Bongsu Chang, Bum Ki Lee, Jieun Seo, Sun Ki Choi, Seon-Gyu Choi, Yeontae Jo, Seon Yong Lee, Young Jae Lee

Glass artifacts have been the subject of extensive trade as exquisite items of the social elite since ancient times. Vestiges of their production and migration are still visible around the globe. To comprehend the historical narrative of human life encapsulated within them, it is imperative to ascertain their inception, which directly correlates with the identification of raw materials used in glassmaking. This is attributed to the material’s distinctiveness, enabling it to aptly reflect the climatic and geological characteristics of the respective geographic location where the glass is produced. However, glass, made through the fusion of raw materials, retains only its bulk chemistry, lacking visual and mineralogical associations with the input. Here, we compiled thousands of accessible glass analyses, demonstrating a link between geographic origins and geochemical signatures of the artifacts, and delineated the climatic and geological implications of these signatures. Climatic differences across regions influence geological processes systematically, resulting in environments characterized by unique geochemical signatures. These signatures are reflected in anomalous elemental signals indicative of specific raw materials used in glass production. Additionally, analysis of rare-earth element patterns provides further confirmation of the inferred flux sources and regional origins. We anticipate our assay to serve as a solid foundation for providing a clearer and more visual representation of the ancient East–West glass trade.