Gold, Silver and Glass: Power Networks, Cultural Identities, Technology Transfers and Agency across the Old World (7th Century BC-1st Century AD). Proceedings of a Conference Held at the British Museum, 16-18 June 2023

Gold, Silver and Glass: Power Networks, Cultural Identities, Technology Transfers and Agency across the Old World (7th Century BC – 1st Century AD) Proceedings of a Conference Held at the British Museum, 16–18 June 2023 Edited by St John SimpsonThis volume explores how precious materials shaped power, identity and cultural exchange in the ancient world from the 7th century BC to early Roman times. Growing out of the British Museum special exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece, it brings together new perspectives on technology, value and artistic interaction from Greece to China.Gold, Silver and Glass takes an innovative approach to our understanding of cultural interaction in antiquity. It contains 14 papers arising from an international conference held at the British Museum in June 2023 and associated with the special exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece. The papers are by invited specialists ranging from the UK, America, France and Greece to Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, China and Japan. They are divided into two parts, focused on cultural and technological interactions respectively. The first examines definitions of Greek and Eurasian culture, challenges perceptions and creates new avenues of research. The second looks critically at issues of metrology and value of silver in antiquity, and presents case-studies containing new scientific analyses of Achaemenid, Saka and Chinese gold and silverwares, and gold-leaf glass.Contents List of Figures and TablesIntroduction – St John SimpsonAcknowledgementsDid Buddhist Concepts Reach Iron Age Scandinavia? The Gundestrup Cauldron, the 14-Spoked Wheel and the ‘Axial Age’ – Timothy TaylorThe Persian Parthenon – Thomas HarrisonPersian and Greek Arts in the World of the Scythian Warriors of Asia: from Monuments to Bodies, the Choice of the Nomads – Henri-Paul FrancfortOn the Problem of the Artistic and Manufacturing Centres in the Eurasian Nomadic World – Elena KorolkovaDragons in the Scythian Fantastic Bestiary – Sergey Polin and Marina DaraganObjects Made from Human Crania in Scythian Burials in the Northern Black Sea Region – Marina Daragan and Sergei PolinAncient Armenia: Historical and Cultural Connections Based on the Collections in the History Museum of Armenia – Nzhdeh Yeranyan, Ruben Vardanyan, Armine Zohrabyan, Hasmik MargaryanPersian Gold – Jack OgdenMetrology 40 years on – M. VickersAchaemenid Silver: An Essay on the Fungibility of Meaning – Henry P. ColburnAn Achaemenid Silver ‘Rattling Bowl’ – Julien Cuny, Benoît Mille, Agnès Lattuati-DerieuxAchaemenid-Style Silverware and Gold Ornaments: a Taste for Luxury in Early Imperial China – Yan LiuMoney Talks, Wealth Whispers: Iron Age Saka Microbead Goldsmithing Technology – Saltanat Amir, Rinat Zhumatayev, Samat Shakenov, Akbar Yergabylov, Rebecca Roberts, Marcos Martinón-TorresTransparent Glass for an Elite Greek Society – Despina IgnatiadouCut Gold Leaf Decoration on Hellenistic–Early Roman Glass and Marble Antiquities:a Comparison with the Kirikane Cut Gold Leaf Technique of Far Eastern Buddhist Art – Yasuko Fujii and Hidetoshi NamikiConclusions – St John SimpsonThe ContributorsBibliographyIndex