Chemical compositional data sets of archaeological artefacts are often analysed using standard statistical procedures. Adopting a different approach, we examine the major element oxides found in Parthian and Sasanian glazed pottery by identifying statistically important ratios of oxides in conjunction with the expert knowledge of the archaeological scientist during, rather than after, the identification process. This results in meaningful ratios, both statistically and archaeologically, which help identify the recipes and production practices used by Mesopotamian glass and glaze producers. The application of logratio analysis to interrogate the chronological groups suggests that the silica sources used for glazes were significantly purer in later periods and exhibited less variation. Comparing the expert-assisted selection of ratios derived from a legacy data set to the ratios from compositional data of Parthian glazed pottery recovered at the early 3rd century CE Roman military outpost of Ain Sinu in northern Iraq supports the hypothesis that there was a shift to more standardised recipes in the production of glass used for glazes. If this translates to a centralised glass-making industry, it would suggest that there are, as yet, undiscovered glass production centres, potentially in areas associated with increased urbanisation in southern Mesopotamia around the time of the Parthian–Sasanian transition.

考古文物的化学成分数据集通常使用标准统计程序进行分析。我们采用不同的方法，结合考古学家在鉴定过程中而非之后的专业知识，确定具有统计意义的氧化物比例，从而检查在帕提亚和萨珊釉陶器中发现的主要元素氧化物。这产生了有意义的比率，无论是统计上还是考古上，这有助于确定美索不达米亚玻璃和釉料生产商使用的配方和生产实践。应用对数比分析来询问年代组表明，用于釉料的二氧化硅来源在后期明显更纯，并且表现出较小的变化。将来自遗留数据集的专家辅助选择比率与公元 3 世纪早期在伊拉克北部艾因西努的罗马军事前哨发现的帕提亚釉陶器成分数据的比率进行比较，支持了以下假设：用于釉料的玻璃生产中的标准化配方。如果这转化为集中的玻璃制造行业，则表明在美索不达米亚南部与帕提亚 - 萨珊过渡时期城市化程度不断提高相关的地区，仍有未被发现的玻璃生产中心。