ICP–MS analysis of glass fragments of Parthian and Sasanian epoch from Seleucia and Veh Ardasir (Central Iraq)

Forty-one glass fragments were analysed by inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry, determining 40 major, minor and trace elements, including rare earth elements. The fragments came from excavations carried out at the archaeological sites of Seleucia and Veh Ardasir in modern Iraq, and were dated to the Parthian and Sasanian epochs. Analytical data indicate that all the samples are silica–soda–lime glasses. Magnesium and potassium oxide contents below 1% suggest that eight out of nine glasses from Seleucia, dating from between the first and the third century AD, could have been obtained by use of an evaporite as a flux; the same conclusion can be drawn for some of the Sasanian glasses dating from the fourth and fifth centuries AD. The other glasses from Veh Ardasir, as well as the remaining sample from Seleucia, are characterized by higher contents of magnesium and potassium, which suggests recourse to plant ash; different magnesium and phosphorus contents allow one to separate these samples into two main groups, pointing to the use of different kinds of plant ash. Aluminium and calcium contents, together with trace element data, may indicate that different sands were used for preparing glasses of different composition. Samples from Seleucia and Veh Ardasir are mainly blue–green and green to yellow–green, respectively; iron and manganese contents suggest that the furnace atmosphere was mainly responsible for the development of these hues.