Analytical exploration of the Mycenaean glass world via micro-PIXE: a contribution to our knowledge of LBA glass technology

Abstract

During the Late Bronze Age, the Peloponnese with its palatial centers becomes the heartland of the Mycenaean world, resulting in an idiosyncratic material culture within the archaeological record, with glass constituting undoubtedly an important agent gaining prominence from the 15th cent. BC onwards, at the time when the palaces start rising and turning out to be characteristic to the Mycenaean material culture of the palatial elite. In this paper, the chemical composition of eleven (11) glass beads and relief plaques from three tombs of the necropolis in the area of Palaia Epidavros, Argolid in Greece have been studied to discuss aspects related to the nature of technology and provenance of fifteenth to eleventh century BC dated Mycenaean glass jewelry. The study resulted in the chemical fingerprinting of the collection by means of micro-PIXE succeeding in highlighting interesting technological aspects and assigning a likely origin of the studied samples. Importantly, since part of the assemblage had been studied in the past with the application of SEM–EDS and pXRF, the use of mPIXE enabled an enhanced discussion on glass related topics by comparing the results obtained.