Supervisors:
Prof Dr Patrick Degryse
Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Prof Dr Frank Vanhaecke
Department of Analytical Chemistry
Ghent University
Examination commission:
Prof Dr Jan Elsen (Chairman)
Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Prof Dr Philippe Muchez
Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Prof Dr Karel Strijckmans
Department of Analytical Chemistry
Ghent University
Prof Dr Peter Vandenabeele
Department of Archaeology
Ghent University
Prof Dr Martin Resano
Department of Analytical Chemistry
University of Zaragoza, Spain
Dr Becki Scott
Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Invitation
To the
Location : Thermotechnisch Instituut
Kasteelpark Arenberg 41
3001 Heverlee
Public defence of the doctoral
dissertation
Development of a method based on
multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry
for determination of the Boron isotopic
signature of Roman glass aiming at
provenance determination of its flux
raw material
Veerle Devulder
August 28, 2014
You are kindly invited to the public defence
of the doctoral dissertation of
Veerle Devulder
Title of the dissertation:
Development of a method based on
multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry
for determination of the Boron isotopic
signature of Roman glass aiming at
provenance determination of its flux
raw material
The defence will be in Dutch and will take
place on Thursday August 28th at 17 o’clock
in the aula van de tweede hoofdwet,
Thermotechnisch Instituut, Kasteelpark
Arenberg 41, 3001 Heverlee.
You are kindly invited to the reception after
the defence.
Please confirm your presence before August 14
(Veerle.Devulder@ees.kuleuven.be)
Abstract
The provenance determination of the raw
materials used in the manufacturing of
Roman glass is gaining importance, as this
can provide information on the trade routes
and on the production process itself.
Glass is basically made from three
components, silica as network former, lime
as stabilizer and natron as a flux to lower the
melting temperature of the sand. In this work,
the focus of the research was on
provenance determination of the flux raw
material. Until now, there was no scientific
evidence for the use of one or multiple
sources of flux and the provenance of this
natron.
The isotope systems of Sr, Nd and Sb
showed already useful for the provenance
determination of the lime, sand and (de-)
colorizer used, respectively. For the
provenance determination of the flux, B is a
promising target element, as it enters the
glass mainly via the flux.
In this PhD research project, a method was
developed for isotope ratio determination of
B in Roman glass. In a first instance, the
glass is dissolved. Afterwards, B is isolated
from the glass matrix, allowing its reliable
isotopic analysis via multi-collector ICPmass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). The
method developed has been validated and
its expanded uncertainty has been
calculated.
Afterwards, Roman glasses and natron from
Egypt, Lybia and Greece were analysed for
their B isotopic composition. From the
analysis results, it can be concluded that the
natron from Greece was probably not used
as a flux source for ancient glass making.
The assignment of one specific source is not
possible because multiple sources have
similar B isotopic compositions. The use of
present-day natron as proxy for ancient
natron can only be confirmed upon analysis
of ancient natron.
Finally, the use of Laser Ablation (LA)-MCICP-MS for the determination of the B
isotopic composition of Roman glass was
investigated. This introduction system has
the advantage of a fast analysis because the
direct solid sample analysis avoids labourintensive sample preparation.