Author(s):
1. Velibor Andrić, Department of Chemical Dynamics and Permanent Education, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Nation, Serbia
2. Nikola Marković, Institute for Serbian Culture, Priština-Leposavić, 24. novembar bb, 38218 Leposavić, Serbia, , Serbia
3. Maja Gajić Kvaščev, Department of Chemical Dynamics and Permanent Education, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Nation, Serbia
4. Olivera Klisurić, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 4, Novi , Serbia

Abstract:
The glass samples from three archaeological sites in Serbia (Resava (Manasija) monastery, monastery of St. Archangel Michael, better known as Valjevska Gračanica, and Valjevo–Stadion) were analyzed. Resava monastery was built in 1418. by despot Stefan Lazarević, and it is widely considered one of the most important medieval monuments in the Morava architectural style. The Valjevska Gračanica monastery was probably built in the mid 15 c. on top of an older structure, and the monastery is noted for its unusual architecture in the form of a clover-shaped foundation. The Valjevo–Stadion site was a focus of archaeological conservation, where afterward, a stadium in the town of Valjevo was built. The elemental analysis results should reveal information regarding the provenance of glass objects and production technology since no local manufacturing site was known to archaeologists. The samples can be dated to the 15-16 c by style and stratigraphy. Their provenance is probably Adriatic, Venetian, or possibly Ragusan, though all glass from Venice was imported to modern-day Serbia through Ragusa (Dubrovnik). The samples are roughly equally split by type between vessels and oculi (round windowpanes). A total of 72 pieces of glass samples were analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometry analysis. An in-house developed portable EDXRF spectrometer was used for non-invasive elemental composition analysis. The excitation source was an air-cooled X-ray tube with Rh anode (maximum voltage 50 kV, maximum current 1 mA) with a pin-hole collimator. For the detection, the X-123 Complete X-Ray spectrometer (Amptek Inc.) with Si-PIN detector (6 mm2/500 m, Be window 12.5 m thickness, with an energy resolution of 160 eV at 5.89 keV) and DP5 digital signal processor for spectra acquisition, was used. ADMCA software (Amptek Inc.) was used for spectra acquisition. The following parameters, X-ray tube voltage of 40 kV and 800 A current, were used and kept constant during all measurements. The measuring time was 60 s. The unsupervised multi-analytical technique has been chosen to explore the dataset (89x2048 dimensions) structure and reveal potential differences among analyzed pieces. The three different groups are separated in the PC1-PC2 space of maximal variance. The glass pieces from Manasia monastery have the most coherent chemical composition, while the two other groups are less coherent but still different in composition. Either the EDXRF is not the fully informative analytical technic in the glass study, but supported by pattern recognition techniques, can gain informative classification models. This research was funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development, and Innovations, Republic of Serbia (Grant No. 451-03-66/2024-03/200017 dated 05.02.2024-Research Program No. 1-Contract No. 110-10/2019-000, T0602403).

Key words:
medieval glass,EDXRF analysis,PCA

Thematic field:
SYMPOSIUM A - Science of matter, condensed matter and physics of solid states

Date of abstract submission:
26.08.2024.

Conference:
Contemporary Materials 2024 - Savremeni Materijali

Applied paper from author