Natron glass beads reveal proto-Silk Road between the Mediterranean and China in the 1st millennium BCE

Qin-Qin Lü,Yongqiang Wang,Binghua Wang,Julian Henderson

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-82245-w

Abstract

Natron-based glass was a vital part of material culture in the Mediterranean and Europe for nearly two millennia, but natron glass found elsewhere on the Eurasian Continent has not received adequate discussion, despite its influence on ancient Asian glass. Here we present a new interpretation of natron glass finds from both the West and the East. After establishing the compositional types and technological sequence of Mediterranean natron glass (eighth-second century BCE) using trace elements, we report the analysis of a mid-1st millennium BCE glass bead from Xinjiang, China, which was likely made with Levantine raw glass, and identify common types of stratified eye beads in Eurasia based on a compositional and typological comparison. Combining these findings, we propose that a considerable number of Mediterranean natron glass products had arrived in East Asia at least by the fifth century BCE, which may have been a contributing factor in the development of native Chinese glass-making. The swift diffusion of natron glass across Eurasia in the 1st millennium BCE was likely facilitated by a three-stage process involving maritime and overland networks and multiple forms of trade and exchange, indicating a highly adaptable and increasingly efficient transcontinental connection along the ‘Proto-Silk Road’.

Highlights

Past inter-regional interactions in the Eurasian Continent shaped our world in numerous ways
We focus on natron glass dated to the eighth-second century BCE, and especially around the mid-1st millennium BCE in both eastern and western Eurasia
We propose that around the mid-1st millennium BCE, most of the eye beads were made by a number of specialized craftsmen with a limited variety of somewhat standardized base glasses, which were supplied by major workshops around the Mediterranean through a developed network

Summary

Introduction

Past inter-regional interactions in the Eurasian Continent shaped our world in numerous ways. In a macroscopic consideration of Mediterranean natron glass, we suggest an encompassing framework based on trace elements for grouping natron glass of this time Set in this technological context, we report the discovery of a natron-based glass bead from the Wupu cemetery, which is one of the earliest natron glass artifacts reported so far in East and Central Asia. Combining this analysis with the composition and typology of specific natron-based eye beads, we propose a production and circulation model for the dispersed natron glass products during this period. We provide, to our knowledge, the first comprehensive discussion of natron glass dispersal across Eurasia in the 1st millennium BCE

Methods

Findings

Conclusion