Raman structural study of ancient glass artefacts from the island of Rhodes

Twenty five glass artefacts, mostly fragmented beads, recovered from the north side of the Kameiros citadel of Rhodes (Greece) and dated from the 640 to 600 BC period are probed by Raman spectroscopy for the purpose of evaluation of processing temperatures according to Colomban’s method [Ph. Colomban, J. Non-Cryst. Solids 323 (2003) 180] and also by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, for the determination of essential compositional trends. Artefact compositions are more in line with archaic recipes prevailing in East Mediterranean between 15th and 7th century BC. The Raman spectroscopy approach suggests relatively low processing temperatures (from well below 1000 °C to well below 600 °C), while additional useful conclusions are possible through a comparison of Raman and XRF data.