Chemistry, Provenance and Archaeology of Plant Ashes in Mycenaean Glass Production
Dr. Kalliopi Nikita
Funded by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory 2007-2008 ($17,100).
Given that ashes of halophytic plants are fundamental in the formation of Late Bronze Age glasses, the project investigates the alkalis involved in glass production of Greece during the principal Mycenaean period, c. 1400-1200 BC. Electron probe microanalysis is used to examine the chemical composition of selected Mycenaean glass jewellery (Fig 1.) This is further explored by using the stable isotope ratios for strontium (87Sr/86Sr) to provenance the plant ashes used in their manufacture (Henderson et al. 2005; Barkoudah & Henderson 2006).
Following a botanical survey in Boeotia and the broader area of east central mainland Greece, samples of halophytic plants, well known since the Bronze Age (Rackham 1983: 316) will be collected. Chemical and isotopic analysis of produced ashes will help cross-check the plant-ash composition and isotope signatures detected in the analysed Mycenaean glass jewellery. By suggesting the plant-ash sources of Mycenaean glassmaking from chemical analyses and linking these to their isotope signatures, the project aims to distinguish glasses amongst production centres, highlight technological innovations and define the degree of industrial specialisation.
Figure 1: Beads in the form of double eight-petalled rosette. Translucent dark blue covered by a layer of whitish weathering. D.0.012m. Th. 0.003m. Moulded. Mycenaean cemetery at the site of Kolonaki in Thebes (late 14th century BC). Thebes Archaeological Museum
Bibliography
Henderson, J. et al. 2005. 'The use of oxygen, strontium and lead isotopes to provenance ancient glasses in the Middle East', Journal of Archaeological Science 32; 665-673.
Barkoudah, J. and Henderson, J. 2006. 'Plant ashes from Syria and the manufacture of a glass: ethnographic and scientific aspects', The Journal of Glass Studies 48; 297-321.
Rackham, O. 1983. 'Observations on the historical ecology of Boeotia', Annual of the British School at Athens 78; 291-351.
Organisations
- Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 3rd, 9th, 14th Ephorates of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.
- Archaeological Museum of Thebes, Atalanti, Lamia.
- Excavation of Elateia-Alonaki, University of Salzburg, (Fachbereich Altertumswissenschaften, Alte (Geschichte), Altertumskunde und Mykenologie).
Laboratories
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Microanalysis Research Facility, Department of Classics and Archaeology, the University of Nottingham
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British Geological Survey