Rare Alkali Elements as Markers of Local Glass Working in Medieval Tolmo de Minateda (Spain).

Analytical data of Roman and early Islamic glass established several primary glass production groups linked to glassmaking centres in the Levant and in Egypt. In contrast, the activities of secondary glass workshops are largely invisible in the compositional fingerprint of first millennium glass. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of 261 glass finds from the Visigothic settlement of Tolmo de Minateda (Spain) revealed a site-specific contamination pattern due to secondary glass processing and recycling, namely the enrichment of the glass batch by a unique combination of rare alkali elements (Li, K, Rb, Cs).

Composition and origins of decorated glass from Umayyad Cordoba (Spain).

Unlabelled: Recent archaeological excavations carried out in the western suburbs of Cordoba (Spain) brought to light numerous fragments of archaeological glass from the caliphal period (929-1031 CE). The typological and compositional analysis by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of 66 fragments enabled the identification of different types of base glass and glass working techniques, identifying local productions, imports and decorative imitations of eastern models. The studied fragments include Mesopotamian, Levantine, Egyptian and possibly Sicilian soda-rich plant ash glass categories, and various glass-decorating techniques such as mould-blowing, pressing, cutting, staining or gilding.

Ex novo development of lead glassmaking in early Umayyad Spain.

This study investigates glass finds from the Iberian Peninsula as a proxy for identifying the mechanisms underlying technological transformations and innovation in the wake of the Arab conquest in the seventh and eighth centuries CE. High-resolution laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry data combined with lead isotope analyses of a precisely dated (mid-eighth century to 818 CE) glass assemblage from the Rabad of Šaqunda in Cordoba, capital of Umayyad Spain, enabled us to trace the origins of an Iberian glassmaking industry and to unambiguously link it to the exploitation of local raw materials. The analytical data reveal increased recycling, some isolated imports of Islamic plant ash glasses from Mesopotamia, and, most notably, the development of a new type of glassmaking technology that resorted to the use of lead slag from silver and lead mining and processing in the region around Cordoba.

Glass import and production in Hispania during the early medieval period: The glass from Ciudad de Vascos (Toledo).

One hundred and forty-one glass fragments from medieval Ciudad de Vascos (Toledo, Spain) were analysed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The glasses fall into three types according to the fluxing agents used: mineral natron, soda-rich plant ash, and a combination of soda ash and lead. The natron glasses can be assigned to various established primary production groups of eastern Mediterranean provenance.