Archaeologists are excited at the treasure trove of ancient glass objects recently found by divers who went below the surface of the Black Sea in Chengene Skele Bay.
This past June, a team from the Bulgarian National History museum discovered more than 112 glass times under the waves, according to the Burgas Regional History Museum, also in Bulgaria. This expands the number of glass artifacts found in the same underwater area by about 25 percent; divers had already recovered 310 glass pieces from the same Bay in 2020 and 2021.
Amazingly, they did not have to go very deep to find what they were looking for. The artifacts were found at a depth of only about 6 to 10 feet. They are thought to be examples of Murano glass made in the 16th or 17th century on the Venetian island of the same name.
Modern people are used to having glass anywhere at any time; large and numerous windows are no longer thought of as a luxury. But really, they are, as only the very rich could afford much glass before the peak of the industrial revolution in the 19th century that automated glassmaking and made it cheaper.
An old English phrase about the famous Hardwick Hall manor—”Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall”—gives a clue to the rarity and preciousness of glass just a few hundred years ago. Hardwick Hall was built by one of the most famous and richest women in Tudor England, Elizabeth Cavendish, the Countess of Shrewsbury. Known as “Bess of Hardwick,” Countess Shrewsbury was a wealthy woman in her own right, and wanted to make her mark by building an imposing manor house with more glass windows than had ever been seen in an English private residence until that time.
Researchers believe the recently found glass pieces are part of a long heritage of quality glassmaking in Murano that continues to this day. Bulgarian museum curators say they think the items were made on the Venetian island sometime at the end of the 16th century or the beginning of the next. They say they look forward to more precisely dating them.
