ROMAN WINDOW GLASS: A COMPARISON AMONG FINDINGS FROM THREE DIFFERENT ITALIAN SITES

Thirty-three samples of window glass and five glass lumps coming from three Italian archaeological sites - Suasa excavations (AN- Italy, settled from the 3rd century BC to the 5th - 6th cen AD), the Roman town Mevaniola (Forlì- Cesena, Italy) settled from the Imperial Age up to the 4th cen. AD) and heodoricVilla of Galeata (Forlì-Cesena- Italy, settled from the 6th cen. AD onwards) -were analysed to track the changes in the chemical composition and manufacturing technology of window glass through the centuries. Aims of this study are: i) to establish the origin of the raw materials; ii) to verify the chemicalhomogeneity among samples coming from different sites and/or produced with different techniques; iii) to sort the samples into the compositional groups of ancient glass. The analysis of all the chemical variables allowed two groups to be distinguished: a) finds from Mevaniola and Suasa and b) finds from Galeata. Allthe samples have the composition of the silica-soda-lime glass but, the analysis of minor elements, in particular of Fe, Mn, and Ti, makes it possible to split the samples into two groups, with the higher levels of these elements always found in the Galeata samples (HIMT glass). In conclusion, it can be asserted that the main differences between the samples are related to their chronology.