ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS BY FIELD-EMISSION SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE OF ANCIENT GLASS BEADS SAMPLE FROM PULAU KALUMPANG ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, (PERAK, MALAYSIA)

Abstract

Continuous research and excavation lead to the discovery of the 2 nd A.D. prehistoric settlement in the man

grove area located in Pulau Kalumpang, Perak, Malaysia. The findings encountered included pottery and

earthenware, bones and abundance of various colors and shapes of glass beads. Glass beads are a handy

archeological finding for its convenience size, portability and attractive material. An analysis using Field

emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) conducted on the seventeen glass beads samples. The sam

ples are the combination of seven major colors and three shapes. The analysis resulted to a composition that

high in silica (52.0% to 78.0%), aluminum (9.0% to 20%) and sodium (3.0% to 19.0%), a key feature of South

East Asia’s Indo- Pacific glass beads. The composition also shows no similarities composition to the glass

beads from China, Europe and India. Different trace elements compared to the glass beads Sg Mas, Kedah

pointed that the glass beads found was made in Pulau Kalumpang and the raw materials from broken glass

were originated from Middle East.