The Persistence of Memory. Exploring the Significance of Glass from Materiality to Intangible Values

Abstract

As a material, glass has been linked with knowledge and skill mastery for at least three millennia, reflecting the use of traditional tools and technologies inherited from the past. The history of glass speaks of know-how, technological transitions, and contaminations among preferences and raw materials. An increase in the awareness of traditional knowledge underlying the tradition of glass manufacturing has recently been observed with the inscription of the art of Venetian glass beads on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which has been recognized as a repository of knowledge and mastery of skills, reflecting the use of traditional tools and technologies inherited from the past. However, the potential that glass holds to rediscover the flows and exchanges of technological knowledge in the past has only been explored marginally, and issues linked to the intangible values and the socio-cultural significance of glass are still only sporadically addressed. This review aims to stimulate reflection on the diversity of the significance underlying glass as a material that has marked the cultural and technological history of man. This study will establish the foundation for a methodological reflection in the approach to the study of ancient glass that is intended to help uncover the intangible values that it is an embodiment for.

Keywords

• glass
• archaeology
• art history
• archaeometry
• material culture
• intangible heritage