Glassmaking Tests at Early Jamestown? Some New Thoughts and Data


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Article
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Authors
Rehren, Thilo 
Veronesi, Umberto 
Straube, Beverly 
Martinon-Torres, Marcos  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2124-2837
Abstract

Early prospection efforts in North America relied heavily on the use of crucibles to test suspected valuable minerals ahead of their potential exploitation. This is well-known for metal ores, and has also been proposed for glassmaking at colonial Jamestown. Here, we revisit a recent publication proposing that certain Hessian crucibles from the site bore evidence for these glassmaking tests, and present new data on crucible operations at the site. We argue that the evidence is more consistent with testing ores for their precious metal content than with glass making. Despite this, the historical evidence for glassmaking tests in this early period remains strong, and further research may well identify its material remains.

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Keywords
Journal Title
Journal of Glass Studies
Conference Name
Journal ISSN
0075-4250
Volume Title
61
Publisher
Corning Museum of Glass
Rights
All rights reserved
Sponsorship
This work is part of U. Veronesi’s PhD project, generously funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Award ref. 1738300)