The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription. AbstractThis is the first broad survey using major, minor and trace element analysis of 8th-15th AD plant ash glass from the Middle East across a 2000 mile area stretching from Egypt to northern Iran. This was part of the ancient Silk Road that extended from the Middle East, through central Asia to China. Up to now, some compositional distinctions have been identified for such glasses mainly using major and minor element oxides and radiogenic isotopes. Our new trace element characterisation is for glass found in selected cosmopolitan hubs, including one where there is archaeological evidence for primary glass making. It provides not only far clearer provenance definitions for regional centres of production, in the Levant, northern Syria and in Iraq and Iran, but also for sub-regional zones of production. This fingerprinting is provided by trace elements associated with the primary glass making raw materials used: ashed halophytic plants and sands. Even more surprising is a correlation between some of the sub-regional production hubs and the types of glass vessels with diagnostic decoration apparently manufactured in or near the cosmopolitan hubs where the glass was found such as colourless cut and engraved vessels (in Iraq and Iran) and trail-decorated vessels (in the Levant). This therefore provides evidence for centres of specialisation. Our trace element characterisation provides a new way of defining the Silk Road by characterising the glass that was traded or exchanged along it. Taken together this data provides a new decentralised model for ancient glass production.

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Fifty-seven glass samples from Carthage dating to the fourth to sixth century AD were analysed using the electron microprobe. The results show that these samples are all soda-lime-silica glass. Their MgO and K 2 O values, which are below 1.5%, suggest that they were made from natron, a flux that was widely used during the Roman period. The major and minor elements show that these samples can be divided into four groups, three of which correspond to the late Roman period glass groups that were found throughout the Roman Empire: Levantine I, and 'weak' and 'strong' HIMT. Of particular interest is our Group 2, which is technologically and compositionally similar to HIMT glass and the CaO and Al 2 O 3 values of which are similar to those of Levantine I. Glass of similar composition has been reported by several authors and is predominantly found dating from the late fifth to seventh century. This could represent a 'new' glass group; therefore further study is needed to determine its origin. Also, this study suggests that the Vandal invasion in North Africa did not disrupt the glass trade between Carthage and the Levantine coast.