The aim of the book is to report the recent research development of ancient glass and glazing technology and the historical-cultural exchange of the East and West along the Silk and Steppe Roads. The contents of this book are dedicated to promote the exchanges between researchers in both social and scientific fields.The scope of this book includes the new archaeological findings of ancient glass and faience in the world, the relationship of glassmaking with glazing technology, the development and application of modern techniques used for the characterization of ancient glass and glaze, compound colorants/opacifiers among ancient glass, the early exchanges of culture and techniques used between China and elsewhere along the Silk and Steppe Roads, and so on.

The Science and Archaeology of Materials is set to become the definitive work in the archaeology of materials. Henderson's highly illustrated work is an accessible and fascinating textbook which will be essential reading for all practical archaeologists. With clear sections on a wide range of materials including ceramics, glass, metals and stone, this work examines the very foundations of archaeological study. Anyone interested in ancient technologies, especially those involving high temperatures, kilns and furnaces will be able to follow in each chapter how raw materials are refined, transformed and shaped into objects. This description is then followed by appropriate case studies which provide a new chronological and geographical example of how scientific and archaeological aspects can and do interact. They include:
*Roman pale green and highly decorated glass
*17th Century glass in Britain and Europe
*the effect of the introduction of the wheel on pottery technology
*the technology of Celadon ceramics
*early copper metallurgy in the Middle East
*chemical analysis and lead isotope analysis of British Bronzes
*early copper alloy metallurgy in Thailand
*the chemical analysis of obsidian and its distribution
*the origins of the Stonehenge bluestones
This book shows how archaeology and science intersect and fe ed off each other. Modern scientific techniques have provided data which, when set within a fully integrated archaeological context, have the potential of contributing to mainstream archaeology. This holistic approach generates a range of connections which benefits both areas and will enrich archaeological study in the future.

Henderson's illustrated work is an accessible textbook which should be useful reading for practical archaeologists. With clear sections on a range of materials including ceramics, glass, metals and stone, this work examines the foundations of archaeological study. The concise introduction provides a general overview as well as a brief insight into the history of this type of research. Finally, the inclusion of case studies such as Roman Glass and the Stonehenge Bluestones provides an example of how such materials were used in the past and how archaeologists analyze them now.

This book is an interdisciplinary exploration of archaeological glass in which technological, historical, geological, chemical, and cultural aspects of the study of ancient glass are combined. The book examines why and how this unique material was invented some 4,500 years ago and considers the ritual, social, economic, and political contexts of its development. The book also provides an in-depth consideration of glass as a material, the raw materials used to make it, and its wide range of chemical compositions in both the East and the West from its invention to the seventeenth century AD. Julian Henderson focuses on three contrasting archaeological and scientific case studies: Late Bronze Age glass, late Hellenistic-early Roman glass, and Islamic glass in the Middle East. He considers in detail the provenances of ancient glass using scientific techniques and discusses a range of vessels and their uses in ancient societies.