Abstract
This work reports the results of an archaeometrical investigation of opaque Roman glass and is mainly focussed on the role of configuration and oxidation state of copper on the colour and opacity of red and green opaque finds (mosaic tesserae, game counters, and glass artefacts) from Sicily and Pompeii excavations. The glass fragments were characterised by EMPA, SEM-EDS, TEM, and XRPD analyses and the copper local environment was investigated using X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The analyses of high-resolution Cu-K edge XANES and EXAFS spectra suggest that, in red samples, copper is present as monovalent cations coordinated to the oxygen atoms of the glass framework, accompanied by metallic clusters. In green samples all the copper cations are incorporated in the glass matrix.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R.H. Doremus, Glass Science, 2nd edn. (Wiley, New York, 1994)
J. Henderson, Oxford J. Anthropol. 4, 267 (1985)
W.A. Weyl, Coloured Glass (Corning, New York, 1953)
P. Mirti, P. Davit, M. Gulmini, Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 372, 221 (2002)
N. Brun, L. Mazerolles, M. Pernot, J. Mater. Sci. Lett. 10, 1418 (1991)
I. Nakai, C. Numako, H. Hosono, K. Yamasaky, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 82, 85 (1999)
S. Padovani, C. Sada, P. Mazzoldi, B. Brunetti, I. Borgia, A. Giulivi, S. Sgamellotti, F. D’Acapito, G. Battaglin, J. Appl. Phys. 93, 158 (2003)
S. Padovani, I. Borgia, B. Brunetti, A. Sgamellotti, A. Giulivi, F. D’Acapito, P. Mazzoldi, C. Sada, G. Battaglin, Appl. Phys. A 79, 223 (2004)
R.H. Brill, in Glass and Glassmaking in Ancient Mesopotamia, ed. by A.L. Oppenheim, R.H. Brill, D. Barag, A. von Saldern (The Corning Museum of Glass Monogr. 3) (Corning, New York, 1970), p. 129
I. Nakai, M. Matsunaga, M. Adachi, K.I. Hidaka, J. Phys. France IV 2, 1033 (1997)
S. Quartieri, M. Triscari, G. Sabatino, F. Boscherini, A. Sani, Eur. J. Mineral. 14, 749 (2002)
M. Triscari, S. Quartieri, G. Sabatino, G. Vezzalini, R. Arletti, M.A. Mastelloni, Quad. Mus. Reg. Mess. (2005) in press
R. Arletti, A. Ciarallo, S. Quartieri, G. Sabatino, G. Vezzalini, in Geomaterials in Cultural Heritage, ed. by M. Maggetti, B. Messiga (Spec. Publ. Geol. Soc. Lond. 257 (2006)
R. Rinaldi, in Microscopia Elettronica a Scansione e Microanalisi, Parte II, ed. by A. Artigliato, U. Valdrè (Lo Scarabeo, Bologna, 1981) p. 245
J.J. Donovan, M. Rivers, Microbeam Anal. 66, 68 (1990)
S. Pascarelli, F. Boscherini, F. D’Acapito, J. Hardy, C. Meneghini, S. Mobilio, J. Synchrotron Radiat. 3, 147 (1996)
M. Newville, J. Synchrotron Radiat. 8, 322 (2001)
http://feff.phys.washington.edu/∼ravel/software/exafs/
A.L. Ankudinov, B. Ravel, J.J. Rehr, S.D. Conradson, Phys. Rev. B 58, 7565 (1998)
W.E.S. Turner, J. Soc. Glass Technol. 40, 162 (1956)
E.V. Sayre, R.V. Smith, Science 133, 1824 (1961)
M. Verità, in Le Verre de l’Antiquite Tardive et du Haut Moyen Age, Musee Archeologique Departemental du Val d’Oise, ed. by D. Foy (AFAV, 1993) (Guiry, 1995) p. 291
C. Lilyquist, R.H. Brill, Studies in Ancient Egyptian Glass (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1995)
Y. Kuroda, R. Kumashiro, A. Itadani, M. Nagao, H. Kobayashi, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 3, 1383 (2001)
H.G. Fritsche, R.E. Benfield, Z. Phys. D 269, 15 (1993)
K. Fukumi, A. Chayahara, K. Kadono, H. Kageyama, T. Akai, N. Kitamura, M. Makihara, K. Fujii, J. Hayakawa, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 238, 143 (1998)
A. Paul, in Chemistry of Glasses, 2nd edn. (Chapman and Hall, London, 1990) p. Ch. 9
B.K. Teo, EXAFS: Basic Principles and Data Analysis (Springer, Berlin, 1986)
A.A. Ahmed, G.M. Ashour, Glass Technol. 22, 24 (1981)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
PACS
61.10.Ht; 61.43.Fs; 61.46.+w
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Arletti, R., Dalconi, M., Quartieri, S. et al. Roman coloured and opaque glass: a chemical and spectroscopic study. Appl. Phys. A 83, 239–245 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-006-3515-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-006-3515-2