Posted on 06/22/2012 3:03:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Glass jewellery believed to have been made by Roman craftsmen has been found in an ancient tomb in Japan, researchers said Friday, in a sign the empire's influence may have reached the edge of Asia.
Tests have revealed three glass beads discovered in the Fifth Century "Utsukushi" burial mound in Nagaoka, near Kyoto, were probably made some time between the first and the fourth century, the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties said.
The government-backed institute has recently finished analysing components of the glass beads, measuring five millimetres (0.2 inches) in diametre, with tiny fragments of gilt attached.
It found that the light yellow beads were made with natron, a chemical used to melt glass by craftsmen in the empire, which succeeded the Roman Republic in 27 BC and was ultimately ended by the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The beads, which have a hole through the middle, were made with a multilayering technique -- a relatively sophisticated method in which craftsmen piled up layers of glass, often sandwiching gold leaf in between.
"They are one of the oldest multilayered glass products found in Japan, and very rare accessories that were believed to be made in the Roman Empire and sent to Japan," said Tomomi Tamura, a researcher at the institute.
The Roman Empire was concentrated around the Mediterranean Sea and stretched northwards to occupy present-day England. The finding in Japan, some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) from Italy, may shed some light on how far east its influence reached, Tamura said.
"It will also lead to further studies on how they could have got all the way to Japan," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.ninemsn.com.au ...
He must have doubted there would be such danger.
It’s bad writing, the chemical doesn’t actually melt glass, it’s just used in glass-making. You’d still need a glass kiln to melt the silicon-natron mixture.
If you are referring to year 535 AD/CE, where does this enter into this report? If this is a 5th century tomb, it is, as you yourself said, from a time between 401 and 500 AD. So either I misunderstand your post or it is a nonsequiter.
My belief is that the suggestion of the Silk Road is the "Occam Razor" answer since it is well known that the route existed for at least 600 years earlier bringing the silk to Rome. The effort to ship silk west would be ridiculous without equal value traveling east and jewelry was then as is now, high value for small volume and weight.
By most research this was done by actual end-to-end caravans going from trading terminuses in west China to the eastern Roman Empire. The final leg between China and Japan is minor in comparison.
Thought I prefaced that enough so it'd be obvious.
A glass bead will roam.
God, I hope not. ;)
Natron is another name for sodium hydroxide. Nasty stuff.
Is it me, or does that just seem to happen more often lately?
I looked at that thread and saw a number of:
The requested document does not exist on this server.
Or banned or suspended posters. Reply 123 was a one post n00b back then who has never replied.
Well then, how about some authentic Frontier Gibberish?
That was 9.5 years ago. A lot changes in that time.
Of course the Romans were sailing all over the orient.
Haven’t you been watching the Spartacus series’ on ... umm... I think it’s Showtime?
The ludicrous where the slaves were training for gladiators had a female slave that was obviously from New Zealand.
That right there is proof positive that Romans were in the asiatics.
It’s not you.
LOL!
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