Islamic soda-ash glasses in the Christian kingdoms of Asturias and León (Spain)

Abstract

The castle of Gauzón on the north coast of Spain controlled access to the Avilés estuary and was intimately linked to the Asturian monarchy. With the intention of studying the medieval glass trade networks in the kingdom of Asturias and León, the chemical composition of twenty-four glass samples from recent excavations at the castle were determined by LA-ICP-MS. The analytical results identified two distinct types of soda-rich plant ash glasses, one from the eastern Mediterranean, and the other from Mesopotamia. Similarly, most of the decorations correspond to luxury Islamic relief-cut glasses that are known from the eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. The decorative features and compositional characteristics of the glass samples from Gauzón thus reveal close commercial links between the Christian kingdoms of Asturias and León on the Atlantic coast and the Islamic world, with al-Andalus, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean Levant.

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