The emperor's new glass: The introduction of Carolingian wood ash glass in North Sea trade

Micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) screening of 244 glass sherds from Ribe, Denmark, identified 23 wood ash glasses. The closely dated finds pinpoint the arrival of the earliest wood ash glass produced in Western Europe in this important North Sea trading hub. This glass type was absent among glass from...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchaeometry Vol. 66; no. 3; pp. 534 - 551
Main Authors Barfod, Gry H., Feveile, Lene L., Sindbæk, Søren M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2024
Subjects
Carolingian wood ash glass
early medieval
Fluorescence
Glass
glass circulation
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
provenance
REE
Ribe
Wood
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Summary:Micro‐X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) screening of 244 glass sherds from Ribe, Denmark, identified 23 wood ash glasses. The closely dated finds pinpoint the arrival of the earliest wood ash glass produced in Western Europe in this important North Sea trading hub. This glass type was absent among glass from 700 to 790 CE but feature strongly from 790 to 810 CE. Electron microprobe analysis (EMPA) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) analysis of 24 glasses show the presence of four types. We show the strengths of classifying wood ash glass based on the glass‐producing sands and conclude that the earliest production took place on a considerable scale and had a major impact on glass circulation in Northern Europe in the ninth century.
ISSN:0003-813X
1475-4754
DOI:10.1111/arcm.12968