Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry
(LA-ICP-MS) is an analytical technique developed in the mid-1980s
that is able to determine the elemental composition of inorganic
solid samples. The advantages of this technique include low limits
of detection (in the range of the part per million (ppm) or below
depending on the element), rapidity of analysis (a few minutes
per sample), high spatial resolution and minimum damage to the
sample. It has been used in a number of different fields including
geology, material science, biology, medicine and archaeology
beginning in the 1990s [1,2]. Glass is one of the most studiedmaterials
using this technique, more especially for forensic applications
(see for example [3–5]) but also to address archaeological questions
[6]. The accurate determination of ancient artifact compositions
by LA-ICP-MS requires that the materials under investigation are
reasonably homogeneous. In previous studies on ancient glass,
although the volume of matter sampled by the laser ablation system
is extremely small, it has been found to be representative of
the whole object [6,7].Moreover, the availability of matched-matrix
standard reference materials allows the reliable determination of
50–60 major, minor and trace elements [8].