The enigmatic vitrification at the ancient hillfort Broborg and its utilization as an analogue for nuclear waste glass.

Published

January 1, 2018

Author(s)

Jamie L. Weaver, Rolf Sjoblom, Eva Hjarthner-Holdar, Carolyn Pearce, Erik Ogenhall, Mia Englund, John McCloy, David Peeler, Albert Kruger

Abstract

Although the modern understanding of chemistry dates back only around 300 years, many of the processes and products used today were actually originally developed by ancient people. However, much of such ancient knowledge has been lost, as is the case for the vitrification of stone walls in pre-historic hillforts (≈ Sw. fornborgar). This far, there exists no consensus on the process(es) used, and for the last ≈ 200 years, the archaeologists have even argued about whether the vitrification was for constructive or destructive purposes. Recently, it has been realized that the ancient hillfort glass could constitute an analogue that – at least in some respects – might be superior to those studied previously, i. e. natural glasses and glasses in ancient domestic objects. Thus, an international project has been initiated with the dual objective of unveiling the secrets of hillfort vitrification, and utilizing hillfort glass as an analogue to nuclear waste glass.

Citation

Kemisk Tidskrift

Pub Weblink

https://kemisamfundet.se/

Pub Type

Websites

Keywords

hillfort, glass analogue, glass durability

Citation

Weaver, J. , Sjoblom, R. , Hjarthner-Holdar, E. , Pearce, C. , Ogenhall, E. , Englund, M. , McCloy, J. , Peeler, D. and Kruger, A. (2018), The enigmatic vitrification at the ancient hillfort Broborg and its utilization as an analogue for nuclear waste glass., Kemisk Tidskrift, [online], https://kemisamfundet.se/ (Accessed October 9, 2025)