Minor arts and crafts
  Archaeological investigation has revealed an enormous variety of portable utilitarian objects of both secular and religious use. Portable objects are useful witnesses of every day life in Early Byzantium: they illustrate the contents of houses and shops, the furnishings of churches, or the kinds of gifts exchanged on special occasions; their decoration reveals the taste and ideology of their users, as well as their living standards; moreover, they demonstrate the variety and quality of Early Byzantine craftsmanship. Household and church furnishings come in a wide range of materials, such as metal, clay, glass, and textile. Luxury materials, namely ivory, silk, and precious metals, were often used for objects intended as gifts.