SEM-EDS and PIXE analyses of Medieval glass from the museum Aboa Vetus in Turku

Authors

• Pirkko Kuisma-Kursula

Abstract

The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and the proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE) methods were used to determine the major, minor and trace elements in 54 fragments of medieval glass vessels from the museum Aboa vetus in Turku. The absolute concentrations of silicon, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, aluminium, phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, titanium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, lead, arsenic, rubidium, strontium, zirconium and barium were measured. The possibilities of using analytical methods to reconstruct vessels and to obtain information on the origin of the glasses are discussed.