Multi-technique approach to unveil the composition, fabrication, and potential provenance of a unique pre-Roman glass collection (IV-I BC).

Abstract

This work summarizes the results of a three-year project focused on the archaeometrical study of a collection of about one thousand pre-Roman glass beads found at the archaeological site of Pintia (Valladolid, Spain), located at the interior of Iberia. In addition to the morphological and contextual analysis of the entire collection, a representative set of 150 samples, including several unique and exquisite polychrome beads, have been studied in detail by diverse archaeometric techniques such as Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, PIXE/PIGE, X-ray tomography, among others. The combined use of these techniques provided valuable data about the production processes of the polychrome beads. Remarkably, some previous conceptions about their fabrication have been modified, and evidence about their production in secondary workshops has been provided. Moreover, hints about the origin of the primary glasses employed in all the studied samples have been obtained, suggesting their origin was scattered between Egypt and Syria-Palestine.