New method solves old mystery: Hafnium isotopes provide the key

One of the colourless pieces of Roman glass from Jerash (Jordan) which was analysed as part of the study. The Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project For a long time, it was not possible to establish the precise origin of high-grade transparent glass from imperial Rome (3rd century CE) - glass which was used for example for vessels and as window glass. Historical sources strongly suggested that the glass originated in Egypt - on the basis of the term "Alexandrian" found in these sources - but this could not so far be confirmed. By contrast, there was much to indicate that the centre of glass production in late antiquity was Palestine, where a large number of furnaces have been excavated. The mystery surrounding the clear Roman glass has, however, now been solved: "Alexandrian" does indeed refer to production near the Nile in Egypt. This is the result of a study using a new geochemical isotope analysis. Münster University archaeologist Prof. Achim Lichtenberger was involved in the research, whose findings have now been published with open access in the journal "Scientific Reports".