“Nero, piatto, poroso e leggero”. Il “Giaietto di Licia” nelle collezioni del Roemisch Germanisches Museum di Colonia

“Black, Flat, Porous and Light”. The “Lycian jet” in the collections of the Roemisch Germanisches Museum in Cologne.

Starting from the analysis of the collection of jet artefacts in the Roemisch Germanisches Museum in Cologne, the article attempts to summarise current knowledge on this unique fossil material, originating from a conifer of the Araucaria, and on its use in the Roman period, concentrated around the 3rd century AD in a few areas of the Roman Empire (particularly England and the Rhineland, but not only). The overview of a conspicuous number of items (about 200 pieces, mainly jewellery or personal ornaments) reveals a rather clear specificity of the material from Cologne and from Rhineland compared to that found in England, the best known centre of ancient workmanship of the material: this element, together with the often higher quality of the Rhineland finds, seems to support the hypothesis of a local workmanship of the material.