PIXE–PIGE analysis of Carolingian period glass from Slovenia (original) (raw)
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The combined PIXE–PIGE method was used for the analysis of 43 glass fragments from the archaeological site Tonovcov grad in western Slovenia, with 10 of these additionally being analysed by LA-ICP-MS. The glass objects were attributed to the Late Antique production of the 4th–7th c. AD, with two examples of early Roman glass and three glass beads, one of them presumably of oriental origin. The analysis showed typical natron-type glass, produced in the Levantine region around the river Belus, and a few examples of HIMT glass, which could be recognized also in several other recycled objects. Only one glass bead, found in Early Medieval context, was made of the ash of halophytic plants.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2015
Vessel and window glass fragments from the Roman archeological site at Mt. Kosmaj, Serbia, were investigated by means of PIXE and PIGE techniques. Window glass was also investigated by optical microscopy. Results show soda-lime-silica composition of all samples. Statistical evaluation was conducted by cluster analysis. Comparison was made with well-defined glass groups from other sites of the Roman Empire, including in the Balkans. This revealed the greatest similarity with Levantine materials. Glasses of similar composition can be found on the main trade routes coming from the region of Adria from the west or from the coast of the Black Sea at east.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2020
The Late Iron Age – La Tène period in Europe outside Hellenistic world is characterized by specific glass products in the 3rd–1st centuries BC. Evidence of glass-working together with large collections of products (bracelets, ring-beads, and other beads) have been reported from several central settlements (e.g., Němčice and Staré Hradisko in Moravia, Manching in Bavaria). These products were made from soda-lime natron-based glass. Raw glass was imported from the Mediterranean and used in local workshops to make personal ornaments. This paper presents a collection of the 2nd–1st cent. BC glass from the Celtic oppidum of Třísov in southern Bohemia, Czech Republic. Its archaeology and chemistry were studied in the context of contemporary glass-making and glass-working. The methods of scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometer and laser ablation–induced coupled plasma–mass spectrometry were used for this purpose. All analysed samples of La Tène glass were found to be made of natron-based glass, comparable with glass produced in the Syro-Palestinian area. For the first time, different layers of body glass and inclusions were separately analysed in ring-beads. In yellow and also white opaque glasses, tin-based opacifiers and colourants were used. Besides typical La Tène ornaments made of natron-based glass, the analysed collection also contains three fragments of vessel made of much later wood-ash glass. As no evidence of glass-working is available from the Třísov oppidum, it is assumed that it functioned as a trading post or a distribution centre for glass products manufactured, e.g., at the Stradonice or Manching oppida. In this respect, the study provides new data on the production and distribution of La Tène glass in central Europe.
The earliest glass from the territory of Slovenia
Documenta Praehistorica, 2023
This paper presents the results of the analyses of three glass beads from three Bronze Age sites, Medvode-Svetje, Trata near Škofja Loka and Kamna Gorica near Ljubljana. All three sites belong to the Oloris-Podsmreka horizon, which covers the Middle and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age (c. second half of the 16th/first half of the 15th century to 12th century BC). The PIXE and PIGE analyses re- vealed that only two of the examined beads belong to the Bronze Age. The bead from the Medvode-Svetje site is similar to LMHK beads and is most likely an import from the Frattesina production centre in northern Italy, while the bead from the Trata site has similarities with the eastern Mediterranean or even Mesopotamian area HMg glass. The natron glass bead from Kamna Gorica is probably an Iron Age infiltrate in a Bronze Age layer.
Archaeological and Archaeometric Study of the Roman and Late Antique Glass
The Yurta-Stroyno Archaeological Project. Studies on the Roman Rural Settlement in Thrace, 2022
1413 glass fragments were found at the settlement of Yurta -Stroyno during the three years of excavation and one year of the surface survey. Most of the retrieved glass was highly fragmented, which is a result of the fragility of the material itself as well as of its deposition in secondary contexts. The glass collection from Yurta -Stroyno includes a wide range of vessels and glass items, such as personal ornaments and window panes. For the vessels, high quality glass was used, resulting in thin -walled fragments made of translucent, colourless glass, with a minimum of impurities. glass was decorated by wheel -cutting, mould blowing and applied threads. During the surface survey, a group of specific glass fragments was found, later identified as waste from glass production. these include threads, drops, moils, heat -melted fragments and fragments of raw glass, with the latter counting 81 pieces with total weight of 189 g. The retrieved glass material was first typologically classified and preliminary dated based on comparattive data from other settlements, further, the method of XRF analysis was chosen to complement the data needed to interpret the finds. The analysed set of samples represents a selection of different glass objects (89 pcs.), and fragments of the raw glass and the production waste (including production indicators; 28 pcs.)
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
In this work, we investigate on the origin of Late Medieval glass from 12 previously and recently excavated archaeological sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina and South Croatia (Dalmatia). The present work aims to contribute to filling the data gap on the glass distribution in the Balkan region, as well as to provide new insights on glass trade and its impact in the region. Up to now, the knowledge of Medieval glass from the western Balkan (Bosnia up to Bobovac) and eastern Adriatic hinterland (Dalmatian hinterland between Zadar and Dubrovnik, and Herzegovina) remained limited. The lack of archaeometrical data caused limited comparisons with similar materials from other regions in which Venetian glass was used. A representative sample set of 129 glass fragments from the second half of the fourteenth century to the beginning of the fifteenth century was analysed by combined particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) measurements. The studied glass vessels are mostly different from the characteristic Venetian shapes, but they are made with Venetian raw glass, demonstrating the Venetian vitrum blanchum was already widespread in the Adriatic in the second half of the fourteenth-beginning of the fifteenth c. An open question remains whether the origin of the glass vessel production was specifically Venetian or local by adopting the Venetian technology and importing the raw materials.
Analysis of Roman glass from Albania by PIXE/PIGE method
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021
Finds of raw glass and waste from two La Tène glass-working sites, the settlement agglomeration of Němčice dating to the 3rd–second century BC and the Staré Hradisko oppidum from the 2nd–first century BC, are analysed by LA-ICP-MS. The analysis results of a series of 60 samples are compared with the corpus of 1194 analysed glass artefacts from France. A concurrence was found with the composition of Celtic and Hellenistic glass artefacts. Five compositional groups of natron glass were distinguished based on major, minor and trace elements: two groups correspond to Egyptian glass, the other three to Levantine glass. The similarity of the compositions recorded in Western and Central Europe shows that a European-wide network for the imported raw glass can be anticipated. The observation of the waste found at the Němčice site in the light of the experiments carried out with the skills of the La Tène glass masters introduces new elements into the progressive reconstruction of the organisa...
Late Antique glass in Slovenia
The aim of this paper is to overview and summarize glass finds from period between the second half of the 5th and the beginning of the 7th century found in the area of present-day Slovenia. Late antique glass in this part of the southeastern Alps was for a long time overshadowed by the more conspicuous Roman material from between the 1st and 4th century. Some later glass was published along with other finds but it has not yet been properly studied. This study is based on published and unpublished glass from fortified hilltop settlements in Slovenia which represent the main settlement form of the period. Glass vessels and window glass were found especially often in ecclesiastical buildings but also in private houses. Workshops have not yet been confirmed beyond doubt but they are certainly indicated. Considering the relatively low number of imported pottery and the generally autarkic character of the late antique fortified hilltop settlements in Slovenia the quantity of glass finds is surprising. They are represented by stemmed goblets, which are most numerous, and also other forms such as beakers, bottles, balsamaria and occasionally bowls and plates. Glass lamps with handles appear above all in the churches, but can also be found in other contexts. The overall character of the glass finds fits very well within the spectrum of the Early Byzantine glass in the Mediterranean. It indicates that the region of present-day Slovenia was in spite of its dangerous position on the main incursion routes into Italy and the consequent devastations of the 5th century at least in some ways still a part of the economic and commercial networks of the Mediterranean.