série 3.2 glass from the basket of products typically marketed in the Adriatic Sea (i.e. Levantine products and Egyptian products of types HIMTa-b and Foy 2.1). In this case, a Balkan route may appear possible because it covers the territories where the most significant diffusion of this glass has been observed and is well connected to northern Italy through the Danube and Sava rivers. In southern Italy, the need for more data on the oldest productions prevents a reliable evaluation of Roman Mn and Roman Sb glass imports and highlights a line of research to be pursued in the immediate future.