Barium silicates may be found in contact aureoles and are used in several important technologies (e.g. LEDs). The BaO-SiO 2 system stabilizes 13 crystalline phases with different silicate tetrahedral and connectivity profiles. Aside from phases composed of a single structural unit (isolated or homo-connected tetrahedra) one encounters the relatively rare case of heteroconnected tetrahedra in which varying proportions of several Q n species are linked together. Here, we analyze the 29 Si MAS NMR and Raman spectroscopic manifestations of the connectivities in seven barium silicates: Ba 2 SiO 4 , high-BaSiO 3 , Ba 4 Si 6 O 16 , Ba 5 Si 8 O 21 , Ba 6 Si 10 O 26 , high-BaSi 2 O 5 and sanbornite (low-BaSi 2 O 5 ). The structures and purity of these phases were confirmed by Rietveld refinement. From the Raman spectroscopic database on 144predominantly homo-connected crystalline silicates, the mean Q n mode frequencies (ν Qn ± 1σ) are found at 827.7 (±13.8) cm -1 for Q 0 , 905.3 (±22.1) cm -1 for Q 1 , 993.5 (±25.9) cm -1 for Q 2 , and 1068.4 (±17.6) cm -1 for Q 3 units. Experimentally, homo-connected barium silicates show good agreement with these values whereas the hetero-connected phases show a wider range of ν Q2 than of ν Q3 frequencies. While the 29 Si NMR chemical shifts of the barium silicates are in agreement with known structural trends, those measured for the Q 2 resonances remain essentially constant, which may be caused by the lattice distortion around the large Ba 2+ cations. To complement and rationalize experimental measurements, first-principles calculations, at the This is the peer-reviewed, final accepted version for American Mineralogist, published by the Mineralogical Society of America.The published version is subject to change. Cite as Authors (Year) Title. American Mineralogist, in press.