Editing Venice (section)

=== Glass ===
{{Main|Venetian glass}}

[[File:Venetian glass goblet.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[Venetian glass]] [[goblet]]]]

Venice is known for its ornate glass-work, known as [[Venetian glass]], which is world-renowned for being colourful, elaborate, and skillfully made. Many of the important characteristics of these objects had been developed by the 13th century. Toward the end of that century, the centre of the Venetian glass industry moved to [[Murano]], an offshore island in Venice. The glass made there is known as [[Murano glass]].

Byzantine craftsmen played an important role in the development of Venetian glass. When [[Constantinople]] was sacked in the [[Fourth Crusade]] in 1204, some fleeing artisans came to Venice; when the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] took Constantinople in 1453, still more glassworkers arrived. By the 16th century, Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the colour and transparency of their glass, and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques. Despite efforts to keep Venetian glassmaking techniques within Venice, they became known elsewhere, and Venetian-style glassware was produced in other Italian cities and other countries of Europe.

Some of the most important brands of glass in the world today are still produced in the historical glass factories on Murano. They are: Venini, Barovier & Toso, [[Pauly & C. - Compagnia Venezia Murano|Pauly]], Millevetri, and Seguso.<ref>Carl I. Gable, ''Murano Magic: Complete Guide to Venetian Glass, its History and Artists'' (Schiffer, 2004). {{ISBN|978-0-7643-1946-4}}.</ref> Barovier & Toso is considered one of the 100 [[List of oldest companies|oldest companies]] in the world, formed in 1295.

In February 2021, the world learned that Venetian glass [[trade beads]] had been found at three prehistoric [[Inuit]] sites in [[Alaska]], including Punyik Point. Uninhabited today, and located {{Convert|1|mi|km}} from the [[Continental Divide]] in the [[Brooks Range]], the area was on ancient trade routes from the [[Bering Sea]] to the [[Arctic Ocean]]. From their creation in Venice, researchers believe the likely route these artifacts traveled was across [[Europe]], then [[Eurasia]] and finally over the [[Bering Strait]], making this discovery "the first documented instance of the presence of indubitable European materials in prehistoric sites in the western hemisphere as the result of overland transport across the Eurasian continent." After [[radiocarbon dating]] materials found near the beads, archaeologists estimated their arrival on the continent to sometime between 1440 and 1480, predating [[Christopher Columbus]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Venetian Glass Beads Found in Arctic Alaska Predate Arrival of Columbus |url=http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/venetian-glass-beads-arctic-alaska-09357.html |access-date=18 February 2021 |publisher=Sci-News |date=16 February 2021}}</ref> The dating and provenance has been challenged by other researchers who point out that such beads were not made in Venice until the mid-16th century and that an early 17th century French origin is possible.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Geggel |first1=Laura |title=European beads found in Alaska predate Columbus, controversial study claims |url=https://www.livescience.com/blue-glass-beads-predate-columbus-in-alaska.html |access-date=19 January 2022 |work=[[Live Science]] |date=11 February 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Blair |first1=Elliot H. |title=Reconsidering the Precolumbian Presence of Venetian Glass Beads in Alaska |journal=American Antiquity |date=July 2021 |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=638–642 |doi=10.1017/aaq.2021.38 |s2cid=236162517 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/abs/reconsidering-the-precolumbian-presence-of-venetian-glass-beads-in-alaska/AA4A54ADE2EB416A447EBB6A12EC7831 |access-date=19 January 2022 |language=en |issn=0002-7316}}</ref>