Glassmaking in the Late 10th—11th Centuries in Staraya Ladoga

Evidence of a glass-making workshop dating to the 11th century was unearthed in the Zemlyanoye Gorodishche district of Staraya Ladoga. The site yielded over 200 fragments of multicolored glass, along with chips from raw ingots, semi-finished products, technological waste, and sintered multicolored glass, distributed over an area of approximately 500 square metres within the central portion of the cultural layer. In addition, the remains of a production furnace, constructed from stones laid on a clay base, were uncovered. A piece of sintered white quartz sand, with its surface covered by a thin layer (up to 3 mm) of transparent glass, was found among the materials related to the workshop. The colored glass, sintered sand, and thin layer of transparent glass were analyzed using geochemical methods (pXRF, SEM-EDX, m-CT). The data obtained confirmed that both local and imported raw materials were used in the manufacture of glass products in the territory of Staraya Ladoga in the 11th century