Western Mediterranean sand deposits as a raw material for Roman glass production

Brems, Dieter; Degryse, Patrick; Hasendoncks, Femke; Gimeno, D.; Silvestri, Alberta; Vassilieva, Elvira; Luypaers, Steven; Honings, Johan

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.009

Cited by 55 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Furthermore, the suitability of these sands has never been evaluated. Previous archaeometrical work has not contradicted a possible western Roman production Brems et al, 2012b). Pliny also noted that fossil, i.e.…”

Section: The Archglass Projectmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…These are highly undesirable because of their limited reaction with silica at the temperatures achieved in the traditional glassmaking furnaces (Freestone, 2006;Gorin-Rosen, 2000). Virtually all Roman glass contains 0.5-1.2% Cl and 0.2-0.5% SO 4 (Bateson and Turner, 1939;Brems, 2012;Gerth et al, 1998;Shugar and Rehren, 2002). During the glassmaking process, excess sodium chloride and sulphate forms a second melt phase on the surface of the molten glass.…”

Section: What Is Natron Glass?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The provenancing of glass is further complicated by the fact that glass is a complex material and the relationship between the raw materials and the finished product is not a simple one. During glass melting many characteristics of the raw materials, such as mineralogy, grain size and shape, are lost so that only bulk chemical data is available (Brems, 2012). Roman vessel glass from the 1 st -6 th centuries AD shows a very similar chemical composition irrespective of the temporal or geographical origin of the material (Aerts et al, 2000).…”

Section: Glass Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, Sr-Nd isotopic signatures have been used to indicate that the majority of the Roman glass found in Europe came from the Eastern Mediterranean region (Freestone et al, n.d.). Isotopic and trace element analyses are promising as tracers for the raw materials used in glass because they reflect the variations around the Mediterranean Sea which result from the differing geological environments (Brems, 2012). The chemical and isotopic analysis of the glass can, therefore, provide information over the origin of the raw materials used to produce the glass.…”

Section: Glass Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Degryse¹

2014

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Section: The Archglass Projectmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: What Is Natron Glass?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Glass Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Glass Provenancingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Degryse¹

2014

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“…SiO 2 is the most abundant chemical compound that is found in sand (Armstrong-Altrin et al, 2012;Brems et al, 2012;Hasdemir, Tugrul & Yilmaz, 2012) and in clays (Dondi, 1999;El-Mahllawy, Sharara, Hassaan & Abdel-Haleem, 2013;Galos, 2011), hence it was no detected in sample E (table 3). Solubilization of tequesquite eliminates all insoluble materials (clays and sand), and produces the purest mineral sample after crystallization of this solution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detailed chemical composition of tequesquite, a pre-Hispanic and traditional mineral resource used in Mexico for culinary purposes

Flores-Hernández

Martínez‐Jerónimo

2016

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Tequesquite is an alkaline mineral complex used in Mexico with culinary purposes since pre-Hispanic times. It is produced through evaporation and crystallization of remnant former Lake Texcoco brackish waters. Despite pre-Hispanic background use of this mineral complex, it was only until the first half of the XX century that analyses were performed to determine its gross chemical composition. However, more detailed information is unavailable in spite of recent technological advances in analytical procedures. In this study samples from different sources were obtained and analyzed to obtain more information about its chemical and elemental composition and to determine possible variations in their composition. Scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDXRA) and X-ray (XRD) diffraction were employed to determine composition of raw and depurated samples (in which clays and sands were removed through solubilization in deionized water). SiO 2 , NaCl, Na 2 CO 3 , and trona were identified in raw samples, whereas NaCl, trona, K 2 SO 4 , and KCl were detected in samples free of insoluble material. SEM images showed diverse crystal morphology types with different elemental composition, whereas XRD patterns revealed that tequesquite depicts the same diversity of chemical species despite different origin. Presence of toxic compounds was discarded, thus confirming its safe use for human consumption. This is the first report of detailed composition of an ancient mineral resource mainly used for culinary purposes that could be of potential use in other applications (e. gr. Spirulina cultivation). RESUMENEl tequesquite es un complejo mineral alcalino usado en México desde tiempos prehispáni-cos para la preparación de alimentos. Se produce a través de la evaporación y cristalización de las aguas salobres y alcalinas del lecho del antiguo Lago de Texcoco. No obstante los antecedentes históricos de uso de este recurso mineral, no fue sino hasta la primera mitad del siglo XX cuando se realizaron análisis químicos para determinar su composición general. En la actualidad, su composición detallada es desconocida pese a que se dispone de recursos analíticos muy avanzados. En el presente estudio se obtuvieron y analizaron muestras de tequesquite en diferentes localidades, a fin de establecer su composición elemental, así como las posibles variaciones. Para esto, se usó microcopía electrónica de barrido con espectroscopia de rayos X de energía dispersiva (SEM-EDXRA, por sus siglas en inglés) y difracción de rayos X (XRD) para analizar muestras brutas y depuradas (en estas últimas se eliminaron arcillas y arena mediante solubilización en agua desionizada). En las muestras sin procesar se identificaron SiO 2 , NaCl, Na 2 CO 3 y trona, mientras que en las muestras libres de material insoluble se detectaron NaCl, trona, K 2 SO 4 y KCl. Las imágenes de SEM mostraron diferentes tipos de morfología cristalina con distinta composición elemental, mientras que los patrones XRD demuestran que el tequesquite...

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Phosphate: a neglected argument in studies of ancient glass technology

Stern

2017

Swiss J Geosci

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Western Mediterranean sand deposits as a raw material for Roman glass production

Cited by 55 publications

References 49 publications

Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Glass Making in the Greco-Roman World: Results of the ARCHGLASS project

Detailed chemical composition of tequesquite, a pre-Hispanic and traditional mineral resource used in Mexico for culinary purposes

Phosphate: a neglected argument in studies of ancient glass technology

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