舊香蘭(約西元前三世紀至西元八世紀)位於臺灣東南部太麻里溪出海口,自2003年底展開的搶救發掘發現上千顆玻璃珠以及與玻璃珠製造相關的廢料,顯示臺灣可能在當時已有製造玻璃珠的技術。本研究使用掃瞄電子顯微鏡分析44件舊香蘭遺址的玻璃珠及玻璃廢料,發現此次分析的玻璃珠與廢料的化學成份與微結構並不完全相符,目前能支持這批玻璃珠在舊香蘭在地製造的可能性較低,且化學成份分析確認其玻璃珠(料)的交换應與環南海地區有關。除此之外,科學分析的結果也透露這批珠子的原料與加工程序的訊息,發現紅、橘色玻璃雖然都使用氧化亞銅為著色劑,銅的原料來源可能不盡相同,而橘色與黃色玻璃的微結構分析顯示其原料或加工程序與其他遺址存在差異,這些訊息顯示舊香蘭的玻璃珠再交换至其他遺址的現象並不明顯。
Thousands of glass beads and beadmaking waste have been unearthed in the rescue excavation of Jiuxianglan (ca. 3rd century BC - 8th century AD), located on the alluvial fan of the Taimali Stream in southeastern Taiwan, since the end of 2003, suggesting that beadmaking may have been taken place in the early Iron Age in Taiwan. Forty-four glass artefacts from Jiuxianglan were analysed in this study, including beads and waste. The results indicate that there is not a complete match of the chemical composition and the microstructure between the finished beads and waste; therefore local production of beads analysed here is not supported by the evidence at this site and the finished glass beads may have been imported from the South China Sea region. Scientific analysis also revealed information on raw materials and the colouring process. While the red and orange glass beads are both coloured by cuprite, the source of the copper-containing raw materials appears to vary. The microstructure of orange and yellow glass beads from Jiuxianglan are also different from beads from other sites, suggesting different colouring raw materials or colouring processes. This information indicates that it was less likely that glass beads from Jiuxianglan were intensively re-exchanged to other sites.