Metallwork in the Early Byzantine period
  Metalwork of the Early Byzantine period has been chiefly preserved in hoards, deliberately concealed for security (usually burried). These may include gold jewellery, silver, copper and bronze vessels, as well as coins. Silver can be dated by inscriptions and stamps, the purpose of the latter being to indicate standard qualities and weights. Stamps were applied at Constantinople and, possibly, in state factories around the Empire. A well-known example of a sixth-century silver hoard was found near Antalya (southern Turkey). The hoard probably belonged to the sixth-century monastery founded in the region by St Nicholas of Sion. It contained more than sixty objects, such as pattens, chalices, censers, lamps, flabella, book covers, furniture revetments and other objects of religious use, some of which were commisioned by Eutychianos, a local bishop, in 550-560. A similar hoard of Syrian origin, the so-called Kaper Koraon treasure, contains objects dated between 540 and 640. Base metal was used for a wide range of household objects, such as tablewares, lampstands, furniture, tools and instruments, like those revealed in the shops at Sardis. Metalwork enjoyed such popularity and prestige, that both its forms and its decoration, were imitated in cheaper materials, namely pottery and glass, making them available to a wide range of the population.