The earliest glass in Europe
Anthony Harding
Archaeol Rozhledy, 23, 1971, 188-200, figs, refs.
Since the differences between prehistoric glass and faience are very slight and technical, it is reasonable to use "glass" for all prehistoric European substances of this kind. The small annular glass beads which are the earliest in Europe are most plentiful in E Central Europe in cemeteries of EBA. Segmented beads (really multiples of the annular form) are common, stellate and other shapes less so. Indeed, shape is so undiagnostic that local production is clearly indicated, as the distribution map confirms. The technique is unlikely to have arrived from Egypt since Greece, the obvious intermediary, is devoid of EBA glass. The earliest glass beads appear in Europe at the same time as the earliest bronze, and indeed the two manufacturing techniques have much in common. Pressure from further east on copper and tin supplies may have resulted in transmission of the glass technique to Central Europe, and the Danube basin's prominence on the distribution map is suggestive of the route. A provisional catalogue of glass finds from E Central Europe follows. See also Edgar Peltenburg's paper. Some early developments of vitreous materials, World Archaeol, 3, 1971, 6-12.
Document type: article in serial
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