Issue 8, 2013

Isotopic analysis of antimony using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry for provenance determination of Roman glass

Abstract

Based on promising results obtained in earlier work on antimony ores, we have investigated the use of natural variation in the isotopic composition of Sb as determined using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) for provenancing Roman glasses. In antiquity, Sb was used either as a decolourizer or as an opacifier and thus, colourless and opaque coloured glasses from different regions and periods were selected for investigation. Both, the sample digestion and isolation of Sb preceeding isotopic analysis via MC-ICP-MS have been optimized and validated for this type of materials. For this purpose, NIST SRM 610 glass reference material and an in-house standard were employed. Isotope ratio determinations were carried out by MC-ICP-MS, relying on In as an internal standard for correction for instrumental mass discrimination. The merits of external calibration in a sample-standard bracketing approach and the so-called “revised Russell's law” for mass bias correction were compared, with the latter providing higher precision and better reproducibility. The 123Sb/121Sb isotope ratio in glass could be determined with a reproducibility (or external precision) of ca. 0.4ε, while in Roman colourless and Hellenistic opaque glass samples, a variation of 3 to 4ε units was found. The results seem to suggest the use of similar Sb sources for both types of glasses, and the existence of at least two different Sb sources for glass production in the Roman era.

Graphical abstract: Isotopic analysis of antimony using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry for provenance determination of Roman glass

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 jan 2013
Accepted
12 mar 2013
First published
15 mar 2013

J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013,28, 1213-1219

Isotopic analysis of antimony using multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry for provenance determination of Roman glass

L. Lobo, P. Degryse, A. Shortland and F. Vanhaecke, J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, 28, 1213 DOI: 10.1039/C3JA50018G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements