scholarly journals Multidisciplinary Approach to Characterize Archaeological Materials and Status of Conservation of the Roman Thermae of Reggio Calabria Site (Calabria, South Italy)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (15) ◽  
pp. 5106
Author(s):  
Michela Ricca ◽  
Clara Enza Urzì ◽  
Natalia Rovella ◽  
Alessandro Sardella ◽  
Alessandra Bonazza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Black And White ◽  
South Italy ◽  
Stone Materials ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Hot Bath ◽  
Complementary Techniques ◽  
Diagnostic Investigations

This multidisciplinary research focuses on diagnostic investigations to characterize the archaeological materials, as well as the alteration and degradation forms detected at the Roman Thermae of Reggio Calabria (Calabria, South Italy) site. The thermal complex, (dating I–II century B.C.), was built around three main rooms such as the caldarium (hot bath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (cold bath), all connected to a central room through several entrances. The central hall still preserves a suggestive mosaic floor dating between the II and III century A.D., characterized by geometric motifs and black and white tesserae. Fragments of various archaeological stone materials, such as bricks, mortars, sedimentary, volcanic and metamorphic rocks have been studied with different and complementary techniques. Particularly, polarized optical microscopy (POM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) were performed to characterize the materials employed to construct the site and evaluate their state of preservation. Finally, laboratory microbiological culture analysis was conducted to identify the main microorganisms composing the biological patinas detected on the sampled materials. Results allowed us to evaluate the most suitable restoration procedures to conduct at the archaeological site, considering the different stone materials present in the studied area and their state of conservation.

scholarly journals New insights to assess the consolidation of stone materials used in built heritage: the case study of ancient graffiti (Tituli Picti) in the archaeological site of Pompeii

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo ◽  
Natalia Rovella ◽  
Anna Arcudi ◽  
Vincenza Crupi ◽  
Domenico Majolino ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Built Heritage ◽  
Stone Materials ◽  
Materials Used

Diagnostic analysis of stone materials from underwater excavations: the case study of the Roman archaeological site of Baia (Naples, Italy)

2013 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 655-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Aloise ◽  
M. Ricca ◽  
M. F. Russa ◽  
S. A. Ruffolo ◽  
C. M. Belfiore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Diagnostic Analysis ◽  
Stone Materials

scholarly journals Arqueologia marítima em Cabo Verde: enquadramento e primeiros resultados do projecto CONCHA

2020 ◽  
pp. 2071-2084
Author(s):  
José Bettencourt ◽  
Adilson Dias ◽  
Carlos Lima ◽  
Christelle Chouzenoux ◽  
Cristovão Fonseca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
Port Cities ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Training Activities ◽  
Early Modern Era ◽  
Modern Era ◽  
And Training

Among the partners of the UNESCO Chair The Ocean’s Cultural Heritage are CHAM and IPC (Cape Verde) which defined as essential action the underwater archaeological site inventory of that archipelago. This action started in 2018 as part of the European project CONCHA, that aims to address the different ways that port cities developed around the Atlantic during the early modern era. CONCHA’s surveys were conducted on the island of Santiago, in Ribeira Grande anchorage, in São Francisco (17th century) and in Urânia shipwrecks (1809). The project included the underwater survey, a review of the documentation and of the archaeological materials, recovered from the sites, at the Museum of Archaeology in Praia. Dissemination and training activities were also carried out. This paper systematizes the results of these works.

Archaeological Materials :Rocks and Minerals

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman Herz ◽  
Ervan G. Garrison
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Historic Monument ◽  
Historical Monuments ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
History Of ◽  
Geological Map ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
A Site

This chapter is only a brief introduction to lithic archaeological materials. Archaeologists with but little knowledge of rocks and rock-forming minerals are urged to learn about them in greater detail than that presented here. Lithic resources are abundant in almost every archaeological site, and lithic artifacts are invariably the best preserved of any remains. Early societies learned how to exploit these resources, and the use and production of lithics go back to the earliest known sites, at least 1.5 million years. In fact, the earliest cultures are distinguished on the basis of their lithic industries and lithic artifacts. Horror stories in misidentification of lithics abound. Not only have misidentified artifacts proven embarrassing to the archaeologist, but also they have made it difficult to make meaningful comparisons of different societies using published descriptions. In addition, conservation strategies for historical monuments cannot be developed without an understanding of the nature of the material used in their construction. Some egregious examples of ignorance of the rocks and minerals from our personal experience include the following: 1. An archaeologist asked if a quartzite scraper was either flint or chert. When told that it was neither, he asked, "Well then, which is it more like?" (answer, still neither). 2. Egyptian basalt statues have been called limestone in publications (and several other rock types). 3. Sources for alabaster were searched to explain a trading link between a site and elsewhere when the geological map showed the site was adjacent to a mountain of gypsum, the mineral component of alabaster (the gypsum may have merely rolled down the hillside to the workshops, where it became the more salable alabaster). 4. Conservators searched for methods to preserve an allegedly granitic historic monument, or so it had been identified. Chemical analysis revealed only abundant Ca, Mg, and carbonate. Fossils were also abundant in the "granite," which dissolved easily in hydrochloric acid (the "granite" was clearly limestone). Petrology is the branch of geology that deals with the occurrence, origin, and history of rocks. Petrography is concerned with descriptions of rocks, their mineralogy, structures, and textures.

Book reviews

2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 99-163
Author(s):  
Redactie KITLV
Keyword(s):  
Free People Of Color ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
New Jerusalem ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
African Slaves ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Haitian Revolution

Globalization and the Po st-Creole Imagination: Notes on Fleeing the Plantation,by Michaeline A. Crichlow with Patricia Northover (reviewed by Raquel Romberg)Afro-Caribbean Religions: An Introduction to their Historical, Cultural, and Sacred Traditions, by Nathaniel Samuel Murrell (reviewed by James Houk) Africas of the Americas: Beyond the Search for Origins in the Study of Afro-Atlantic Religions, edited by Stephan Palmié (reviewed by Aisha Khan) Òrìṣà Devotion as World Religion: The Globalization of Yorùbá Religious Culture, edited by Jacob K. Olupona & Terry Rey (reviewed by Brian Brazeal) Sacred Spaces and Religious Traditions in Oriente Cuba, by Jualynne E. Dodson (reviewed by Kristina Wirtz) The Coolie Speaks: Chinese Indentured Laborers and African Slaves of Cuba, by Lisa Yun (reviewed by W. Look Lai) Cuba and Western Intellectuals since 1959, by Kepa Artaraz (reviewed by Anthony P. Maingot) Inside El Barrio: A Bottom-Up View of Neighborhood Life in Castro’s Cuba, by Henry Louis Taylor, Jr. (reviewed by Mona Rosendahl) On Location in Cuba: Street Filmmaking During Times of Transition, by Ann Marie Stock (reviewed by Cristina Venegas) Cuba in The Special Period: Culture and Ideology in the 1990s, edited by Ariana Hernandez-Reguant (reviewed by Myrna García-Calderón) The Cubans of Union City: Immigrants and Exiles in a New Jersey Community. Yolanda Prieto (reviewed by Jorge Duany) Target Culebra: How 743 Islanders Took On the Entire U.S. Navy and Won, by Richard D. Copaken (reviewed by Jorge Rodríguez Beruff) The World of the Haitian Revolution, edited by David Patrick Geggus & Norman Fiering (reviewed by Yvonne Fabella) Bon Papa: Haiti’s Golden Years, by Bernard Diederich (reviewed by Robert Fatton, Jr.) 1959: The Year that Inflamed the Caribbean, by Bernard Diederich (reviewed by Landon Yarrington) Dominican Cultures: The Making of a Caribbean Society, edited by Bernardo Vega (reviewed by Anthony R. Stevens-Acevedo) Chanting Down the New Jerusalem: Calypso, Christianity, and Capitalism in the Caribbean, by Francio Guadeloupe (reviewed by Catherine Benoît) Once Jews: Stories of Caribbean Sephardim, by Josette Capriles Goldish (reviewed by Aviva Ben-Ur) Black and White Sands: A Bohemian Life in the Colonial Caribbean, by Elma Napier (reviewed by Peter Hulme) West Indian Slavery and British Abolition, 1783-1807, by David Beck Ryden (reviewed by Justin Roberts) The Children of Africa in the Colonies: Free People of Color in Barbados in the Age of Emancipation, by Melanie J. Newton (reviewed by Olwyn M. Blouet) Friends and Enemies: The Scribal Politics of Post/Colonial Literature, by Chris Bongie (reviewed by Jacqueline Couti) Nationalism and the Formation of Caribbean Literature, by Leah Reade Rosenberg (reviewed by Bénédicte Ledent) Signs of Dissent: Maryse Condé and Postcolonial Criticism, by Dawn Fulton (reviewed by Florence Ramond Jurney) The Archaeology of the Caribbean, by Samuel M. Wilson (reviewed by Frederick H. Smith) Crossing the Borders: New Methods and Techniques in the Study of Archaeological Materials from the Caribbean, edited by Corinne L. Hofman, Menno L.P. Hoogland & Annelou L. van Gijn (reviewed by Mark Kostro)

scholarly journals Archaeometric Characterisation of Decorated Pottery from the Archaeological Site of Villa dei Quintili (Rome, Italy): Preliminary Study

Geosciences ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michela Ricca ◽  
Giuseppe Paladini ◽  
Natalia Rovella ◽  
Silvestro Antonio Ruffolo ◽  
Luciana Randazzo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Optical Microscope ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Geochemical Study ◽  
Renaissance Period ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Materials Used

This work focused on the study of decorated pottery dated back to the 16th century from the Roman archaeological site of Villa dei Quintili, a monumental complex located in the south-eastern part of Rome (Italy). A minero-petrographic and geochemical study was undertaken to analyse five archaeological samples in order to define textural features and raw materials used for their production, along with the chemical and physical composition of the superficial decorative glazed coatings. For this purpose, different analytical methods were used, such as polarising optical microscope (POM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy, X-Ray fluorescence (XRF), and electron microprobe analysis coupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (EMPA-EDS). The results of such a multidisciplinary approach allowed us to achieve important results crucial to recognise the shards as majolica of the Renaissance period, improving knowledge about manufacturing processes of these renowned painted ceramic artefacts.

The use of immunological techniques in the analysis of archaeological materials — a response to Eisele; with report of studies at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

Antiquity ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 70 (269) ◽  
pp. 677-682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret E. Newman ◽  
Howard Ceri ◽  
Brian Kooyman
Keyword(s):  
Single Species ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
New Research ◽  
Rare Opportunity

Eisele et al. in ANTIQUITY (1995) reported discouraging results from experiments to see if blood traces reliably survive on stone tools. Here, issue is taken with aspects of that study, and new research is reported from the celebrated buffalo-jump at Head-Smashed-In, southern Alberta. The great bone-bed there, consisting almost exclusively of bison bones, gives rare opportunity to study remains of a known single species under the genuine conditions of an archaeological site, rather than a supposing simulation.

scholarly journals PETROLOGY AND PROVENANCE OF THE NATURAL STONE TOOLS FROM Al-DALMAJ ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, MESOPOTAMIAN PLAIN, IRAQ

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-251
Author(s):  
Aqeel A. Al- Zubaidi ◽  
Varoujan Sissakian ◽  
Hassan K. Jassim
Keyword(s):  
Microscopic Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Stone Tools ◽  
Alluvial Plain ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Metamorphic Rocks ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Cultural Exchanges ◽  
Floodplain Sediments

Many stone tools were found on a hill south of the Hor Al-Dalmaj which is located in the central part of the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The types of rocks from which the studied stone tools were made are not found in the alluvial plain, because it consists of friable sand, silt, and clay. All existing sediments were precipitated in riverine environments such as point bar, over bank, and floodplain sediments. The collected stone tools were described with a magnifying glass (10 x) and a polarized microscope after they were thin sectioned. Microscopic analysis showed that these stone tools are made of sedimentary, volcanic igneous and metamorphic rocks, such as: sandstones, limestones, chert, conglomerate, rhyolite, basalt, mica schist, and quartzite. The current studied stone tools were used by ancient humans as pestles, querns, scrapers, and knives. The present study showed that these tools were transported from outside the alluvial plain of Mesopotamia. A stone tool at the archaeological site of Al-Dalmaj indicates that there were some trade routes that connected this site with its surrounding; in addition to the economic, and that might occurred cultural exchanges during the Neolithic Period.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT BANK OF THE URTEMKA RIVER MOUTH (THE KOZHEVNIKOVSKY DISTRICT OF THE TOMSK REGION)

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 151-158
Author(s):  
BORODOVSKIY A. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
River Mouth ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Left Bank ◽  
Archaeological Survey ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Ceramic Vessels

The article is devoted to a review of the archaeological survey results of the left bank of the Urtamka River mouth (the Kozhevnikovsky District of the Tomsk Oblast). The purpose of the research was to localize the station of the Urtam ostrog, marked on the map of 1701 by S.U. Remezov, located on the left bank of the Urtamka River. The survey of this territory made it possible to detect an elevated area (Urtamskoe-II), fenced on three sides by a sub-square ditch 2 m wide and 0.4 m deep. The total dimension of the fence was 200 m, which formally correlates with the perimeter of the Urtam ostrog, indicated in a written source of the late 17th century (1687). However, the archaeological study of the ditch section and the inner fenced area of the newly identified fortified settlement Urtamskoe-II did not reveal the cross-section of the ditch and the foundations of the log wall that are characteristic for the Early New Time. Such results complicate their connection with the Urtam ostrog. In addition, the osteological materials and fragments of the rims of ceramic vessels from the Irmen culture (Late Bronze Age) were found in the cultural layer of the discovered settlement. It should be noted that for the territories occupied by several archaeologically investigated ostrogs (Tomsky, Umrevinsky, Sayansky, etc.), the facts of the discovery of the earlier archaeological materials are quite typical. However, the ditch fence of the sub-square outlines of the residential area of the fortified settlement Urtamskoe-II significantly distinguishes it from the nearest Irmen settlement of the Baturino-1. Fencing with a “П” shaped moat are more typical for the settlements of the late Middle Ages on the territory of neighboring Baraba (Tyumenka, Chinyaikha). In general, the archaeological research carried out reflected the general tendency which is the complexity of localizing the ostrog as an archaeological site. Keywords: archaeological exploration, Upper Ob Region, ancient settlements, settlements, ostrog

scholarly journals Multidisciplinary approach for assessment of the factors affecting geohazard in karst valley: the case study of Gravina di Petruscio (Apulia, South Italy)

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (19) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gioacchino Francesco Andriani ◽  
Lidia Loiotine
Keyword(s):  
Multidisciplinary Approach ◽  
Mass Movement ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Engineering Structures ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
South Italy ◽  
Geotechnical Characteristics ◽  
Slope Excavation

Abstract Management plans, actions and strategies for preventing and mitigating natural disasters require detailed information on natural and human-induced geohazards for the area under evaluation. Karst areas are particularly prone to instability due to the natural fragility of their environment but are also vulnerable due to human activity. In-depth studies of the factors controlling mass movement processes, including land use over time, become crucial for understanding instability mechanisms and future landscape evolution, as well as for designing preventive measures and control techniques. The Murge area, in the central part of Apulia (South Italy), is crossed by a vast network of dry valleys, locally named lame and gravine, whose morphology may resemble the most well-known canyons and gorges of the world. The genesis of these dry valleys is controversial and still the subject of continued debate, although their origin is directly related to the geostructural setting and the uplift of the Apulia foreland since the middle Pleistocene. Each of these karst valleys has particular morphometric characteristics as well as their own morpho-evolutionary history strongly linked to the different types of fault or fracture on which they developed. Also, geological and geotechnical characteristics of the rock substrate channel, and historic human-made slope excavation or remodeling play an important role. Unfortunately, several tragic events which occurred during the last decades have shown the susceptibility of the Apulian dry valleys to natural hazards, sometimes caused by human activities. This paper proposes, by means of a case study on a dry valley called Gravina di Petruscio in the Arco Ionico Tarantino subregion, a multidisciplinary approach using traditional methods of investigation and combining results to arrive at a critical appraisal of information that are suitable for a geohazard susceptibility analysis in karst environments. Geological, geostructural and geomechanical surveys, together with petrographic observations in thin sections of the outcropping materials, allow to understand the genesis of the valley and then its evolution mainly due to slope retreat processes. Both sides of the valley have been found to be affected by planar slides, wedge slides, direct toppling and falls, while the caves, mostly modified by humans, are affected by thinning, spalling and crushing of pillars, and partial or total collapse of cave roofs. The predisposing and triggering factors of the most common mass movements are presented and discussed. Mitigation and prevention measures for future planning, and remedial engineering structures are reported.

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