A “window” of Roman glass from the beginning of the second century AD — an archeometric study of vitreous finds discovered at the Roman fort and baths from Mălăieşti, Romania

• Published in: Archaeological and anthropological sciences 2023-09, Vol.15 (9), p.134, Article 134
• Main Authors: Bugoi, Roxana, Ţentea, Ovidiu, Manea, Ioana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1st century; 2nd century; 4th century; 8th century; 9th century; Activities of daily living; Anthropology; Archaeology; Chemical elements; Chemistry/Food Science; Color; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Emissions; Fragments; Fringes; Gamma rays; Geography; Hellenistic; Historic buildings & sites; Life Sciences; Manufacturing; Raw materials
• ISSN: 1866-9557; 1866-9565
• DOI: 10.1007/s12520-023-01837-x

This paper reports and discusses the typological characteristics and chemical composition of 93 Roman glass fragments discovered in the Roman fort and baths from Mălăieşti, Prahova County, Romania, dated to AD 102–118. The elemental analysis was performed by simultaneous external particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and particle-induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) at the AGLAE accelerator from the basement of the Louvre Palace, Paris, France. This study is part of a larger project, targeting the understanding of the daily life in a military fort at the fringes of the Roman world. The compositional data on glass finds allowed for discussions on the raw materials, the provenance, and the manufacturing techniques. The archaeometric investigations of these Roman glass items pointed to a rich palette of chemical types of glass, offering circumstantial indicators on the connections of this rather remote site with the rest of the empire during the early second century AD.