Early Iron Age ‘black’ glass in Southwestern Iberia: typology, distribution, and context

In the past few years, deeply colored black-appearing glass has garnered a growing interest in the context of research on Iron Age glass technology and trade. The numerous ‘black’ glass beads found in Early Iron Age contexts of Southern Portugal have not however been considered in this discussion, and they remain largely unsystematized. In this contribution, a typological survey of these objects is presented which highlights their unusual concentration in a well-delimited area of Southern Portugal and their relatively circumscribed chronological setting. This is particularly striking when compared with other groups of beads, namely blue beads of various types, which are much more widespread and long-lasting. The global position of these beads is also considered, with typological comparisons and the few available compositional data suggesting that they may be the product of Punic, and perhaps specifically Carthaginian trade with the Western Iberian Peninsula. Finally, the possible specific historic context in which these beads arrived in Southern Portugal is considered.

A Devil’s Looking Glass, circa 1576

Dr. Dee’s Mirror Obsidian Mexica, 15th–16th century A.D. Diameter: 18.400 cm M&ME 1966, 10-1, 1 Enlightenment: Religion Earth, spit up the black drink from the Underworld,pour itztli, hot black glass, out onto yourself.Black glass waits in craters and on smoking slopes; it waits for the people....

A XANES study of chromophores: the case of black glass

In the 1st–2nd century AD, glass was made black using strongly reducing conditions. Later, the black appearance was obtained adding an excess of colourant rather than controlling the furnace atmosphere.