Unravelling the Iron Age glass trade in southern Italy: the first trace-element analyses

Sonia Conte , Rossella Arletti (1) , Francesca Mermati , Bernard Gratuze (2)

1 DSMP - Dipartimento di Scienze Mineralogiche e Petrologiche
2 IRAMAT-CEB - IRAMAT - Centre Ernest Babelon

The beginning of the 1st millennium BC was one of the key periods in the development of glassmaking technologies, characterized by the supplanting of plant-ash technology by natron-based production, which would be typical of the Roman glass industry. The ESEM-EDS, EMPA, and LA-ICPMS analyses of 72 glass samples from Sarno, Cuma and Capua (Campania, southern Italy), dated to the 9th–6th century BC, revealed a complex picture as regards both the chemical composition of the glass and the trade routes of Early Iron Age Campania. The sample set was composed of classic natron glass, natron black glass (characterised by high levels of FeO 10 wt%), natron alumina-cobalt blue glass coloured with Egyptian cobaltiferous alum, and plant-ash glass. The traceelement analysis made it possible to hypothesize the trade routes that linked ancient Campania with the Eastern Mediterranean.

Mots clés: Southern Italy; Iron Age; Glass; Archaeometry; Trace elements; LA-ICPMS; EMPA

Mots clés: Verre; Age du fer; Analyses; Archéométrie

Domaines: Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Archéologie et Préhistoire

Sonia Conte, Rossella Arletti, Francesca Mermati, Bernard Gratuze. Unravelling the Iron Age glass trade in southern Italy: the first trace-element analyses. European Journal of Mineralogy, 2016, 28 (2), pp.409-433. ⟨10.1127/ejm/2016/0028-2516⟩. ⟨hal-01829744⟩