Glass of the Athenian Agora
Introduction
A large amount of glass was found in the Agora. The excavations yielded 1000 pieces in total, of which 404 were analysed by two scholars in 2009 (Weinberg and Stern 2009). Of these 404, 99 date to the Late Roman-Ottoman periods. They were found across the entire site; however, there seems to be more material from earlier periods.
One of the theories about s to why there is such a decline in glass is that Athens fell into decay during medieval times. However, supposedly the city gained new prosperity at around the 10th century, which is not reflected in the material.
The Athens excavations are very old, as they started in 1930. This might be another explanation for the steady decline in finds as the periods grow younger – the youngest material would have been dug in the earliest periods of the excavation, and may have not been considered important enough by the excavators, or may simply not have been stored in way we can still find it.
To find out more about the Agora Excavations, visit their website at http://www.agathe.gr/, for general information. If you want to find more information about the history of the excavations, visit http://www.agathe.gr/overview/the_excavations.html.
Overview of the 404 Glass Shards Found at the Athenian Agora
This image shows an overview of the 404 glass shards or objects found at the Athenian Agora that were discussed by Weinberg and Stern (2009), and that have been analysed on basis of colour, distribution and appearance over time.
Source: map by A. Everts using the database and GIS up on the http://agora.ascsa.net website. Courtesy to the American School at Athens
3rd-5th Century Glass Objects at the Athenian Agora
This map shows an overview of the glass objects found on the Athenian Agora from the 3rd to the 5th century. It shows a distribution mostly to the south of the Agora
Source: map by A. Everts using the database and GIS up on the http://agora.ascsa.net website. Courtesy to the American School at Athens.
late 5th-7th Century Glass Objects from the Athenian Agora
This map shows an overview of the glass objects found on the Athenian Agora from the 5th to the 7th century. The objects are present over most of the site, however there are not very many of them
Source: map by A. Everts using the database and GIS up on the http://agora.ascsa.net website. Courtesy to the American School at Athens.
8th-9th Century Glass Objects from the Athenian Agora
This map shows an overview of the glass objects found on the Athenian Agora from the 8th to the 9th century. Here, we see a clear decline in the amount of glass objects found at the site.
Source: map by A. Everts using the database and GIS up on the http://agora.ascsa.net website. Courtesy to the American School at Athens.
Glass Objects from the Agora of the 12th Century and Beyond
This map shows an overview of the glass objects found on the Athenian Agora from the 12th century onwards, where we once more see a fairly low amount of glass objects.
Source: map by A. Everts using the database and GIS up on the http://agora.ascsa.net website. Courtesy to the American School at Athens.
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The Assemblage
The glass objects most prominent in the Agora are lamps and goblets, which were found in virtually all periods.
In the Byzantine period, new ways for creating the stems of goblets were invented, which made their production easier and allowed them to become more widespread in both Athens and in the wider Mediterranean.
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