Archaeometric investigation of Roman tesserae from Herculaneum (Italy) by the combined use of complementary micro-destructive analytical techniques |
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| Authors: | Inez van der Werf Annarosa Mangone Lorena Carla Giannossa Angela Traini Rocco Laviano Antonella Coralini Luigia Sabbatini |
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| Affiliation: | aDipartimento di chimica, University of Bari, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy;bCentro interdipartimentale “Laboratorio di Ricerca per la diagnostica dei Beni Culturali”, University of Bari, Italy;cDipartimento geomineralogico, University of Bari, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari, Italy;dDipartimento di archeologia, University of Bologna, piazza San Giovanni in Monte 2, 40124 Bologna, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Vitreous tesserae from two mosaics in Herculaneum (Italy) dating from the 1st century AD have been investigated in order to gather information on Imperial Age opaque glass. The combined use of complementary micro-destructive analytical techniques, namely optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) allowed to define the nature of formers, fluxes, chromophores and opacifying compounds and to determine the type of raw materials employed for their introduction. The results confirmed the high technological level of Imperial Age glassmakers and clarified some details of the production processes. Experimental data have been obtained concerning formation of antimony-based opacifiers. The presence of tin-containing Ca- and Pb-antimonates has been ascertained in various green, yellow and turquoise tesserae. Moreover, unusual divergences from the established Roman age ‘low magnesia–low potash’ (LMLK) glass composition have been found for some red and green samples. |
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| Keywords: | Ancient glass Roman Mosaic tesserae ICP-MS SEM– EDS X-ray diffraction Archaeometry |
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