Elemental analyses have been conducted on 61 coloured opaque glasses from the Malkata and Lisht New Kingdom glass factories. The presence of tin in several of the blue glasses suggests that a bronze casting byproduct or corrosion product was the source of the copper colorant for these glasses. A positive correlation between the lead and antimony concentrations of the yellow and green opaque glasses, plus a consistent excess of lead oxide in these glasses, suggests the use of antimony-rich cupellation litharge as the source for the Pb 2 Sb 2 O 7 colorant in these glasses. The metallurgical byproducts used to colour the Malkata and Lisht glasses provide an explicit mechanism for Peltenburg's theory of interaction between second millennium bc glassmakers and contemporary metalworkers.
Capital of the Abbasid Caliphate between 836 and 892 CE, the palace-city of Samarra offers a precise window into early Islamic art and architecture. Excavations conducted more than 100 years ago are seen as the beginnings of scientific Islamic archaeology, and have yielded an exceptional array of finds including a wealth of glass artefacts. The chemical composition of glass reflects the nature of the raw materials and their geological provenance and can therefore reveal past technologies and economic and cultural interactions. Through high-resolution analysis of a comprehensive glass assemblage from Samarra we have new evidence that points to the existence of an advanced Abbasid glass industry, as well as the import of specific glass objects for the thriving new capital city. Quantitative analytical data of 58 elements by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) show a striking correlation between object types and glass compositions. The compositional profiles of two related plant ash groups of architectural glass point to a local production, destined for the decoration of the famed glass walls of Abbasid palaces. The selective use of objects, materials and colours to create reflective and luminous glass walls are indicative of the great cultural and economic value of glass during the Abbasid period. Our findings thus confirm the veracity of written sources that stipulate the production of glass in the vicinity of Samarra, as well as the import of selected artefacts such as Byzantine mosaic tesserae.
Roman colored opaque vessel glasses and mosaic tesserae were examined using energy dispersive X-ray analysis, wavelength dispersive X-ray analysis, and scanning electron microscopy in order to identify the origins of the antimony-based glass opacifying agents used in the Roman period. Bindheimite and stibnite were considered as mineralogical sources of antimony, and antimonial litharge was investigated as a metallurgical source of antimony. The refining of antimonial silver ores was discussed as a source for antimonial litharge in the Roman period. The morphologies of the antimonate crystallites, their distributions, and the observed correlations of lead to antimony in the glasses indicated that roasted stibnite was the antimony source for the white and blue opaque glasses and antimonial litharge was the antimony source for the yellow and green opaque glasses. Opaque yellow Roman glasses were found to contain a mixture of clastic, subhedral, and euhedral lead pyroantimonate (Pb2Sb2O7) particles. The euhedral crystallites are a rhombohedral modification of Pb2Sb2O7that is formed above 900 °C.
Sensitivity, precision and accuracy of quantitative microanalysis of major, minor and trace elements present in ancient glasses by energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) is compared to that by wavelength dispersive spectrometry (WDS). Although there are certain problems with EDS due to peak overlaps and background noise, the precision and minimum detection limits of EDS for most of the important elements in ancient glasses were found to compare favourably to those of WDS. Both EDS and WDS, when quantified by comparison to glass standards, can produce reliable results which are adequate for most technological questions.
Studying the raw materials used by ancient glassmakers provides information about ancient glassmaking practices, the relationship between glassmaking and other craft technologies (silicate-based or non-silicate-based), and the trading patterns of specific cultures. Colored opaque glasses are of particular interest because they were among the first mass-produced and mass-distributed glasses.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.