CHEMICAL AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF ROMAN GLASS FROM SEVERAL NORTHWEST-ERN IBERIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
Authors/Creators
- 1. Departamento de Química Analítica y Análisis Instrumental. Facultad de Ciencias. Campus de Excelencia Internacional de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
- 2. Departamento de Geología y Geoquímica. Facultad de Ciencias. Campus de Excelencia Inter-nacional de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.28049 Madrid. Spain.
- 3. Departamento de Ciencias del Medio Natural. Escuela Superior de Ingenieros Agrónomos. Universidad Pública de Navarra, 31006 Pamplona, Spain.
- 4. Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas (CIEMAT), 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Description
A total 103 fragments of Roman glass tableware are studied, unearthed at 7 archaeolog-ical sites in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, to establish both similarities and dif-ferences in their chemical composition. ICP Mass Spectrometry is used to characterize the chemical composition of: (i) major elements, so as to determine the type of glass; (ii) mi-nor elements, added to improve the properties of the glass; and, (iii) trace elements, as indicators of the base raw material of the glass. Multivariate statistical studies are also used to establish links and significant differences between glass samples, shedding fur-ther light on knowledge of Roman glass manufacturing techniques in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Three main conclusions were achieved. (i) There are significant chemical differences between samples from Braga (Bracara Augusta, Portugal) and the other samples. (ii) These other samples may be sorted into three major groups according to their chemical constituents. (iii) Finally, the statistical analysis and the chemical com-position of several glass fragments suggest they were found at some distance from their place of manufacture, requiring the reclassification of their archaeological site of prove-nance.