Lichtverhältnisse und Raumnutzung in antiken Bronzewerkstätten

Despite the specific demands which ancient bronze casting made on its workshops, not least in regard to the lighting conditions, no standardized building type was ever developed. Generally, the work areas were integrated in a somewhat haphazard fashion into the available domestic architecture. Nevertheless, the presence of natural light played an important role for the craftsmen as the investigation of space utilization in workshops shows. In this context we are fortunate to have the particularly telling findings from a workshop in Petra, Jordan. It follows that the question of the meaning of light in ancient workshops will rarely be answered by looking at the architecture alone, but that the archaeological findings need also to be taken into account.