The glass was highly prized in ancient times because it was very cheap and suitable for mass production but mainly because it is also odourless and tasteless and therefore extremely suitable for the preservation of foods and perishable substances.

Altino has yelded a large amount of glass tableware used both to hold foods and beverages and as a grave good placed inside the tombs;  especially the glass found in the tombs dateable between the end of the first century BC and the second century AD are distinguished by the very good state of preservation.

 over 1000 are the unguentaria, small bottles of different shapes and colours  that were used for make-up and also during the funeral ceremonies to perfume the air,  to pour the oils and the perfumes on the bodies of the deceased, before, during and after the cremation.

Glass vessels were also frequently used in Altino as a funerary urn to collect the ashes of the deceased.  these are mainly ovoidal and globular urns, originally intended to store food in the pantry  but there are also large cups that contained food and beverages most likely  these fragile vessels where placed in the tombs covered by drapery,  that should protect them .  the glass urns seem to be intended exclusively for women and children  and they are usually associated with two very rich grave goods demonstrating that deceased belong to a high social class.  in the tombs were also placed pitchers, plates,cups, bottles, both as a table service for the banquet of the Afterlife,  and also used at the end of the different ritual ceremonies that were held in memory of the deceased.  Among the cups used to hold sauces and gravies there are several examples made with the refined mosaic tecnique that evidence the presence of luxury tableware intended for the people of a high social class. These refined cups were produced in Campania, in Rom and in Aquileia, while most of glass vessels of Altino are attributed to no precise north Italic production.

Bracelets, rings, pearl necklaces and glass toiletries were placed among female grave goods, while pieces of flat glass of different colours represented to the cheerful world of toys.

The high percentage of glass objects found in Altino, together with the finding of many glass melted scraps, suggest that here in Roman times there was a glass production, that began in Murano only in the  fourteenth century.