Hellenistic core formed glass from Epirus, Greece. A technological and provenance study

Abstract

One of the earliest glassmaking techniques is the so-called core-forming technique. The earliest glass vessels made with this technique appeared in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the second half of the 2nd Millennium BC (16th–15th c. BCE). During the Iron Age the technique revived in Eastern Mediterranean and brought to light the largest numbers of glass vessels produced in the Mediterranean area in the 1st Millennium BCE, the so-called Mediterranean core formed bottles.In the present study, an assemblage of 40 fragments of Hellenistic core formed vessels found in the most important Hellenistic sites of Epirus located in the north-west part of Greece is investigated by means of analytical techniques such as SEM/EDX and LA-ICP-MS. The main aim of this study is to identify the technology and the raw materials of the aforementioned glasses and try to answer provenance questions.According to the study of major and minor elements that are associated with the source of silica, i.e. sand, it seems that in the Epirotic samples there is a choice of purer sands with less impurities compared to core-formed vessels dating to late archaic-classical periods (samples of the two consecutive core forming industries). This enforces the theory that the three core forming industries were independent, using different raw materials and therefore most likely they took place in totally different areas reinforcing the archaeological interpretations.The majority of the Epirotic samples according to their trace element fingerprint present an Italian origin. Italy and especially south Italy (Magna Grecia) had long socio-economic, political and trade relations with Greece and especially Epirus during the reign of King Phyrrus. Furthermore, a small part of the Epirotic samples (samples from Cassope) have an Egyptian origin.