Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis of potash and m-Na-Al glasses in China- using Kernel methods for trace element analysis

Abstract

Monochrome drawn beads were widely circulated in South and Southeast Asia as early as the second century BC. This article aims to identify the glass beads unearthed from different sites in China and discuss their possible sources. Twenty-seven mineral soda alumina (m-Na-Al) glass and eighty-seven potash glass beads unearthed in different provinces in China were analysed by Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry. The trace element analysis through Multivariate Kernel Density Estimation and Maximum Mean Discrepancy indicates the silica sources of m-Na-Al glass and most of the potash glass unearthed from Guangxi are identical. They were presumably produced somewhere in northeastern India or Southeast Asia and exported through the Maritime Silk Road. The silica sources of m-Na-Al glass in Henan and the rest of the potash glasses are geologically close. They were likely produced in southern India or Sri Lanka and exported through the North and Southwest Silk Roads. Future research on isotopic analysis will reveal more information about primary/secondary glass production in China, South and Southeast Asia.