The workshops from Huy, materials and tools, in their regional context
Résumé
J. Henning noticed that, during the early Middle Ages, craft activities left the ancient agglomerations for rural areas. Simultaneously, important technical changes are attested at the
transition between the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, one of the most important being the replacement of soda glass by potash glass. Though, the mechanism of this transition as well as the workshops are not well known. Until the 8th century, in the Mosan region, only secondary production occurs. In Huy, as well as in Maastricht or Stavelot the traces were found. These are generally fragments of vitrified crucibles, but also production waste, including tears, threads and nets, balls, shapeless masses of glass and finally fragments of objects as well as pieces of a dismantled kiln. In Dinant, Namur and in Liège, crucibles are attested. Still, in the Mosan region, so far, the only site with production structures in place is “Aux Ruelles” in Huy. On this site, of the four known kilns, at least two can be linked to glassmaking. The first, circular and 75 cm wide, has tile and clay walls. In its filling were glass slag and fragments of crucibles. According to the ceramic material, the kiln can be dated to the 6th century. Amongst the glass vessel fragments, it is almost impossible to distinguish the products made on the site from older fragments intended for recycling. So, for glass study, we focused on production waste such as tears and moils. This paper will mainly concentrate on the results of LA-ICP and SEM-EDX analysis results as well as on the crucibles studies in order to replace the production from Huy in its regional an international context