Barfod and team report in their new article that archaeological glass contains information about the movement of goods and ancient economies, yet our understanding of critical aspects of the ancient glass industry is fragmentary.

Hafnium isotopes have not previously been used by archaeologists to look at the trade in ancient man-made materials such as ceramics and glass. 

Barfod and team's work on Roman glass from the Danish-German Jerash Northwest Quarter Project in Jordan shows that the isotopes of the rare element hafnium can be used to distinguish between Egyptian and Palestinian glass and provide compelling evidence that the prestigious colourless glass known as ‘Alexandrian’ was indeed made in Egypt.

You can read the full article here.