Abstract
This study is an attempt to examine the significance of glass vessels from within burials. Anthropological, ethnographic, and literary evidence is deliberately avoided. The author maintains that by a careful examination of the material remains from the burial it is possible to throw some light on the importance of glass in daily life. This can be interpreted from the positions of the vessels, the presence of sets and pairs of matching vessels, the presence of fragmentary material in inhumation burials, and from the existence of repaired vessels. Particular emphasis is placed on the Norwegian material.