Study of Mosaic Glasses From The Alpha Basilica (Sixth Century) Of Nikpolis In Epirus, Greece -

The main objective of the present work was the characterization of the composition, and the reconstruction of the production technology, of glass tesserae from the samples kept in the Archaeological Museum of Nikopolis in Epirus, Greece. The analysed tesserae belonged to lost parts of mosaic floors in the Alpha Basilica (or Doumetios Basilica), dated to the 6th century. In addition, the composition of these tesserae was compared with that of mosaic glasses of the same century recovered in Ravenna, in particular with the thoroughly studied mosaic glasses from the St Vitale basilica, in order to verify a possible common technological basis and a possible common production source for the two localities.