Deeply colored and black-appearing Roman glass: a continued research

• Published in: Journal of archaeological science 2014-02, Vol.42, p.128-139
• Main Authors: Cagno, S., Cosyns, P., Izmer, A., Vanhaecke, F., Nys, K., Janssens, K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Black glass; Coloring agents; LA-ICP-MS; Roman; SEM–EDX
• ISSN: 0305-4403; 1095-9238
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2013.11.003

In the context of archaeological and historical assessment of Roman black-appearing glass, the chemical and physical characterization of a large collection of samples originating from various areas of the Roman Empire has been gathered over the past years to (i) verify whether a minor segment of the overall Roman glass production can help in determining possible diachronic changes in Roman imperial glass production (1st century AD – 5th century AD) and (ii) reveal regional compositional differences. In this paper, the latest results on the chemical composition of an additional 44 black-appearing Roman glass samples are presented, together with general conclusions based upon the entire compositional dataset of over 400 analyzed black glass samples. The results show that the Roman black glass is obtained through several glass compositions with a specific chronological, geographical and typological distribution. •We present a summary of the present knowledge on black and deeply colored Roman glass.•Over 400 black Roman glass finds were analyzed by means of SEM–EDX and LA-ICP-MS.•The chronology and regional distribution of black Roman glass are reconstructed.•Fe and Mn were added to available glass to obtain a macroscopically black appearance.