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A series of early Byzantine glasses, recovered in Ganzirri (Sicily, Italy), was analysed for major, minor and trace elements. All the analysed fragments were found to be natron-based silica–lime glass. Concerning minor and trace elements, the samples can be divided into two groups: glass with high Fe, Ti and Mn contents ( HIMT glass) and glass with low levels of Fe, Ti and Mn. These results, strictly in agreement with literature data for glass of the Mediterranean region, can be interpreted as a consequence of the wide trade network established in this region and of the intense circulation of raw glass and artefacts from different Mediterranean areas. X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies at Fe and Mn K-edges, performed on HIMT glass, indicate that Fe is in the oxidized form while Mn is in the reduced form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The present work is addressed to the investigation of pottery fragments, coming from the archaeological excavation in Milazzo and Messina (Sicily, Southern Italy), in order to get information about their manufacture. The stylistic features of the shards led to assign the samples to the “proto-majolica” ceramic class and to date them back to XII–XIII century A.D. A detailed spectroscopic analysis, performed by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) absorbance, provided the identification of the mineralogical composition of the samples and the revealed differences induced to hypothesize the existence of several workshops in the same area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]