"Everything Old is New Again" early medieval glass recycling

Abstract

In the last decade, recycling has become a ubiquitous presence in papers published on the chemical analyses of glass of the first millennium CE. It is becoming increasingly clear that recycling to greater or lesser degrees played a key role in the production of glass objects, and was a firmly embedded part of glassworkers' practice. 

However, there has been a tendency to approach recycling as a monolithic practice, with many papers simply noting evidence for recycling without any great consideration of the complexity or nuance of the specific human actions and decisions that led to the chemical signatures we lump together as "recycling", nor the specific social and economic contexts in which such recycling practices were taking place.

The early medieval period offers an excellent opportunity to attempt to untangle some of this complexity, as analyses have indicated a glassworking system that was heavily reliant on recycled material.

This paper will present the results of my PhD research combining analyses of early medieval (7th - 10th century CE) window and vessel glass from four key sites in England, along with recycling experiments that shed light on the mechanisms by which recycling changes the chemical composition of glass and the effects on its workability. It attempts to identify a variety of recycling practices across different types and colours of glass, and to contextualise these practices as part of the wider landscape of trade and exchange, and the roles of secular and ecclesiastical power in the 7th - 10th  centuries. 

UCL Institute of Archaeology Research Seminars Programme | Term I, 2023-24

The Term I seminar series will again highlight current Institute of Archaeology research. These are scheduled to be in-person events; where speakers have agreed, a recording may be made available afterwards.

Mondays, 5pm 

• 9 October: Victoria Lucas (Archaeological Sciences): "Everything Old is New Again" early medieval glass recycling: technology, change, and resourcefulness - this seminar will take place in Archaeology LT (G6)
• 16 October: Jan Kolar (Archaeological Sciences): Prehistoric demography, social transformations and woodland in Central Europe
• 23 October: Giacomo Fontana (World Archaeology): Computational and landscape approaches to non-urban political centralisation in the 1st millennium BCE Mediterranean: the Samnites 
• 30 October: Ulrike Sommer (World Archaeology): Varna, Bodrogkeresztúr and the development of formal cemeteries in the Carpathian Basin

[6 November: Reading Week - no seminar]

• 13 November: Johanna Zetterstrom Sharp (Heritage Studies): Mid-century Museum ‘Best’ Practice and Self-Defined Anti-Racism
• 20 November: Cristina Castillo & Dorian Fuller (Archaeological Sciences): Evolutionary Dynamics of Enset Vegeculture in Ethiopia
• 27 November: Rafie Cecilia & Theano Moussouri (Heritage Studies): Inclusive Digital Museum Innovation 
• 4 December: Veronica Occari (Archaeological Sciences/World Archaeology): The Technology of Medieval Venetian Glass and the Levantine Connection 
• 11 December: Rodney Harrison (Heritage Studies): Ghosts of Solid Air: Using Augmented Reality to Engage with Debates Regarding Contested Monuments in London