Andreas Fischer mit Beitrag von Markus Peter. Vorsicht Glas! Die romischen Glasmanufakturen von Kaiseraugst.

Andreas Fischer mit Beitrag von Markus Peter. Vorsicht Glas! Die romischen Glasmanufakturen von Kaiseraugst. ANDREAS FISCHER mit Beitrag von MARKUS MARKUS Markstridsutrustad Soldat (Swedish Project for Development and Acquisition of Equipment for Foot Soldiers)PETER. Vorsicht Glas! Dieromischen Glasmanufakturen von Kaiseraugst (Forschungen in Augst 37).194 pages, 152 b&w & colour illustrations, tables. 2009. Augst:Augusta Raurica Augusta Raurica is a large Roman archaeological site in Switzerland. Located about 20 km east of Basel near the village of Kaiseraugst, it is the oldest known Roman colony on the Rhine. ; 978-3-7151-0037-1 hardback CHFr.100 & 66 [euro]. This volume presents the results of the excavations of two adjacentRoman glass workshops in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland undertaken in 1974 and1978. The final publication of the workshops located in the Lower Townof Augusta Raurica has been worth waiting for, as Andreas Fischer hasnow increased our knowledge of Roman glass furnaces in the Northwesternprovinces by presenting a careful study of both workshops. The volume isdivided into two main parts followed by a synthesis, a catalogue of thefinds from the assemblages which are relevant for dating, the plates andan appendix on the coins by Markus Peter. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the first part, the features and their phasing are presented andinterpreted in detail. The glass workshops belong to a re-development ofthe Lower Town of Augusta Raurica, when the urban road network was setup around AD 100 and stone structures were built on a site which hadpreviously been occupied by two military camps of the mid-first centuryAD and then lain idle during the second half of that century. The firstglass workshop was installed in the early second century AD, and thesecond in the mid-second century AD. The first workshop was probably inuse until shortly after the mid-second century AD, while the otheroperated until the early third century AD, when the buildings werealtered or demolished de��mol��ish?tr.v. de��mol��ished, de��mol��ish��ing, de��mol��ish��es1. To tear down completely; raze.2. To do away with completely; put an end to.3. . The pottery, coins and small finds used as datingevidence are included in the catalogue and illustrated on the plates atthe end of the volume. The dating evidence is sufficient to support thechronological scheme proposed. In the second part, the 15 glass furnaces recorded in the twoworkshops are presented in detail, followed by discussion of theirinterpretation and reconstruction. Three types of furnaces were found:nine were round furnaces, three were rectangular with apses and threewere rectangular with tanks built into them. The round furnaces were potfurnaces for melting raw glass and cullet cul��let?n.Scraps of broken or waste glass gathered for remelting, especially with new material.[Probably alteration of collet, neck of glass left on the blowing iron, from French, in crucibles, the rectangularfurnaces with apses were annealing furnaces for cooling the glassvessels and the rectangular furnaces with tanks have been interpreted asfurnaces either for melting large amounts of cullet or for producing rawglass, because they were exposed to high temperatures and had glassadhering to their walls or floors. Fourteen furnaces were found in theearlier workshop, and only one circular furnace in the less wellpreserved later workshop. A relative chronology chronology,n the arrangement of events in a time sequence, usually from the beginning to the end of an event. of the furnaces in theearly workshop has been established, indicating five phases of glassworking. In phase one, two round furnaces are attested at��test?v. at��test��ed, at��test��ing, at��testsv.tr.1. To affirm to be correct, true, or genuine: The date of the painting was attested by the appraiser.2. . In the nextthree phases, two round pot furnaces for melting glass to be blown intovessels operated at the same time as a rectangular annealing furnace forcooling the finished products. At the beginning of these phases arectangular tank furnace Noun 1. tank furnace - furnace into one end of which a batch of measured raw materials is shoveled and from the other end molten glass is obtainedfurnace - an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to heat buildings, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc. to melt a large amount of glass was also inuse, the first being used twice in phases two and three. In the lastphase a single rectangular tank furnace was in operation. The sequenceof furnaces makes sense, as it would be difficult to operate morefurnaces at the same time in a workshop of this size. Apart for a largequantity of crucibles, which are presented in detail, only a few toolswere found. The absence of blowing pipes as well as other metal tools,except for a few fragments of iron pontils, indicates that the craftsmentook their tools with them when the workshop was abandoned. Similarly,the quantity of glass finds including raw glass, glass waste and culletis not very large, suggesting that glass was melted in the last tankfurnace to be taken away in lumps when glass working ended on the site.The finds of glass vessels suggest that square bottles were produced aswell as dark green, almost black glass vessels of various forms. Inaddition, the production of mosaic tesserae from glass cakes ispostulated pos��tu��late?tr.v. pos��tu��lat��ed, pos��tu��lat��ing, pos��tu��lates1. To make claim for; demand.2. To assume or assert the truth, reality, or necessity of, especially as a basis of an argument.3. . The synthesis offers an interpretation of how the glass workshopscould have operated. Although this is mainly based on assumption and theideas presented by the author must remain hypothetical due to theabsence of conclusive evidence CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE. That which cannot be contradicted by any other evidence,; for example, a record, unless impeached for fraud, is conclusive evidence between the parties. 3 Bouv. Inst. n. 3061-62. , the discussion of the glass workshopswithin the economic and social context of Augusta Raurica iscommendable. More such careful analyses of excavated glass workshops areneeded, and also more studies of experimental work on glass furnaces. Itis unfortunate that chemical analyses were not included as part of thisstudy, as they could well have provided additional evidence for theinterpretation of the workshops and for the unsolved question of theprimary glass production. Archaeometry and archaeology should workclosely together and finds from a glass workshop would be perfect forsuch collaborative work. DANIEL. KELLER Archaologisches Seminar, Universitat Basel, Switzerland (Email: daniel.keller@unibas.ch)