Chemical Composition of Glass and Faience Beads from the Belbek IV Necropolis (original) (raw)
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Archaeometry, 2021
The mobility of the Blemmyes between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea coast, and their skill in trading, are well attested in the literary sources and in the archaeological record. While they operated mainly in the Eastern Desert, their cemeteries, dated to the mid-fourth century CE, were located in the strategic region of the Dodekaschoinos of Lower Nubia. The personal adornments of the Blemmyes are mainly composed of beads, but the glass imports have not yet been scientifically studied. This paper presents the results of an analysis of thirty-four glass beads from Blemmyan cemeteries around Kalabsha. Compositional analyses using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry has identified glass belonging to four groups. Numerous glass beads were made from low alumina-soda-lime glass (m-Na-Ca, m/v-Na-Ca), mainly associated with Egyptian production. Five beads were made of high-alumina glass. While three of them were produced in South India/Sri Lanka, mixed or recycled glass was the probable source of high alumina in another two beads. One bead was made of plant ash-soda glass. Results provide scientific evidence for the northernmost presence of South Indian/Sri Lankan glass beads in the Nile Valley and hint at the Blemmyan participation in broader regional exchange networks in Northeast Africa during a time of intensive overseas trade.
The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads Technology, Chronology and Exchange
The Elemental Analysis of Glass Beads Technology, Chronology and Exchange, 2022
Glass beads, both beautiful and portable, have been produced and traded globally for thousands of years. Modern archaeologists study these artifacts through sophisticated methods that analyze the glass composition, a process which can be utilized to trace bead usage through time and across regions. This book publishes open-access compositional data obtained from laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry, from a single analytical laboratory, providing a uniquely comparative data set. The geographic range includes studies of beads produced in Europe and traded widely across North America and beads from South and Southeast Asia traded around the Indian Ocean and beyond. The contributors provide new insight on the timing of interregional interactions, technologies of bead production and patterns of trade and exchange, using glass beads as a window to the past. This volume will be a key reference for glass researchers, archaeologists, and any scholars interested in material culture and exchange; it provides a wide range of case studies in the investigation and interpretation of glass bead composition, production and exchange since ancient times.
IDENTIFYING BRONZE AGE GLASS PRODUCTION CENTRES THROUGH BEAD-MAKING TECHNIQUES
Archeologia Polski, LXVII, 2022
The assemblage of Bronze Age glass beads found in the territory of present-day Poland counts 3100 pieces. The earliest examples known from excavations in central Europe are dated most often to the BrB-HaA1/A2 phases of the Bronze Age (= BA II-III/IV); they are made of high magnesium glass (HMG), which is now most frequently corroded. In the HaA2-HaB3 phases (= BA IV-V), beads were produced of a "mixed alkali" glass, also called low magnesium and high potassium glass (LMHK), which is usually preserved in rather good condition. The oldest beads are large as a rule, well made, using, at least in some cases, the folding technique. Small, undecorated beads made of "mixed alkali" glass were produced by the winding technique.
6th century BC glass beads from Southern Ukraine: raw materials and technology
2018
The aim of this study is to establish the nature of the remains of the glass industry found at the ancient Greek archaeological site on the Yahorlyk bay shore (North Black Sea region, Ukraine), dated to the 7th-5th centuries BCE. A multi-analytical, non-destructive approach that compares the chemical and mineralogical composition of glass fragments with that of sand collected in the vicinity of the archaeological site was used in order to determine the local or non-local origin of the glass artefacts. To this end, a comprehensive characterization of all the materials was performed by means of XRF, VP-SEM-EDS, LA-ICP-MS and XRD. In parallel, an attempt was made to reconstruct the manufacturing process of the glass objects with an emphasis on the recipe used and how the colour was achieved. The results will contribute important new information to the literature concerning glass circulation in the Black Sea region; Resumo: Com esta dissertação pretendeu-se determinar a natureza dos obj...
Archaeometry, 2024
Written sources indicate that Alexandria in Egypt was a leading producer of Roman glass. Furthermore, archaeological finds have provided evidence for the local production of drawn glass and gold-in-glass beads, which were distributed throughout the world. In this study, we present an analysis of the chemical composition of more than two hundred glass objects from the Roman (2nd-3rd/4th century CE) and Late Antique (4th/5th-7th century CE) glass bead workshops located at Kom el-Dikka in Alexandria. This study is based on the results of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyses carried out on raw glass, bead semi-products, products and waste from both periods. Additionally, the glass chemistry of some Islamic (8th-12th century CE) beads found at the site has been analysed. Despite the limitations of the method, the vast majority of samples exhibited compositions confirming their general dating and Egyptian origin. Remarkably, a single bead was made of high-alumina glass and appeared to be an import from India, possibly a remnant of the Indo-Pacific glass bead route that connected Red Sea ports and Europe in Late Antiquity. In addition, we offer a new analytical approach to the method that has potential to enhance the value of pXRF in the analysis of archaeological glass.