Unravelling provenance and recycling of Late Antique glass with trace elements

Abstract

International audienceEarlier research has shown that several common late antique glass types circulate in Cyprus between the 5th and the 7th century AD, specifically Levantine 1, HLIMT, HIMTa, HIMTb and Egypt 1, HIT, Roman and a plant ash glass. By investigating the glass material from Yeroskipou-Agioi Pente, Maroni-Petrera and Kalavasos-Kopetra we aimed to refine the chemical groups present within three late antique Cypriot sites and define the relations between trace elements obtained from LA-ICP-MS. Our data demonstrate compositional patterns that can be exploited to provenance late antique glass by investigating the REE-bearing mineral fractions, the amount of zircon and the carbonaceous fraction of the sand. In addition Nb and Ti display a strong linear relation which depends on the glass type. Finally the paper discusses the occurrence of glass recycling on the island and how this activity influenced the concentration levels of specific trace elements. Our study thus sets out an analytical framework to identify recycling events tailored on each compositional type