Abstract
This work reports the results of the archaeometrical investigation performed on twenty glass tesserae collected in 2018, during the restoration of the Four Seasons mosaic, which dates between the second and the third century AD, in the archaeological area of the S. Aloe quarter in Vibo Valentia (Calabria, Italy). The coloured glass tesserae were analysed through a micro-analytical approach using an Electron Probe Micro Analyser with Wavelength-Dispersive Spectroscopy (EPMA-WDS) and Laser Ablation with Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The aims of the study were (1) the determination of the chemical composition and the technology of glass mosaic tesserae production; (2) the individuation of colouring and opacifying agents used for the production of the glass tesserae. The glasses show the typical soda–lime–silica composition. EPMA-WDS results prove the use of Sn–Pb antimonates to create yellow glass, and of cuprite to obtain the red colour. Copper and cobalt were employed in both green and blue glasses to produce different shades of colour (grey, tints of green, dark and light blue).
Highlights
The Calabrian city of Vibo Valentia lays on an ample hilly plateau dominating the Lamezia gulf, the Poro upland and the valley where the Mesima river flows (Figure 1)
Each datum represents the mean value of three analyses
The chemical study of archaeological glasses provides important information about their production techniques the raw materials used provides in their preparation
Summary
The Calabrian city of Vibo Valentia lays on an ample hilly plateau dominating the Lamezia gulf, the Poro upland and the valley where the Mesima river flows (Figure 1). The Vibo Valentia area has been continuously inhabited since the Prehistoric period thanks to its strategic geographic position. Vibo Valentia was a Greek colony, founded by the Locri people at the end of the VII century B.C. on the Tyrrhenian shore of Calabria. It became a Roman colony in 192 B.C. This archaeological quarter expands for about thirty thousand square meters, at about 470 m above sea level. Nowadays, it is sited in an area between the Grammar School “Morelli”
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