For almost a millennium, a modest wooden ship lay underwater off the coast of Serçe Limani, Turkey, filled with evidence of trade and objects of daily life. The ship, now excavated by the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University, trafficked in both the Byzantine and Islamic worlds of its time.

The ship is known as “the Glass Wreck” because its cargo included three metric tons of glass cullet, including broken Islamic vessels, and eighty pieces of intact glassware. In addition, it held glazed Islamic bowls, red-ware cooking vessels, copper cauldrons and buckets, wine amphoras, weapons, tools, jewelry, fishing gear, remnants of meals, coins, scales and weights, and more.

This first volume of the complete site report introduces the discovery, the methods of its excavation, and the conservation of its artifacts. Chapters cover the details of the ship, its contents, the probable personal possessions of the crew, and the picture of daily shipboard life that can be drawn from the discoveries.

GEORGE F. BASS headed this research team, which is based out of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology at Texas A&M University in College Station.

“This book fixes the “Glass Wreck” in the canon of nautical archaeological research and literature.” --Nautical Research Journal, Vol 50, Issue 4

“The clear description and the simple readable drawings set the standard for future reports.” --The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

“This book is the work of the most notable scholars in the field of underwater archaeology, whose articles are admirable examples of their approach and expertise. It should serve as a textbook fro those who analyze and interpret the many aspects of shipwrecks, a reference book fro analyzing material of the 11th century—but not only of that period—and an example to be emulated for conducting and publishing underwater archaeological research.” --The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology