COMPOSITION OF 15TH-17TH CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLASS VESSELS EXCAVATED IN ANTWERP, BELGIUM

In the beginning of the 16th century, Antwerp (Belgium) was one of the largest ports of Europe and an important centre for the manufacture a nd import of glassware, especially for Venetian and facon-de-Venise gl ass vessels. As a result, archaeological excavations in the historical centre of Antwerp have yielded a number of important glass finds from the 15th until the 17th century. Within this extensive collection, se veral typological categories of glass vessels can be distinguished. Th e major and trace composition of a series of 96 representative glass o bjects was determined by means of EPXMA (electron probe X-ray micro an alysis) and mu-SRXRF (synchroton radiation induced X-ray fluorescence analysis). Four major compositional types could be distinguished. The correlation between object composition, colour and type is discussed. Special emphasis is placed on the composition of the facon-de-Venise o r Venetian glass objects found in Antwerp and on the comparison of thi s composition to that of glass of the same type found in other locatio ns in Europe.