Glass Bangles in the British Isles: A Study of Trade, Recycling and Technology in the First and Second Centuries Ad

Abstract

Glass bangles are found in southern England and Wales from the mid-first century ad and become common in the north of England and southern Scotland in the late first century, before their numbers decline a century later. British bangles develop at a time of change, as Roman glassmaking practices were introduced across large areas of Britain, and as blown, transparent, colourless and naturally-coloured glassware became increasingly popular. In many communities, however, there was still a demand for strongly coloured opaque glass, including for bangles, and glassworkers devised ways of extending their supplies of opaque coloured glass. This study is based on over one hundred and fifty analyses of bangle fragments from sites in Wales, northern England and southern Scotland, spanning this transitional period. The bangle makers recycled coloured glass from imported vessels, and probably beads and bangle-making waste, to supplement supplies of fresh coloured glass. The novel methods used to modify and extend the coloured glass may derive from pre-Roman bead-making industries, and made use of widely available materials, including smithing hammerscale and possibly plant ashes. The results show the shifting balance of indigenous and Roman influences on different bangle types, depending on when and where they were made, and by whom.

Baubles, bangles and beads: Recycling coloured glasses in the British Iron Age and Roman periods

“…Some rare examples of these modifications have been identified amongst glass bangles from the first century ce , where hammerscale, a by‐product of iron smithing, has been added to cobalt blue glass. Similarly, examples have been found where plant ashes may have been added to colourless glass to produce bubbles and Ca silicate crystals that make the glass appear opaque white (Paynter et al, 2022) (see below). These examples of altering glass during recycling also use recycled waste products from other high‐temperature processes; they are unusual modifications not found in typical Roman glasses.…”

“…There is also evidence for the import of raw colourless and naturally coloured glass to Roman London (Wardle et al, 2015). Naturally coloured blue‐green glass was used for the bodies of some bangles and many Iron Age beads (Henderson & Warren, 1981; Paynter et al, 2022) and it is possible that some of these were also manipulated from raw glass, especially when their composition does not indicate obvious signs of recycling.…”

“…This example would result in a pale, weakly opacified grey/blue. Evidence of this mixing process, manipulating polychrome glass when it was hot, can be found in the form of the relics of opacifiers in the glass microstructure (Paynter et al, 2022). Although opaque glass is heterogeneous in nature, the presence of indistinct trails in a contrasting colour may indicate the recycling of a polychrome object.…”

“…These techniques have been observed in bangles in the north of England and southern Scotland from around the mid‐first to early second centuries ce , attesting to a mismatch between the demand for, and supply of, coloured glass in those areas at the time. The yellow and white glass used to make monochrome type 3 bangles have a diluted composition (Henderson, 1992; Newton, 1971; Paynter et al, 2022) made by mixing opaque yellow or white glass with naturally coloured/colourless transparent glass, suggesting there may have been insufficient opaque glass. The effect was still a yellow or white colour, but slightly muted or dulled in intensity (Fig.…”

“…Evidence has also been found that some glassworkers in Britain were making opaque white glass from colourless glass by adding something to it that caused lots of crystals and bubbles to form (see ‘Substitute colourants’) (Paynter et al, 2022). These small crystals and bubbles acted as extra opacifiers in the glass, but were only effective if they were evenly scattered and very small.…”