Analysis of glass sherds, glass beads and glass slag from Strøby Toftegård
Résumé
Important changes in glass manufacturing processes occurred in the Mediterranean world from the end of the 8th century. This phenomenon stems directly from a progressive decline of the production of raw natron- based glass in the Near East. From the 9th century onward, in the Eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia, soda-lime glass made from halophytic plant ash becomes the prevailing type of glass before becoming, by the 12th century, the dominant glass type throughout the Mediterranean. In recent years, the increasing number of analyses carried out on Western European glass dated from this transition period have highlighted the presence of a great variety of different compositions. This diversity seems to reflect both the recycling of ancient natron glass when available and the use of local raw materials to produce new types of glass (based mainly on the use of a flux obtained from ashes from forest plants), which enabled glassmakers to cope with the lack of natron glass (both raw and recycled). The aim of this study is to expand this research to include the northern part of Europe, more specifically Scandinavia, where this aspect has hitherto been largely overlooked. Our aim is to answer the following questions: What chemical glass types are found at Strøby Toftegård? What insights are provided by the chemical composition of these types in terms of glass making, recycling processes and changes in trade networks between the 8th and 10th centuries? Does the situation in Scandinavia differ from that in the rest of Western Europe?