Papers on glass by peter cosyns
Finds and Results from the Swedish Cyprus Expedition: A Gender Perspective at the Medelhavsmuseet, 2006
Finds and Results from the Swedish Cyprus Expedition: A Gender Perspective at the Medelhavsmuseet, 2005
Periodico Di Mineralogia, 2015
The research on the use of obsidian in the Mediterranean is extensive but this concerns almost ex... more The research on the use of obsidian in the Mediterranean is extensive but this concerns almost exclusively the exploitation of volcanic glass from prehistoric and Bronze Age contexts. The consumption of obsidian during the Roman imperial period in contrast has only occasionally received attention. Never a comprehensive account on what the Romans made in vitrum obsianum has been set up, nor have the sources exploited by them been examined. The aim of the present paper is to provide a concise overview on the current knowledge regarding the use of obsidian during the Roman imperial period and to offer an introductory outline on potential research. The ancient writers inform us about the use of volcanic glass to create exclusive vessels, gemstones, mirrors and sculpture, but also about the creation of black appearing man-made glass initiated as a cheap and easier workable substitute. The archaeological data however propose a more complex story with the occurrence of obsidian chunks in e...
La vaisselle en vitrum obsianum est bien connue dans les grandes collections du monde entier. Cer... more La vaisselle en vitrum obsianum est bien connue dans les grandes collections du monde entier. Certes, le vitrum obsianum présente certaines incertitudes du point de vue de sa production et cela déjà depuis Pline l’Ancien qui dans son Histoire Naturelle (livre XXXVI, 196-197) décrit que la vaisselle en obsidienne, un verre volcanique, est imitée en verre. Même actuellement, on distingue rarement la vaisselle en obsidienne et celle en verre imitant l’obsidienne. Pourtant diverses analyses ont entre temps été effectuées sur l’obsidienne, donnant une image des compositions chimiques caractéristiques selon l’origine de la matière. L’objectif initial de cette étude est donc de remettre à jour l’étude sur la vaisselle en vitrum obsianum si caractèristique de la première partie du Ier siècle après J.-C. L’objet ici étudié est un fragment d’un récipient gravé avec scènes florales conservé aux Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire à Bruxelles. Le fragment a été acquis au milieu du XIX siècle à Ro...
Integrated Approaches To the Study of Historical Glass - Ias12, 2012
Youth in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Yococu 2012, 2013
Optical spectroscopy allows the identification of ionic species and, under certain conditions, th... more Optical spectroscopy allows the identification of ionic species and, under certain conditions, the quantification of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+. The ratio of the oxidation states of iron gives an insight into the technological aspects of production. Moreover from the transmission spectra it is possible to calculate the CIE Lab colour coordinates and the UV absorption edge. The latter parameter is strongly related to the presence of heavy elements because they disrupt the silica polymer network. The optical parameter highlights differences in the sample population allowing the definition of subgroups. A comparison between colour coordinates, iron redox ratios, UV absorption edge and the chemical composition is presented. The results provide important information about the proportion between different compositional groups available from the archaeological site and underline the potentiality of UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy as a first-step screening method for large sets of archaeological or historical glass fragments. The present case-study demonstrates the results of optical spectroscopy on a colour (Belgium).
Youth in the Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Yococu 2012, 2013
Optical spectroscopy allows the identification of ionic species and, under certain conditions, th... more Optical spectroscopy allows the identification of ionic species and, under certain conditions, the quantification of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+. The ratio of the oxidation states of iron gives an insight into the technological aspects of production. Moreover from the transmission spectra it is possible to calculate the CIE Lab colour coordinates and the UV absorption edge. The latter parameter is strongly related to the presence of heavy elements because they disrupt the silica polymer network. The optical parameter highlights differences in the sample population allowing the definition of subgroups. A comparison between colour coordinates, iron redox ratios, UV absorption edge and the chemical composition is presented. The results provide important information about the proportion between different compositional groups available from the archaeological site and underline the potentiality of UV-Vis-NIR absorption spectroscopy as a first-step screening method for large sets of archaeological or historical glass fragments. The present case-study demonstrates the results of optical spectroscopy on a colour (Belgium).
Annales du 16e Congrès de l'AIHV, Londres 2003, 2005
This paper focuses on the preliminary results of the inventory of pre-Roman glass beads undertake... more This paper focuses on the preliminary results of the inventory of pre-Roman glass beads undertaken as part of an inventory of pre-Roman and Roman glass beads and bracelets from Belgium. This inter-university and interdisciplinary project, involving the universities of Brussels (ULB), Gent (UGent) and Leuven (KUL), brings together archaeological, historical and chemical research. It's aim is to obtain a wide-ranging and up-to-date description of all glass beads and bracelets found in Belgium - their shape, decoration, colour, manufacturing technique and dimensions together with chemical and contextual analyses.
Analytical Methods, 2014
In the 1st–2nd century AD, glass was made black using strongly reducing conditions. Later, the bl... more In the 1st–2nd century AD, glass was made black using strongly reducing conditions. Later, the black appearance was obtained adding an excess of colourant rather than controlling the furnace atmosphere.
Open Journal of Archaeometry, 2013
Jewels and tableware made of black-appearing glass were popular in the Roman Empire. Compositiona... more Jewels and tableware made of black-appearing glass were popular in the Roman Empire. Compositional changes (due to modifications in glassmaking technology and use of raw materials) over the period considered (1st-5th century AD) have been investigated on a large number of samples originating from various archaeological excavations in Europe, Northern Africa and the Near East. In the course of this work, over 400 samples of Roman glass, the greatest part of them deeply coloured glass fragments, were embedded into acrylic resin and mechanically ground and polished in order to obtain flat surfaces of unaltered glass. The samples were analysed with scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and the quantification was performed by using a standard-less ZAF software. The trace elements contained in a selection of glass samples were determined via laser ablation-inductively coupled plasmamass spectrometry. The data collected in this study show that from about 150 AD ...
AIHV21 ISTANBUL, 2021
The scope of the paper concerns a review of one single glass item at the MAS (Museum aan de Stroo... more The scope of the paper concerns a review of one single glass item at the MAS (Museum aan de Stroom), Antwerp which is known as the Alexander medallion. The authenticity of this intriguing large relief medallion in opaque turquoise blue glass has been an issue for some time but only recently an in-depth analysis of the piece and its origin was performed by means of archival, art historical and archaeometric research. The Alexander medallion is to be considered in a debated discourse of believers and non-believers of its authenticity. Various arguments plead for a forgery, whereas others seem to be in favour of its authenticity. The present state of affairs supports an early modern production date in the 15th-17th c. AD.
AIHV21 ISTANBUL, 2021
For many decades, the famous Aphrodite Sanctuary at Palaepaphos, Kouklia has been the area of var... more For many decades, the famous Aphrodite Sanctuary at Palaepaphos, Kouklia has been the area of various archaeological activities. Since 1973 the site has been investigated systematically by the Swiss-German Archaeological Mission, sponsored by the German Archaeological Institute and the University of Zürich, under the supervision of Franz Georg Maier and later alongside Marie-Louise von Wartburg. When excavating parts of the so-called North Hall during the campaign of 1994 and 2007 the remains of late antique glass production was attested in four distinct zones around the North Hall.
Aside from broken vessel glass, there was considerable evidence of glass batch construction material and production waste in the form of raw glass and furnace fragments, and vessel production waste. All material falls within the wide range of ‘naturally coloured’ glass going from pale blue to a wide range of greens. The stemmed goblets and plain hollow stemmed lamps from the North Hall zones presume a 6th-7th c. AD date of the glass in concordance to this widely at- tested material within Cypriot early Christian basilicas before the mid 7th c. AD Arab raids.
Besides an overview of all glass and glassmaking material and the contexts wherein the material was found we include the results of the chemical analysis by means of LA-ICP-MS. This gives the opportunity to define the homogeneity of the processed glass commonly recognized glass groups, or to recycle the various available glass groups when dealing with a mixed glass matrix. In addition, defining the chemical composition is necessary to check whether the raw glass matches with the finished vessel glass. The late antique Kouklia glass will be compared with the results from former research on the contemporaneous glass from various Cypriot sites, e.g. Yeroskipou-Ayioi Pente, Kalavasos-Kopetra and Maroni-Petrera.
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright Author's personal copy Optical spectroscopy as a rapid and low-cost tool for the first-line analysis of glass artefacts: a step-by-step plan for Roman green glass
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Papers on glass by peter cosyns
Aside from broken vessel glass, there was considerable evidence of glass batch construction material and production waste in the form of raw glass and furnace fragments, and vessel production waste. All material falls within the wide range of ‘naturally coloured’ glass going from pale blue to a wide range of greens. The stemmed goblets and plain hollow stemmed lamps from the North Hall zones presume a 6th-7th c. AD date of the glass in concordance to this widely at- tested material within Cypriot early Christian basilicas before the mid 7th c. AD Arab raids.
Besides an overview of all glass and glassmaking material and the contexts wherein the material was found we include the results of the chemical analysis by means of LA-ICP-MS. This gives the opportunity to define the homogeneity of the processed glass commonly recognized glass groups, or to recycle the various available glass groups when dealing with a mixed glass matrix. In addition, defining the chemical composition is necessary to check whether the raw glass matches with the finished vessel glass. The late antique Kouklia glass will be compared with the results from former research on the contemporaneous glass from various Cypriot sites, e.g. Yeroskipou-Ayioi Pente, Kalavasos-Kopetra and Maroni-Petrera.
Aside from broken vessel glass, there was considerable evidence of glass batch construction material and production waste in the form of raw glass and furnace fragments, and vessel production waste. All material falls within the wide range of ‘naturally coloured’ glass going from pale blue to a wide range of greens. The stemmed goblets and plain hollow stemmed lamps from the North Hall zones presume a 6th-7th c. AD date of the glass in concordance to this widely at- tested material within Cypriot early Christian basilicas before the mid 7th c. AD Arab raids.
Besides an overview of all glass and glassmaking material and the contexts wherein the material was found we include the results of the chemical analysis by means of LA-ICP-MS. This gives the opportunity to define the homogeneity of the processed glass commonly recognized glass groups, or to recycle the various available glass groups when dealing with a mixed glass matrix. In addition, defining the chemical composition is necessary to check whether the raw glass matches with the finished vessel glass. The late antique Kouklia glass will be compared with the results from former research on the contemporaneous glass from various Cypriot sites, e.g. Yeroskipou-Ayioi Pente, Kalavasos-Kopetra and Maroni-Petrera.
The first session set the tone of the POCA 2008 conference by presenting a variety of research topics from different periods: we started with a review on cultural heritage in Cyprus during the period of 1963-1974. Next, we went back until Chalcolitic times to examine the health status from the cemetery at Souskiou-Laona. A re-assessment of Middle Bronze Age evidence illustrated the need to consider this period preliminary to the opening of the Late Cypriot period, while the fourth paper concentrated on regional exchange in southeast Cyprus in that period.
The second session grouped papers that presented long distance relations between Cyprus and other areas within the eastern Mediterranean: two papers dealt with the connectivity with Levantine areas in the Bronze and Iron Age —respectively Anatolia and Syria— whereas, a third paper concentrated on Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical relations between Marion and Athens.
In the third session, figurine traditions were put in retrospect: the technology of picrolite figurines was explained in order to better appreciate a very specific section within the Chalcolithic material culture. Bronze Age anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines were" "considered to shed light on how the social and political structure, tradition connections, expressions of individual and group identity changed over time. Specifically, the last paper sought to understand how to interpret the “goddesses with upraised arms” which bear strong similarities to the Cretan examples.
The fourth session continued to explore the previous theme by examining Hathoric figures from Amathous and how this “Egyptian deity” was perceived in the Archaic city of Amathous. Statues of Roman emperors, their inscriptions and context were viewed in order to understand the roles that statues played in the imperial cult and imperial representation. Two more papers contributed by considering sculptural and architectural types of material culture: both the early Christian marble tables and Islamic Proskynitaria are significant for their time period.
Pottery was the central theme of the fifth session: four papers dealt with archaeometric data in order to answer larger questions on ceramic production, technology and provenance determination. In addition, a few Cypriot finds from Carthage were presented.
The sixth session grouped inscriptions, linguistic and epigraphical evidence from different periods in order to reconsider some of the long held views on the people and their society.
The last session included the search of the Gymnasium of Nea Paphos, whose existence is corroborated by inscriptions. The last paper also concentrated on architecture, more specifically, on the political motivations of water control through a number of public works and aqueducts.
Egypt and Mesopotamia/Levant in relation to the Aegean world. Cyprus rarely
enters the discussion, though this pivotal island discloses important finds not to be
overlooked when examining Late Bronze Age glass consumption. The island was a
highly dynamic hub within the Eastern Mediterranean trade network during the
15th-13th centuries BC, and the numerous glass objects discovered there make it worth
investigating the status of Cyprus with regard to the production and consumption
of glass in the Late Bronze Age and tackling the continuous debate on the potential
presence of a secondary glass workshop in Cyprus. This paper provides an overview
of the Late Bronze Age core-formed glass vessels from Cypriot contexts and considers
their occurrence to define some preliminary thoughts on the idiosyncratic consumption
of glass vessels in Late Bronze Age Cyprus.
The oldest vessels are 1st century AD vessels (ribbed bowls and date-shaped mould-blown vessels), whereas the youngest artefacts are of Merovingian and early Byzantine-early Islamic times. Both issues demonstrate the benefit of appraising this entire glass collection in a fully detailed and richly illustrated publication.
comparative study of the volumes of the various vessel
shapes prove a useful way to illuminate the production,
distribution and use of core-formed glass containers in the
Mediterranean world during the late Archaic to late
Hellenistic period. Moreover, it can improve our knowledge
of the connectivity between different Mediterranean
cultural entities and the impact of the widespread Greek
and Phoenician/Punic trade networks on the distribution
of these glass containers.
The motivation to use standardised shapes with fixed volume is multiple: (1) perfume marketers needed to be certain to buy uniform sets of very recognizable vessels with the required volumes to contain their produce; (2) customers feel more secure when familiar with vessel types of specific perfume sellers connected to a fixed amount of a particular perfume; (3) most likely the standardised volumes were subject to the measurement system in use; (4) not wanting to spend more glass, fuel or time than necessary the glassworker was forced to improve the production process to survive competition with workshops producing similar containers in other materials such as ceramics and alabaster. This prompted glassworkers to develop an easy and rapid production process for each vessel shape to estimate the desired volume as precisely as possible.
A preliminary study proposed the application of two different metrical systems in the production of core-formed vessels, indicating the existence of two different productions each supplying a distinctive distribution market. To exclude randomness of this hypothesis volume measurements of an increased amount of objects comprise large sets from for instance the British museum and the Louvre museum.
Refuse Collection or Worship Context?
Study of the Archaeological Material and of the Fauna Remnants of a Large Pit (S 082) of the Tirlemont Vicus (Tienen, Belgium)The excavation works carried out from 1997 to 2002 by the Institut voor het Archeologisch Patrimonium on the Grijpenveld plot have considerably enriched our knowledge on the peripheral areas of the Gallo-Roman vici. The works brought to light a district with a handicraft, funerary and religious vocation. Among the many dug-in structures excavated on the site, certain pits stand out thanks to the particular composition of the findings : complete pottery offerings, animal skeletons (dogs, horses), etc. It was possible to relate a large number of these pits to the IIIrd century mithraeum. The S 082 pit delivered a very abundant archaeological material that was submitted to a series of specific studies which allow to conclude to the worship nature of this deposit. The pottery material situates the digging of the pit and its filling at the Severian period while the careful survey of the archaeozoological remnants allows to identify the bones of at least seven dogs, among the food refuse made up of pig, sheep and ox bones.