Ever since the ground-breaking work of Gladys Davidson Weinberg in the 1930s through to the 1950s, Corinth has been something of a locus classicus in ancient glass studies. This book sets out to build on Corinth’s existing importance by presenting the largely unpublished glass from stratified contexts found in the sector known as ‘East of the Theater’, in the district to the northwest of the forum. Significantly, this is also the first volume to present in a systematic fashion the glassware from a single sector of the city, as earlier work — much of it by Weinberg — has focused either on themes (e.g. production) or selected glass object types.[1]
After a brief introduction summarizing the volume’s background, aims, and terminology, Chapter 1 sets out the history of glass studies at Corinth, and then provides a more detailed outline of the excavations in the East of the Theater sector to provide context to the study of the glass. This area was explored mainly between 1981 and 1990 by Charles K. Williams II and included a street flanking the Theater (‘East Theater Street’), a row of Late Classical and Early Roman shops (‘Unit 1’), and several additional buildings (‘Units 2’ and ‘3’) originally dating to the 1st century AD with later modifications. Smaller-scale excavations also investigated the area west of East Theater Street and the Theater itself; this material is also presented in the book. Study of these structures is ongoing, but the working hypothesis is that they were used for a combination of entertainment and commercial and cultic functions. Unit 2 appears to have been abandoned by the 4th century whilst Unit 3 may have been in use for longer, but it too was eventually abandoned, though it is not entirely clear when. Later, much of the area, including the street, was covered with dumped material, and it was from these dump contexts that most of the glass objects were recovered. Significantly, this stratigraphic trajectory indicates that very little of the material from these buildings was found in contexts of use.
The rest of this chapter, and much of the rest of the book, comprises an overview of the glass assemblages. We learn that c. 4,500 glass fragments were recovered in total, 1,704 of which could be classified to some degree; around a quarter of these could be more securely identified, with this latter subset of the data catalogued in the book. In all, 82 catalogue entries are devoted to glassworking debris and other associated materials, representing most stages of secondary glass production. These include fragments of glass furnaces and larger chunks of raw or remelted glass as well as smaller bits of debris like droplets or moils (the remnant upper section of a vessel, which was connected to the blowing rod), which indicate that free glassblowing was practiced in this part of Corinth. However, the absence of any substantial number of wasters means we cannot say much about the specific types of vessels which were produced here.
Vessel glass makes up most of the catalogue entries (c. 360 vessels). These largely comprise tablewares, mainly drinking vessels supplemented by a smaller number of plates and vessels for pouring liquids. Other shapes include a variety of small flasks and jars, which the author believes are probably for holding unguents. These vessels were produced using almost every kind of glassworking technique known from the ancient world, though most were free-blown. The vast majority — nearly two thirds — can be dated to the Early Roman period (by which the author means the late 1st century BC to the late 2nd century AD), providing glimpses of the circulation and consumption of vessel glass at Corinth under the Late Republic and Early Empire. While some of these items come from securely dated contexts, many others come from much later dumps, so they do not tell us much about glass use in this part of the city. Much smaller proportions of vessel glass can be attributed to the Late Roman (here 3rd–4th century) and Early Byzantine (5th–8th century) periods, and these are even more dominated by vessels for drinking than in the preceding period, though there is also a smattering of lamps. A handful of fragments from lamps of the Middle Byzantine (9th-12th century) and Frankish periods (13th–14th century) were also recorded.
Non-vessel glass is represented by a range of miscellaneous objects — stirring rods, a late antique glass coin weight, counters, bracelets, and window glass. The standout finds here are two opus sectile panels of the 3rd century, one bearing geometric patterns and the other a more intricate marine scene.
Many of these finds came to light in dumps of material of far later date, but careful detective work in Chapter 2 (‘Important contexts and groups’) allows the author to draw out some hypotheses about a few stand-out contexts and assemblages. Among these is a later 2nd-century dump containing more than 200kg of ceramics alongside over 100 glass fragments, mostly drinking and pouring vessels, but also some bottles and unguentaria. Interestingly, the author suggests that the chronological cohesion of many of these finds may mean they are a single assemblage, perhaps destroyed by some accident (e.g., damage to the cupboard in which they were stored during an earthquake). The size of the assemblage, perhaps too large for a single household, leads to the hypothesis that it comes from a public building or tavern. Elsewhere, there were also two well-preserved caches of Late Antique glass — probably both dating to the late 6th or early 7th century — the first less well preserved and perhaps partly broken when deposited in a well, the second a well-preserved hoard of heirlooms stashed in a wooden box in a hidden storage space within a manhole.
Much of the rest of the book comprises a systematic typo-chronological presentation of the finds which substantiates the summary set out above (Chapter 3), which presents the finds according to manufacturing technique, and situates each type of vessel within the rich scholarly literature on glass production in the Eastern Mediterranean. This chapter is particularly important because it provides an up-to-date window onto what we know about the types of glass vessels present at Corinth written by one of the field’s most experienced specialists. This chapter is followed by a systematic catalogue of all the fragments discussed in the book (Chapter 4). An appendix lists all of the glass finds within their finds contexts. Three indexes — a General Index, an Index of Glass Comparanda from Corinth, and an Index of Greek and Latin (i.e. of ancient terms for glass and/or inscriptions on glass) will ensure the easy navigability of this work for users with diverse research interests. The volume closes with over 40 pages of drawings and photographs of all catalogued finds.
This book provides an exemplary catalogue of finds in a material which does not always make it to press and will serve as an essential reference work for anyone working on glass finds in the Eastern Mediterranean. In Chapter 1 (p. 6), the author promises more to come with regards to the material from the Gymnasium and the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. I, for one, look forward to learning more in due course.
Notes
[1] Production: e.g. Davidson, G. R. (1940). ‘A Mediaeval Glass-Factory at Corinth’. American Journal of Archaeology 44(3), 297–324; Weinberg, G. D. (1975). ‘A Medieval Mystery: Byzantine Glass Production’. Journal of Glass Studies 17, 127–141. Selected types: Davidson, G. R. (1952). Corinth XII, The Minor Objects. Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens. 76–121, 143–5, 223–7, 287–296, 333–33; Weinburg, G. D. (1964). ‘Vasa Diatreta in Greece’. Journal of Glass Studies 6, 47–55, particularly 51–54. A useful summary of past work on glass at the site is provided in volume under review, 5–6.