The Amathus (Cyprus) Glass Workshop: Technology, Recycling, and Distribution of Glass in early Byzantine period

Excavations from 1976 to 1991 by the French School of Athens and the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus at the Amathus archaeological site revealed a large number of glass objects and glass working remains. The glass assemblage dates mostly to the early Byzantine period (5th to 7th c. CE), a period of significant changes in Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean. The rich assemblage consists of fragments of various objects (rims, foot bases, candela stems etc.) characteristic of the period; of particular interest is a significant number of fragments indicating glass working activities (moils, glass chunks, test drops, furnace wall fragments, etc.). This study highlights the importance of the workshop by presenting the assemblage, discussing the provenance of the glass, and tracing its movement from the large primary production site to a relatively small local workshop and beyond. The main objective of this study is to broaden our knowledge about how Byzantine societies organized glass production, working and distribution through this systematic interdisciplinary approach.