Investigation of glass raw material and heat manufacture technology.

The archaeological glasses originate Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman period.

Archaeologists argued that in Greek antiquity glass was not made but the vitreous material was imported from different areas of the East Mediterranean coast. Especially in the Greco-Roman age, glass artefacts in Greece are considered to have been manufactured using raw glass made with sand and natron, and produced in Egyptian and Near East glass-making factories. These factories probably produced only batches of raw glass and not necessarily vessels or other objects. The importation of raw glass complicates more the existing problem regarding the identification of the origin of the basic components of glass and the fusion processes. Thus, it is of utmost importance to distinguish the origin and composition of ‘Roman’ age glasses from glasses imported from other provenances. In this study chemical and isotopic methods, were employed for the identification of the fingerprint of Roman glasses manufactured in Greece, for distinguishing the different raw materials and fluxes used and for defining the production technology. Glass constitutes a very complex material and through the “glass study” arises until now some unanswered internationally questions, regarding the origin of row material of early glass and need to be addressed in Cultural Heritage studies. Given the importance of glass made objects as an indicator of every-day ancient cultural, social and trading practices it is of great significance to recognize isotopic and compositional trends of different raw materials, production technology, and/or provenance of early glasses.