Scientists at Mainz University for the first time prove
techniques used to produce ancient glazed beads / Investigations conducted
using neutron activation analysis with the aid of the TRIGA research reactor
The raw materials for ancient glass beads found in former
Rhaetian settlements in Bavaria clearly did not originate from this region.
This is the conclusion following an analysis of the beads at the TRIGA research
reactor of the Institute of Nuclear Chemistry at Johannes Gutenberg University
Mainz (JGU). A total of 42 glass beads from four different sites were examine,
38 of them dating to the early Roman imperial period (30-60 A.D.) and four from
the late Roman period (4th century A.D.). "We were able to clearly
demonstrate that all of the glass beads from the four sites are made of
soda-lime glass," stated Barbara Karches of the JGU Institute of Nuclear
Chemistry. The use of sodium to manufacture the glass indicates that the raw
glass must have been produced in the vicinity of soda lakes rather than in the
inner land. The investigations have also provided important information for
historians on industry and technology, trade routes, and the lifestyle of
people at that time.