On the Mystery of One Bead (original) (raw)
Related papers
2020
This paper is devoted to the interdisciplinary study of an enameled glass fragment found in the excavation of the Bolgar fortifi ed settlement (Russia). The artifact comes from excavation site CLXXII of the so-called aristocratic district of the city. A comparison to a collection of Islamic drinking glasses from the Nasser Khalili collection shows the identity of the enamel pattern decor. The artifact was investigated by a series of analytical methods: scanning optical and electron microscopy (OSEM) and optical emission spectral analysis (OES). The results of the OES studies revealed that the basis is soda-lime glass. OSEM determined that different enamel colors were obtained from lapis lazuli, nepheline, diopside, bone ash, hematite, and lead-tin additive. Comparison of element's concentrations with data of the Brill catalog of archaeological glass made it possible to identify the Bulgarian fragment as Egyptian glass produced in the late 13 th-early 14 th centuries.
Heritage Science, 2023
Four glass beads from a Scythian burial on the island of Khortytsia (Southern Ukraine) were subjected to 3D imaging using micro-CT and photogrammetry. The aim was to reconstruct the process used to produce and decorate the beads by detecting and interpreting the traces left by the technological processes on the bead surface and in the glass body. It turned out that all the beads were obtained by winding hot glass around the mandrel. The distribution, size and shape of the bubbles in the glass matrix revealed by the micro-CT scans and the features observed during a thorough examination of the photogrammetric models allowed us to follow the movements of the bead maker during the formation of the bead body and its decoration, highlighting several details of the production processes such as the number of the superimposed layers and the direction of the rotation of the mandrel during both the formation of the body and the decoration of the bead. Some information about the tools also emerged, with particular reference to the shape of the mandrel, the possible use of a releasing agent and how tools were used to decorate the surface or to remove the beads from the mandrel. According to the archaeological classification, the beads considered here belong to three different types, that are considered chronological indicators of the fourth century BCE and are found in archaeological sites spread over an area extending for several thousand kilometers from the Black Sea coast to the Ural Mountains. This work enriches the knowledge of the micromorphology of beads found in Eastern Europe, which is rarely discussed in the scientific literature on the archaeological glass beads.
Geologica Balcanica , 2019
The glass beads from the Dren-Delyan necropolis are found in burial complexes dated from the end of the 6th century BC until the first half of the 4th century BC. The purpose of this study is to obtain data on the chemical composition of the glass and the technology of its production. LA-ICP-MS and SEM-EDS analyses were conducted. The analyzed glass beads are classified as a low-magnesium type (LMG), and only one of the samples is determined as high-magnesium glass (HMG). The yellow color of the glass is due to crystals of lead antimonate incorporated into the glass matrix. The green color of the beads is a result of the interaction of added copper and lead in the glass mixture, in the presence of iron and chromium. Dark blue samples are colored by additives with cobalt, copper and lower iron content. The light blue coloration of opaque glass beads is due to high copper content, along with the presence of iron. The coloring agent of a transparent light blue bead is FeO in an amount up to 0.25 wt%. The brown color is associated with high iron content. Two different opacifiers were used for the production of opaque glass beads – antimony and tin, either individually or together. The decolorizing agent is antimony without the involvement of manganese. Based on the results of the studied glass beads, we assume at least four types of raw material mixtures for their production. A comparison of the obtained results and published data about similar ancient glass findings was made. Tzankova, N., Mihaylov, P. 2019. Chemical characterization of glass beads from the necropolis of Dren-Delyan (6 th-4 th century BC), Southwest Bulgaria. Geologica Balcanica 48 (2), 31-50.
Scientific analyses of some glass beads from Scythian and later sites in southern Siberia
Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia, 2020
A group of glass beads from late Scythian graves at Aymyrlyg and two groups of re-strung beads from a post-Scythian hoard at Znamenka were examined as part of a programme of scientific analysis associated with the exhibition 'Scythians: warriors of ancient Siberia' at the British Museum in 2017/18. All belong to the collections of the State Hermitage Museum and were analysed with permission as part of the exhibition loan agreement. Non-destructive compositional analysis was carried out on the surface of the objects using a combination of XRF and VP-SEM-EDX. Using the compositional data it was possible to characterise and differentiate the types of glass used in the production of these objects. Using published analytical data for contemporary glasses we are able to suggest an approximate provenance for each of the object types and a closer dating for the beads from Znamenka. Since this was published, further parallels for the latter have been found, and a follow-up paper is anticipated, so any comments would be gratefully received and acknowledged.
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...
ARCHAEOMETRICAL ANALYSIS OF GLASS BEADS: POTENTIAL, LIMITATIONS, AND RESULTS
Beads, 2014
Over the past few decades, several new analytical techniques have been used to determine the composition and the likely production centers of glass beads found at archaeological sites around the world. Made since antiquity, glass beads are important artifacts which can provide much more information than their small size suggests. This article reviews the most common analytical techniques used to study glass beads – optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray fluorescence (XRF), instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and Raman spectroscopy – and discusses their potential, limitations, and what results may be expected.
Chemical Composition of Glass and Faience Beads from the Belbek IV Necropolis
Annales du 18e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, 2012
The Belbek IV necropolis is situated in the south-western Crimea in the Belbek river valley. The site dates back to the second quarter of the 1st century A.D. or the first half of the 3rd century A.D. Among the most common artifacts in Belbek IV burials are beads made of glass, faience, stone, amber, gagate, and other materials. Initially, we studied the morphology and techniques. This paper is concerned with the study of the chemical composition of glass and faience beads. The composition of 28 beads was identified by Yegorkov with emission spectrum analysis. The results of the analysis were interpreted according to the method by Sčapova. With this methodology, all analyzed beads save one faience bead were found to be made of glass. The analysis of the chemical composition of glass and faience revealed the sources of alkali and alkali-earth materials and helped to calculate norms of recipe. Beads were divided into chemical classes according to the classification of the ancient glass composition. The origin of the beads was determined by correlating the norms to the types of alkali and alkali-earth materials. The beads were classified by glassmaking schools, with the most part (13 specimens) being associated with the Near Eastern school, with workshops spread throughout the inner regions of Near East/Southwest Asia, possibly in Syria. Eight beads were linked to the Mesopotamian school, with workshops in the inner regions of Near East/Southwest Asia, namely Mesopotamia. Five beads were linked to the provincial Roman school with workshops throughout Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean and the territory of the European provinces of Rome. One bead was classified as pertaining to the metropolitan Roman school with workshops in Rome. The faience bead, in our opinion, was produced in the traditional glassmaking regions (Egypt or Near East/Southwest Asia), rather than in mountain regions.
Glass Beads from the Barrow Grave in the Greater Moscow Area Dated from 17th and 18th century
Annales du 19e Congrès de l’Association Internationale pour l’Histoire du Verre, 2015
In 2008 the Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow) performed safeguarding archaeological work in Solnechnogorsk district of Moscow region. An isolated barrow grave was discovered in the course of the work. Two female burials were discovered inside. The accompanying inventory, including glass beads (878 specimens) allowed dating the mound to the 17th or 18th century. The bulk of the glass beads are colorless and colored seed beads (white, yellow, green, indigo, turquoise, red-brown and purple, 840 specimens) made by dividing up the drawn tubes. Flat oval beads of opaque white and gray glass and transparent blue-green glass made by winding (37 specimens) were found in addition to the seed beads. The study of the chemical composition of beads suggested that the beads of indigo, red-brown, white, purple, turquoise and colorless glass can be traced to the Venetian production. Green and yellow seed beads and flat oval beads can be regarded as a product of European factories, particularly Dutch. The beads in question were found in one of two discovered burials containing a female aged about 20 years. All of them were located in the waist area of the female to the right of the spine, near the right elbow. The hairstyle of the buried female has been reconstructed as the hair was intact: a single braid descending down the spine. The location of beads in the burial suggest that the beads may have been part of the decoration of the braid, the so-called kosnik (from Russian “kosa” for braid). Kosnik is a complex decoration, in which a bronze or leather ring-holder or metal signet rings held a strings of beads, a beaded rigid leather or textile base, also decorated with textile ribbons and tassels made from beads and seed beads.
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.
Chemical Composition of Glass Beads from the Necropolis of Apollonia Pontica (5th–3rd Century BC)
This work presents the results of our analysis of glass beads from Apollonia Pontica (now the town of Sozopol on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast), obtained by PIXE (proton induced X-ray emission) and PIGE (proton induced gamma emission). The concentration of 25 elements in the earliest glass materials in Bulgaria, those found in the necropolis of Apollonia Pontica, are determined and discussed. The glass pieces are dated to the 5 th -3 rd century BC. Elemental concentration data show that the glass beads belong to the Na 2 O-CaO-SiO 2 or Na 2 O-CaO-SiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 -glass type. Different shades of blue colour in the studied samples are a result of the combination of Fe 2 O 3 , CoO, and CuO; the yellow colour is obtained by the combination of Fe 2 O 3 , PbO, and Sb 2 O 3 , resulting in a chemical compound between lead and antimony with the composition of Pb 2 Sb 2 O 7 ; and the greenish colour is due to certain amount of Fe 2 O 3 .