Unravelling the Iron Age glass trade in southern Italy: the first trace-element analyses

Conte, Sonia; Arletti, Rossella; Mermati, Francesca; Gratuze, Bernard

doi:10.1127/ejm/2016/0028-2516

Cited by 25 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Ca and Sr in plant-ash glass derive from the ashes of halophytic plants used as flux, in which calcium is a major common constituent, producing glass with CaO levels typically ≥5% (Wedepohl et al 2011a). The CaO/Sr ratio of the plant-ash glass here studied (186) is not far from that found by Freestone et al (2003) for plant ash glass from Banias-Israel (CaO/Sr ratio 220), and by Conte et al (2016a) for plant ash glass from Sarno e Capua (213).…”

Section: Plant Ash Glassmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…Nolte 1968;Barag 1970;Henderson 2013) and was present in some Western Mediterranean sites dating from the Bronze Age through to the Early Iron Age (e.g. Hartmann et al 1997;Santopadre and Verità 2000;Angelini et al 2002;Gratuze and Billaud 2003;Nikita and Henderson 2006;Conte et al 2016a). In this respect, recent data relative to Late Bronze Age glass found in Romania, Germany and Denmark (Varberg et al 2015(Varberg et al , 2016, further confirmed the incredible spread of the HMG glass during this period.…”

Section: Plant Ash Glassmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…The reference Smithsonian glass A standard (Jarosewich 2002) was employed as primary reference sample. Details of analytical conditions, applied standards, and accuracy and precision of the measurements are reported in supplementary material S1 and S2 of Conte et al 2016a, being the samples analysed in the same run. Since the BSE images and EDS analyses evidenced the presence of many inclusions (particularly in the mixed alkali and black samples, see paragraph 4.3), ten points were analysed to test homogeneity and the mean value was calculated (standard deviation below 0.5).…”

Section: Electron Microprobe Analysis (Empa)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ablation system consists of a NeodymeYAG laser working at 266 nm (quadrupled frequency) coupled with a Thermo Electron Finnigan ELEMENT XR mass spectrometer (full details in Gratuze 2013). Standard Reference Material NIST612 (Pearce et al 1997) was used as a reference sample to check precision and accuracy (its analysis is reported in supplementary material S3b of Conte et al 2016a). As regards the samples, the standard deviations among the analysed points were below 10% for all the elements, with the exclusion of Cr, with more variable and high SD.…”

Section: Laser-ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Around the 10 th century BC, in Egypt, some glassmakers started to use this mineral (natron) as an alkali source (Schlick-Nolte and Werthmann 2003) producing the so called low magnesium glass (LMG). To date, literature records only few cases that evidence the use of natron in the early 1 st millennium BC, with examples coming from Nimdur (Reade et al 2005), Hasanlu (Brill 1999), Sarno and Capua (Conte et al 2016a), and Bologna (Polla et al 2011;Conte et al 2016b).…”

Section: Natron Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How much is known about glassy materials in Bronze and Iron Age Italy? New data and general overview

Conte

Matarese

Vezzalini

et al. 2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Knowledge about glass trading in protohistoric Southern Italy has been limited by the few archeometrical data available to date, which prevented a comparison between the well-known Northern trend. The aims of this work is, therefore, to fill the gap in data relative to the Bronze-Iron Ages Southern vitreous items, in order to make possible a general overview of the protohistoric Italian glassy supply routes. The paper presents physical-chemical data of sixty-one vitreous items coming from eleven Southern Italian sites, dated from the beginning of the Bronze Age up to the Archaic period (22 th-6 th century BC), ensuring a complete diachronic analysis. SEM-EDS, EMPA, LA-ICPMS and XRD analyses allowed the definition of raw materials and manufacturing techniques employed, and also the determination of the items provenance. The sample set shows a great variability of glass chemical types, being composed by plant ash glass, mixed alkali and natron samples. A complex picture, mostly related to the different natron glass typologies (High-Zr, Low-Zr, Black,…) and their fast technological evolution in the early 1 st millennium BC, emerges. Taking into account the data reported in this study and those available in literature relative both to Northern and Southern Italian Bronze-Iron Ages items, this work demonstrates, for the first time, the existence of different trade routes. This is especially true for the early periods-Early/Middle Bronze Ages, whit Northern Italy involved in the trades with Central Europe, while South already inserted in the Mediterranean interactions.

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Section: Plant Ash Glassmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Plant Ash Glassmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Electron Microprobe Analysis (Empa)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Laser-ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Natron Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

How much is known about glassy materials in Bronze and Iron Age Italy? New data and general overview

Conte

Matarese

Vezzalini

et al. 2018

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

Self Cite

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show abstract

The Archaeometry of Glass

Freestone¹

2023

Handbook of Archaeological Sciences

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The combined use of Raman and micro‐X‐ray diffraction analysis in the study of archaeological glass beads

Costa

Arruda

Dias

et al. 2018

J Raman Spectroscopy

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This study proposes a new nondestructive methodology that combines micro-Raman spectroscopy and micro-X-ray diffraction (μ-XRD), complemented by variable pressure scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, to determine the composition of glass artifacts and the manufacturing techniques employed in their production. The use of micro-Raman spectroscopy revealed that most samples belong to the alkaline glass family. Chemical analysis also allowed the identification of the main colorants used in the manufacture of the glass beads in this study. Dark blue and turquoise glass were colored using cobalt ions and copper ions, respectively.Amber or light brown hues were produced using the iron-sulfur amber chromophore. Iron ions were also used to produce green, yellow, cream-colored gray, and black hues. White glass was produced using calcium antimonate phases. These compounds, identified by micro-Raman spectroscopy and μ-XRD, were also used as opacifying agents. This study highlights the importance of using micro-Raman spectroscopy in the study of ancient glass artifacts. In fact, micro-Raman spectroscopy not only allows the determination of the glass family of heavily degraded samples but was also found to be the only technique capable of identifying evidences of the rearrangement of the silicate network following selective leaching. The combined use of micro-Raman spectroscopy and μ-XRD permitted the identification of the opacifying agents and heat treatment used in the manufacture of the opaque glass beads in this study.

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Unravelling the Iron Age glass trade in southern Italy: the first trace-element analyses

Cited by 25 publications

References 41 publications

How much is known about glassy materials in Bronze and Iron Age Italy? New data and general overview

How much is known about glassy materials in Bronze and Iron Age Italy? New data and general overview

The Archaeometry of Glass

The combined use of Raman and micro‐X‐ray diffraction analysis in the study of archaeological glass beads

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