Things that travelled - A review of the Roman glass from Northern Adriatic Italy

The present chapter summarises the results of an ongoing research project, developed during the last decade at the University of Padova and carried out, until now, on 260 samples of Roman glass coming from various sites (Adria, Aquileia, Iulia Felix) in north Adriatic Italy. A combined approach, geochemical and archaeological, was employed to investigate the type and the provenance of raw materials used, and to fill a gap in the knowledge of consumption of glass in an area which, thanks to its strategic position, played a central role in trade during Roman time. The majority of the samples are silica- soda- lime glass in composition and produced with natron as flux, although some soda ash glass samples here named as NE-I/Soda Ash group, all intentionally coloured, have also been identified. In the case of natron glass, five compositional groups (NE- I/ Sb- Colourless, NE- I/ Mn- Colourless, NE- I/ Sb- Mn- Colourless, NEI/unintent- Coloured, NE- I/ intent- Coloured) are distinguished, suggesting various sources, production technologies or degrees of recycling. The isotopic data suggest that the primary production of the Roman glasses from northern Adriatic Italy likely took place in the eastern Mediterranean, although alternative hypotheses are possible.