• Journal of Conservation Science
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.205-216
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• 2012

65 samples of glass bead excavated from Mahan tombs of Asan Bakjimeure site consists of 13 of potash glass group and 52 of soda glass group and soda glass is superior in numbers. When classified according to color, purple blue glass bead is accompanied potash and soda glass group whereas purple glass bead is potash glass group and red, greenish blue, green and gold foil glass bead is soda glass group. Purple blue glass bead is classified as LCA type in which the content of the stabilizer is low. Of this, the soda glass categorized as LMK type with low content of MgO and $K_2O$ is determined that natron is used as the raw material. As to red glass, the homogeneous glass is LCA-B/HMK type and the heterogeneous glass is HCLA/LMK type. Thus, each of these two types are likely to be used plant ash and natron respectively. Greenish blue and green glass depends of the type that round glass is LCA-A/LMHK type and the segmented glass is LCA-B/HMK type. The gold foil glass bead is manufactured by the purity of 19.9~22.6K gold foil and the soda glass of HCLA/LMK type. In other words, the most of the glass bead of Asan Bakjimeure site is similar to the composition of the glass confirmed in other sites of the Baekche period. On the other hand, the greenish blue and green segmented bead and some red round bead is a different chemical composition is considered that the difference in raw materials. These characteristics is expected to be an important evidence for the understanding of the trade system of the ancient glass.

• Conservation Science in Museum
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• v.30
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• pp.71-88
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• 2023

This paper examined the visible characteristics and chemical composition of glass beads from the Joseon Dynasty as well as the associations thereof. It also explored the characteristics and uses of glass beads by region. This study covered a total of 1,819 pieces excavated from 25 locations in the Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, and Gyeongsang regions, of which 537 pieces were analyzed for their chemical composition. Glass beads of the Joseon Dynasty take a variety of shapes such as a Round, Coil, Floral, Segmented, Flat, Oval, and Calabash. Colors vary from shades of brown (brown, lemon yellow) and shades of blue (Bluish-Green, greenish-Blue, Purple-Blue) to shades of white (colorless, white) and shades of green (Green, Greenish-Blue, Greenish-Brown). Brown accounts for the largest percentage, followed by Bluish-Green, greenish-Blue. It was identified that Drawing technique was the most common glass bead production technique of the Joseon Dynasty. Potassium oxide (K₂O) was the most common flux agent for glass beads, while the potash glass and mixed alkali glass groups account for the largest quantity. The choice of stabilizers depended on the type of flux agents used, but the most common were calcium oxide (CaO) and aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃). The potash glass and potash lead glass groups are high in CaO and low in Al₂O₃, the mixed alkali glass group is high in CaO, and the lead glass group is low in CaO. In terms of the association between color and shape, most of the beads with shade of brown and blue have round shapes of brown and blue have spherical shapes, while the coil shape is prominent in blue beads. A high percentage of green and colorless beads also take the shape of a coil, while white beads in general have a floral shape. In terms of the association between shape and chemical composition, round, floral and segmented shapes account for a high percentage of the potash glass group, while coil and flat shapes are common in the mixed alkali glass group. This paper also analyzed the colorants for each color based on the association between color and chemical composition. Iron (Fe) was used as the colorant for brown and white, and titanium (Ti) and iron were used for light yellow. Purple-Blue was produced by by cobalt (Co), and greenish-Blue, Bluish-Green, green, Greenish-Blue were produced by iron and copper (Cu). Colorless beads had a generally low colorant content.