Eleutherna 2005 Overview

Eleutherna - Sector I: Archaeological and
Technological Investigation of the Glass Finds
Kalliopi Nikita

This grant will be to research glass finds from Eleutherna-Sector I and its subsequent publication entitled Eleutherna-Sector I: Archaeological and Technological Investigation of the Glass Finds. The proposed study aims to explore and understand the archaeology and technology of the glass finds from Eleutherna-Sector I and to define the glass industry in Crete during the Roman and Early Christian times.

Eleutherna was a wealthy urban site of central Crete in Roman and Early Byzantine period (c. mid-1st century BCE - 7th/8th century CE). The remains of luxurious villas, baths, and other public buildings demonstrate that Eleutherna was a prosperous centre since the Roman conquest in Crete (68/67 BCE) and during the imperial period until the catastrophic earthquake in late antiquity (365/367 CE). When Crete became a part of the Byzantine Empire, a large basilica was constructed at the See of Eleutherna by bishop Euphratas (early 5th century CE). Despite the geological disasters and the Arabian raids in Crete (mid-7th-8th century CE), Eleutherna was still a flourishing urban centre. The attacks of caliph Harun Al-Rashid (768-809 CE) and another earthquake (796 CE) led to the final abandonment of the site (Themelis 1992; 2000; 2002; 2004).

The abundance and diversity of glass that found in several buildings at Eleutherna-Sector I suggest specific research foci in terms of archaeology and technology. Various glass vessel forms occurred in Roman and Early Byzantine contexts. Glass tesserae from the floor and the wall mosaics and window glass from the basilica comprise an important group of glass finds typical of Early Byzantine Eleutherna. Glazed ceramics, which appeared in a number of Early Byzantine burials, are among the earliest in the Aegean of this period.

Archaeological investigation of the glass finds deals with initial inspection and description of the external morphology of glass (colour, opacity, translucency or transparency), typological classification and stylistic analysis of the objects. Comparisons with other published contemporaneous glass artefacts in Crete and the Aegean will help set Eleutherna glasses within the broader archaeological context of glass production in the Eastern Mediterranean in Roman and Early Byzantine times.

Technological examination will be based on the chemical analysis of glass and glazes by using Electron Probe Microanalysis in the Archaeology Department at the University of Nottingham. The microstructure of the opaque glasses and glazed ceramics will also be examined by using the Electron Microprobe and Laser-Ablated Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Mass Spectrometry at Manchester University. Following a statistical evaluation, the analytical results will be categorised into compositional groupings and they will be compared with the entire database of glass analyses for the Aegean, Eastern and Western Mediterranean in the Roman and Early Christian Period.

Scientific analysis will shed light for the first time on the compositional characteristics of such a wide range of Roman and Early Byzantine glasses and glazes and the raw materials used for their manufacture. This will further elucidate the modes of production. The technological features of the glasses will be used to trace possible chronological developments in glass manufacture as well as inter- and intra-site variations in glass compositions. The results will also provide information about the exploitation of Aegean natural resources and a means of establishing whether local production of glass occurred. This will be set within the broader technological and socio-economic context of Crete, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

A two hundred page doubled-spaced first draft of a monograph will be designed, prepared and written by the applicant. A camera-ready copy of the monograph will be ready two years from the time when the grant begins. The University of Crete will publish it in the series Eleutherna-Sector I.