Study of medieval glass fragments from Savona (Italy) and their relation with the glass produced in Altare

Altare was in the medieval and post-medieval period an important glassmaking center in the Liguria region in Northern Italy. The first historical evidence of glassmaking in Altare is dated to the twelfth century. In spite of that, due to the continuity of glassmaking up to the present time and the c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of archaeological science 2012-07, Vol.39 (7), p.2191-2197
Main Authors: Cagno, S., Brondi Badano, M., Mathis, F., Strivay, D., Janssens, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Altare
Archaeometry
Historical glass
PIXE-PIGE
Quantitative analysis
Raw materials
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Summary:Altare was in the medieval and post-medieval period an important glassmaking center in the Liguria region in Northern Italy. The first historical evidence of glassmaking in Altare is dated to the twelfth century. In spite of that, due to the continuity of glassmaking up to the present time and the contemporaneous intensive urbanization of the territory, no medieval glass from Altare or its immediate vicinity has been analyzed up to now. In this work, glass from archaeological excavations in the center of Savona, city with close ties with the glassmaking center, was studied. Glass fragments, dated from the tenth to the sixteenth century were selected from the collections of the Archaeological Museum in Savona and non-destructively analyzed with quantitative PIXE-PIGE. The resulting compositions, compared with known glass productions of the same time and evaluated on the basis of historical documents, offer an interesting panorama on the variety of glass circulation in Liguria. ► For the first time, glass from the immediate area of influence of Altare was analyzed. ► Medieval glass excavated in Savona was analyzed with quantitative PIXE-PIGE. ► Important information on possible genuine Altare glass recipes was obtained.
ISSN:0305-4403
1095-9238
DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2012.03.013