A provenance study of Roman lead-glazed ceramics using lead isotopes and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)

Lead isotope analyses, using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), are used to trace the provenance of lead minerals involved in the production of Roman lead-glazed ceramics. The Roman archeological ceramic artifacts analyzed in this study were recovered from five archeological sites in Rome: the Testaccio Market (mid-2nd century AD), the Magna Mater sanctuary and the Domus Tiberiana on the Palatine Hill (late 4th – 5th century AD), the Forum of Caesar (10th - the early 11th century AD) and from the Forum of Nerva (9th – 10th century AD). A comparison of lead isotope ratios from the ceramic artifacts examined with databases of lead isotopes from lead deposits exploited in ancient times suggests that since the 2nd century AD the deposits of the British Isles were the most probable sources of metal involved in the production of Roman lead-glazed ceramics. Furthermore, the results indicate that the lead isotope ratios obtained by SIMS are consistent with values reported in the literature that were obtained by ICP-MS and TIMS. Thus, the effectiveness of in-situ micro-analysis by SIMS is highlighted, considering that it is a less destructive method for the analysis of valuable archeological recovered artifacts.