1st LANTERNA

ION BEAM TECHNIQUES IN INVESTIGATION OF ROMAN IMPERIAL

VESSEL AND WINDOW GLASS FROM MT. KOSMAJ (SERBIA)

National Museum Belgrade, Serbia

Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia

3rd November, Novi Sad

Ion Beam Techniques PIXE and PIGE

• Accelerated charged particles (protons) are hitting the target and producing the characteristic X or γ -rays which are recorded with detector

https://www.hzdr.de/db/Pic?pOid=29855

Experiments: Tandetron accelerator at the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana

Technology of Glass Making

Silica (sand)

Flux (plant ash, natron, wood ash, lime)

Decolourant (minerals)

Brilliance (metals or minerals)

Colorant (scraped metals or minerals)

Glass

Si

Na

K

Mg

Al

Fe

Ti

Sr

Zr

Sb

Mn

PbCo

Cu

Mn...

Short history of glass making

• Started at 3rd millennium BC in Mesopotamia, spred to Egypt, Mycenae, Persia compositionally soda-ash glass, Mg and K rich glass (chalcophythic plants)

• About 6th cent. BC to 8th cent AD glass becomes characteristic by lower Mg and K levels, richer in antimony or manganese as decolourants. This kind of glass prevailed during the Roman period(natron-lime-silica glass)

• Early Islamic and in Europe 8th cent AD. glass returns to high Mg, K levels (wood ash in westernEurope)

The crude material was obtained in the region of Levant where remains of

large glass furnaces have been found dated to the Byzantine period but

assuming that it was the same method used in earlier times. The chunk glass

was then crushed in small paces and sent to the secondary workshops for the

production of glass objects

Centralized Primary Production

This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons..

Map of the Roman Empire in 125 AD. during the reign of emperor Hadrian

One of the mining settlements in the province Moesia Superior was at

today Mt. Kosmaj village Stojnik. There are several necropolis found

dated to the period from 1st to the 3rd cent. AD, namely small Kopašnica Sase tipe

of burial. The cremated remains/a heap of ash with the bones of deceased and

grave goods were placed into the interior of closed grave/buried pits with the

sides and the bottom fired

All glass samples from Mt. Kosmaj are natron tipe

MgO and K2O Concentrations in the Samples

825231918132263031332422272128292013111617121591476310254

41,20

60,80

80,40

100,00

slicnost

K1 K2K3

%

uzorci

Cluster Analyses

Three different compositional groups

K1;

N=13

прозорско

K2

N=13

посуде

K3

N=4

зелено

стакло

Средња

вредност

st. dev. Средња

вредност

±ст. дев. Средња

вредност

±ст. дев.

Na2O % 18.37 ± 2.77 15.11 ± 2.97 15 ± 0.61

MgO % 0.67 ± 0.24 0.54 ± 0.14 0.48 ± 0.15

Al2O3 % 1.97 ± 0.18 2.19 ± 0.28 2.57 ± 0.09

SiO2% 68.95 ± 2.30 72.14 ± 2.80 71.88 ± 0.56

SO3% 0.40 ± 0.06 1.06 ± 0.37 0.49 ± 0.02

Cl% 1.16 ± 0.13 0.97 ± 0.08 0.95 ± 0.06

K2O% 0.45 ± 0.03 0.59 ± 0.14 0.86 ± 0.4

CaO% 6.32 ± 0.45 6.30 ± 0.29 7.17 ± 0.25

TiO2% 0.09 ± 0.01 0.08 ± 0.01 0.05 ± 0.003

MnO% 0.92 ± 0.07 0.29 ± 0.17 0.199 ± 0.08

Fe2O3% 0.57 ± 0.04 0.42 ± 0.07 0.318 ± 0.07

Sb2O3% 0.02 ± 0.08 0.19 ± 0.08 0.006 ± 0.01

DECOLOURANTS

• K3 pale green Mn about 0,2% as natural impurity

•K2 different colours and colourless MnO about 0,3% and

SbO2 about 0,2 %

•K1 window glass MnO of about 1%

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Sb

2O

3%

MnO%

K1

K2

K3

Conclusions on 1st to 4th cent. ADglass from Mt. Kosmaj

natron-lime-silica glass - all samples

Vessel glass produced from Levantine sand, mostly recycled glass.

Windows glass has same characteristics but unusually high levels of manganese for the glass that is not discoloured. This can indicate non purified minerals of manganese and unskillfulness of the glass workers possibly in secondary local production

One small group of pale green glass has no signs of recycling, presenting the most similar material to standard

roman composition but with some differences in recipes.

THANK YOU