Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University. / Bibliography: p. xi-xii.

The work presented here focuses on the development of economic activities in the provinces of Thrace and Moesia Inferior (in today's Bulgaria), specifically on the problematic of glassmaking in Roman period and the Late Antiquity. In my work I have focused on the systematic interpretation of the economical development of the rural environment in a context of social, political and economic transformation during Roman rule. The second part of the work presents the glassmaking in the Roman Empire - its beginning, the development of certain technological processes and the specifics of trade activities with raw glass and finished glass products. A collection from the Roman site of Yurt-Stroyno was selected as a case study (during seasons 2012-2014) 1413 fragments of glass were found here. The main aim of the presented study is a typological analysis of the glass finds, supplemented by an analysis of the material composition of selected artifacts. Chemical XRF analyses of the material composition were applied due to clarify the chronological framework of the study group, to determine the source of raw glass for the local glassworks and to raise awareness of Roman and late antique glass in southeastern Bulgaria. 116 samples from the Yurta-Stroyno site were analysed. The selection of samples was carried...