Glass Production and Consumption in the Hellenistic World by Katherine Anne Larson A dis

455 Pages·2015·5.14 MB·English

by  Kate Larson

From Luxury Product to Mass Commodity:
Glass Production and Consumption in the Hellenistic World
by
Katherine Anne Larson

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Classical Art and Archaeology)
in the University of Michigan
2016

Doctoral Committee:

Professor Sharon C. Herbert, Chair
Associate Professor Ian Moyer
Professor Lisa Nevett
Professor Margaret Cool Root
Professor Carla Sinopoli
© Katherine Anne Larson, 2016
Dedication
For Mom and Dad

ii
Acknowledgments
Over the last eight years, Sharon Herbert has been my mentor and advisor, providing
everything from dissertation and career advice to book recommendations to a (temporary) place
to live. I am so grateful for her wisdom, experience, leadership, and insight. I admire so much
about her, and the greatest privilege of my Michigan education has been the opportunity to learn
from Sharon and count her a friend. Carla Sinopoli helped with much of the intellectual framing
of this dissertation, including a push to get me to explore the consumption side of Hellenistic
glass alongside the production and technology angle. Her sage advice at every stage has been
invaluable. Margaret Cool Root introduced me to the world of ancient artists and workshop
production as well as network theory, which didn’t quite made its way into this project but
informed my early thinking about technological and knowledge exchange in important ways.
Thank you for many stimulating discussions in which I always felt encouraged and engaged.
Lisa Nevett provided keen advice on theoretical applications to material datasets and the growth
of the economy and increased private domestic display in the first millennium BCE, which
helped me grasp the bigger picture of how glass fit into contemporary societal trends. Ian Moyer
helped situate my research within the broader scope of Hellenistic history and economy, for
which I am thoroughly grateful. I also extend great appreciation and admiration to Andrea
Berlin, for teaching me to find the story in each group of objects and sharing her love of the
Hellenistic world, and to Elaine Gazda, for her unwavering encouragement during my time in
iii
IPCAA, including her assistance in formulating the ideas and structure at early research stages of
this dissertation.
Rackham Graduate School, the Interdepartmental Program in Art and Archaeology, the
Classics Department, and the Museum Studies Program have provided research funding and
logistical support over these many years at Michigan. Since beginning work on this dissertation,
I received additional funding from the International Institute at the University of Michigan, the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens, the American Schools of Oriental Research, and
the Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre to support travel, research, and
presentation of new ideas, connecting me to a network of scholars and facilitating important
exchanges of knowledge. Alex Zwinak deserves special individual mention and accolades for
everything he does to support IPCAA students on small and large scales.
Many individuals have provided crucial assistance with the technical, scholarly, and
material aspects of this research. I benefited immensely from a trip to the Corning Museum of
Glass and Rakow Research Library in April 2015, and I have deep appreciation for the
hospitality, knowledge, and warmth shared by everyone I met there, each of whom contributed to
my thinking about glass. Special thanks to Gail Bardhan, Bill Gudenrath, Alexandra Ruggiero,
and Karol Wight. I also wish to thank Tasos Antonaras, Laure Dussubieux, Alysia Fischer, Yael
Gorin-Rosen, Ruth Jackson-Tal, Margaret O’Hea, Jutta Page, Marianne Stern, and Allison
Sterrett-Krause for conversations and communications which provided additional insight into the
current state of ancient glass research and publication. Any mistakes or misunderstandings
herein are certainly my own. Guy Sanders and Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst at the American School
Corinth Excavations allowed me to come study actual archaeological glass (even though there
turned out not to be much Hellenistic) during Spring-Summer 2013. I am exceedingly grateful
iv
for their hospitality and generosity with material, time, and knowledge. Janet Jones kindly
shared her draft manuscript of the cast and core-formed glass vessels from Gordion, and Elaine
Gazda and Darby Scott allowed me to discuss David Grose’s unpublished manuscript on the
glass from Cosa. I blew glass for the first time with Annette Baron of Baron Glassworks in
Ypsilanti, Michigan, and I thank her for her enthusiasm and for showing me some ancient
techniques. Peter Knoop unflinchingly aided my forays into database design and GIS-aided
analysis.
Any graduate program is only as good as its graduate students, and I am perpetually
humbled by the greatness of my IPCAA colleagues. Thanks to my cohort mates Daniel
Diffendale, Nicole High, Jana Mokrisova, and Emma Sachs, as well as archaeologists and travel
companions at Michigan and beyond: Laura Banducci, Lisa Çakmak, Caitlin Clerkin, Henry
Colburn, Katherine Harrington, Jenny Krieger, Tom Landvatter, Leah Long, Charlotte Maxwell-
Jones, Michael McOsker, and Justin Winger. You have each contributed to my intellectual and
personal growth in ways I can neither quantify nor fully explain. Your insights, bibliography
suggestions, theoretical approaches, and love for the ancient world are at the heart of this
dissertation. I also acknowledge with gratitude the friendship of Suzanne Davis and Collin
Ganio, who kept me fed and sane from day one in Ann Arbor.
Ryan Hughes is another brilliant IPCAA colleague and by all rights deserves intellectual
acknowledgment along with them, not least for dealing with my exploits with GIS and map-
making. Thanks for hanging in there with me through the “hard part.” You (and Pete) have
made this all worth it. Let our New York adventure begin!
Finally, to my family, for always, always, always showing pride, support, and love. Kim
Otto first introduced me to the worlds of glass, international travel, and Macalester College, and I
v
am proud to be Chippie to her Dippie. Beth Piccard is the greatest sister and friend imaginable; I
hope one day to be more like her. And to my parents, Barb and Dan Larson. You taught me to
work hard and with integrity, to find pride and self worth from the inside, and that having
passion for your career doesn’t mean you have to like everything about it. I’m not sure you
expected me to apply those lessons to the pursuit of a Ph.D., but here we are. This dissertation
contains over 100,000 words, but these two are the most important: Thank You.

vi
Table of Contents
Dedication ................................................................................................................ ii
Acknowledgments .................................................................................................. iii
List of Figures ........................................................................................................ xii
List of Tables ........................................................................................................ xiv
Abstract ................................................................................................................. xvi
Chapter 1. Glass and the Hellenistic World .......................................................... 1
Before the Revolution: The Significance of Hellenistic Glass ................................................... 1
Hellenization and the Hellenistic World ..................................................................................... 5
Economic Growth ....................................................................................................................... 8
Hellenistic Households and Material Culture ........................................................................... 13
Hellenization as Globalization .................................................................................................. 16
Overview of the Dissertation ...................................................................................................... 17
Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 17
Scope ......................................................................................................................................... 18
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 29
Organization and Summary ...................................................................................................... 31
Chapter 2. Glass Workshops and Objects in the Hellenistic Period.................34
vii
Changes in the Hellenistic Glass Industry: A Matter of Scale................................................ 34
What is Glass? Composition and Scientific Analysis............................................................... 35
Primary and Secondary Workshops ......................................................................................... 40
The Forms and Technologies of Hellenistic Glass ................................................................... 47
Core-form Cosmetic Vessels .................................................................................................... 48
Polychrome Tablewares ............................................................................................................ 52
Monochrome Tablewares.......................................................................................................... 59
Non-Vessel Objects .................................................................................................................. 69
Tradition and Innovation ........................................................................................................... 80
Chapter 3. Glass as Luxury Object: The Hellenistic Mediterranean and
Beyond .....................................................................................................................83
Trade in Glassware during the First Century BCE ................................................................ 83
Defining Luxury .......................................................................................................................... 87
Finding Luxury in the Archaeological Record ......................................................................... 89
Luxury Glass in the Bronze, Iron, and Classical Periods ....................................................... 91
Bronze Age Glass Objects ........................................................................................................ 91
Iron Age and Classical Glass Objects ....................................................................................... 95
The Fourth Century Macedonian Glass Industry: An Example of Attached Production ....... 100
Finding Hellenistic Luxury Glass ........................................................................................... 102
Regions of Luxury Glass Consumption during the Hellenistic Period ................................ 103
Northwestern Mediterranean .................................................................................................. 109
North Africa ............................................................................................................................ 113
Sicily ....................................................................................................................................... 118
Italy ......................................................................................................................................... 120
Mainland Greece ..................................................................................................................... 128
viii
The Black Sea ......................................................................................................................... 139
Asia Minor .............................................................................................................................. 145
Near East ................................................................................................................................. 150
Kush and Beyond .................................................................................................................... 155
Elite Luxury Glass Consumption during the Hellenistic Period .......................................... 158
International Style ................................................................................................................... 160
Chapter 4. Mass Production and Consumption: Egypt and the Aegean .......163
A New Way to Consume ........................................................................................................... 163
Mass Production and The Rise of Consumerism ................................................................... 164
Defining Mass Production ...................................................................................................... 164
Mass Production in Hellenistic Glassware ............................................................................. 168
Consumerism and the Middle Class ....................................................................................... 170
Regions of Glass Production and Consumption in Egypt and the Aegean .......................... 175
Egypt ....................................................................................................................................... 176
Aegean Islands ........................................................................................................................ 197
Crete ........................................................................................................................................ 208
Cyprus ..................................................................................................................................... 215
Mass Production and Consumption in the Hellenistic World .............................................. 222
All Consumption is Local ....................................................................................................... 228
Chapter 5. A New Glass Industry: Hellenistic Syro-Palestine ........................230
From the Regional to the Local ............................................................................................... 230
Tel Anafa: A Type Site for Syro-Palestinian Glasswares ....................................................... 232
A Brief History of Hellenistic Syro-Palestine ......................................................................... 235
Hellenistic Phoenicia .............................................................................................................. 241
ix