2,000 years old and not a chip or crack in this glass bowl,
photographs courtesy of
the Municipality of Nijmegen, archeologists
excavating a site in Nijmegen which is the oldest city in the Netherlands, situated on
the Waal river about six miles from the German border, found the bowl in this excavation, Van de
Geer’s team had been excavating the site ahead of construction for a new
housing and green development project called Winkelsteeg, which promises to be
a “dynamic living and working area” for the growing city, around the time the
bowl was in use, Nijmegen was a Roman military camp that subsequently drew
civilian settlement. It was the first city in the modern-day Netherlands that
was named a municipium, or Roman city, so the local Batavi inhabitants were the
first in the region to be granted Roman citizenship,
lead
archeologist Pepjin van de Geer remarked that it was “really special,” deserving
pride of place in a museum, the ancient Roman bowl is thought to have
originated from glass workshops in German cities like Cologne and Xanten,
though van de Geer also entertains the possibility that it may have been traded
from Italy., “Such dishes were made by allowing molten glass to cool and
harden over a mold,” he told the
Dutch regional newspaper De Stentor. “The stripe pattern was drawn in when
the glass mixture was still liquid. Metal oxide causes a blue color.” what an amazing find, what are the chances of another totally perfect glass bowl being found?
Stan&Diana-such a great find! Glass material of things and still in tact. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteRegards
John&Alley