14.14 - Elemental and Isotopic Analysis of Ancient Ceramics and Glass

Abstract

The specific purpose of the chemical investigation of ancient pottery and glass artifacts is the study of their provenance, and thus of the exchange and trade of whole objects or raw materials. Chemical analysis for major and trace elements is particularly useful in defining the raw materials used for the manufacture of ceramics and comparing this fingerprint to locally known clay resources. A combination of such chemical fingerprinting with petrographical and mineralogical analysis techniques provides a full characterization of ceramic manufacturing. In the study of glass and other vitreous materials, elemental analysis is a powerful technique to identify technological choices in glass manufacture, specifically to characterize the mixture of raw materials used. To be able to provenance glassmaking from sand and flux, isotopic analysis is currently the prime technique available.