Glass finds from Civitas Drivastvm

Abstract

This article is a preliminary review of the glass finds from Drivasto. The fortified settlement of Drivasto, known on written sources only in the early 9th century, is an extended hilltop site distributed in three different areas namely Citadella, Varoshi and Muzhila. From the archaeological excavations were brought to light important archaeological finds such as ceramic, metal and glass artifacts, dating from the I-II century to the 16th century. The study of the production of glass vessels will provide significant evidences to enhance the knowledge about their use and distribution in Albania. The glass material includes common productions mainly window glasses, beakers and bottles some of them decorated. These artifacts, which are very fragmentary and most of them present some type of iridescence or slight corrosion, allow us to reconstruct the objects themselves and to create the typology of the
glasses consumed in an elite context (the house of the ruler). It seems that glass vessels from the medieval period (13th and 16th century) are more numerous, and can be compared to the rest of medieval glass of Italy. The presence of imported ceramic
material in Drivasto is an additional evidence of trade and exchanges between the fortified settlement and Italian peninsula. On the other hand, a late-Roman bottle bottoms found together with glass slag could indicate local production.