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All Around GlassAll Around Glass
Illustrative arrangement of obsidian, ancient-style vessels, stained glass and modern clear glass

The material that changed our world

History of Glass

From a volcanic stone to the windows we look through every day. A story of fire, craft, science, and thousands of years of discovery.

BCE = before the Common Era · CE = Common Era.
Ancient dates are approximate where the evidence is incomplete.

The discoveries

A journey through time

16 milestones

Prehistory

1 / 16

Volcanic landscapes around the world

Nature makes glass first

Glass existed before anyone built a furnace. Obsidian is natural volcanic glass, formed when lava cools without developing a fully crystalline structure.

Prehistoric communities shaped obsidian into exceptionally sharp cutting tools. Corning’s collection includes obsidian blades worked by Neolithic people 5,000–10,000 years ago. That dates the tools, not the geological origin of glass.

Why it matters

People first encountered glass as a useful natural material. Manufacturing it would become a very different achievement.

Corning Museum of Glass

What makes glass, glass?

A little glass knowledge

Test your knowledge

Question 1 of 5

Which natural glass did prehistoric people shape into blades?

Further reading

Sources & historical notes

Early glassmaking developed over time, not in one documented moment. Approximate dates describe archaeological evidence; later dates may mark a law, experiment, patent, or public announcement rather than immediate worldwide adoption. The cover is an AI-created illustration, not a photograph of authenticated museum artifacts.

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