Physicochemical Analysis of Medieval Glass from 14th-16th Centuries AD found in the Sciacca Castle site (Sicily) by LA-ICP-MS and UV-VIS Reflectance Spectroscopy

The results of physico-chemical analysis performed by ICP-MS with laser ablation solid sampling and UV-VIS Reflectance Spectroscopy on several glass fragments from drinking vessels and lamps, found during the 2008 excavation campaign at the archaeological site of Castello Nuovo of Sciacca (Sicily, Italy) are presented and discussed. The findings were dated from the end of 14th until the early 16th century. The glass chromophores were identified by UV-VIS spectra. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses of elemental data indicated some main compositional groups of glass samples based on the used sands and fluxes. These data were compared with the ones found in the literature for samples from the same age. All the glass samples are soda-silica-lime and at least two different types of silica sources and two kinds of sodic vegetal ashes used as fluxing agents were identified. These differences could be related to the use of different glassmaker recipes, to the trading of different raw materials for glass making and/or to import of glass artifacts from other countries, like Venice, Tuscany and North Europe.