The dissertation is a comprehensive synthetic study focused on the origin, distribution, and use of glassware from Cherniakhiv sites within modern Ukraine in the local barbarian society. The research database includes 975 glass artefacts with varying states of preservation and information content, which come from burials and layers of Cherniakhiv burial sites, objects and layers of Cherniakhiv settlements, and individual locations. Synchronous glass finds from Barbaricum and Roman provinces are used for comparative analysis in the investigation of the chronology and origin of the main types of Cherniakhiv glassware.
The analysis of the research state of studies on Cherniakhiv glassware shows that the most relevant issues are still related to the origin of such products. A conceptual reassessment of the social role of technology in the provenance of glass items dating to the Roman period, in conjunction with a detailed analysis of the technological aspects of the manufacture and decoration of Cherniakhiv glassware, make it possible to distinguish at least three technological traditions in their production. Meanwhile, the observations on the distribution of artefacts belonging to different traditions in space enable us to tentatively determine the geographical location of the main centres producing Cherniakhiv glass vessels.
Thus, the first tradition comprises hemispherical bowls with a cracked-off rim, conical beakers with a cracked-off rim decorated with narrow horizontal smooth abraded bands, applied drops of coloured glass or without any decoration, and ovoid beakers with a cracked-off rim, made in the Roman Empire. It probably also includes conical beakers with a cracked-off rim decorated with horizontal smooth wheel-cut bands, although some researchers believe they may have been produced outside Limes. The bulk of Roman artefacts probably reached the Cherniakhiv area through the mediation of the Lower Danube provinces or the ancient centres of the Northern Black Sea.
The second technological tradition includes cylindrical beakers with a fire-rounded rim and a tubular base ring, cups with a fire-rounded rim, conical beakers on a solid stem with a fire-rounded rim, and possibly conical beakers with a cracked-off rim decorated with applied threads of coloured glass. Its origin can probably be associated with the glass workshop in Komariv. However, the existence of other centres for the production of these types of glassware cannot be ruled out.
The third technological tradition comprises cylindrical beakers with a cracked-off rim, thick-walled beakers with a rim finished by grinding, thick-walled vessels with an overlay of coloured glass, and possibly conical beakers on a solid stem with a cracked-off rim. The location of the production centres for these items is still a matter of speculation. However, considering the absence of identical artefacts among synchronous forms of Roman glassware and the concentration of these glass vessels outside the Limes, we can assume that their production centres were situated in Barbaricum.
The growth of the database now provides an opportunity both to verify and detail the existing ideas about the typology and chronology of the main types of glassware and to study their social role in Cherniakhiv society. One of the main functions of glass vessels in the local barbarian society was their purposeful use. The vast majority of such products are drinking vessels, namely, bowls and beakers. They were an integral element of the local drinking set, which, in addition to glass objects, usually included ceramic vessels for pouring and mixing liquids. However, there are other ways of using glassware in Cherniakhiv’s environment, for example, as lamps or for decorating ceramic tableware. Some residents of Cherniakhiv society were apparently familiar with the technology of glass processing and were involved in the manufacture of glass vessels and jewellery. The coexistence of such different perceptions of glassware among the inhabitants of a single archaeological community suggests the complex nature of social relations in the local barbarian environment and indicates a complex hierarchical structure of Cherniakhiv society, where its different strata obviously had unequal access to valuable imported goods, including glassware.
