Characterization of ancient mortars: preliminary results from Villa del Pezzolo, Sorrento Peninsula, Italy

C. Rispoli, S. F. Graziano, V. Guarino, A. De Bonis, C. Di Benedetto, R. Esposito, T. Budetta, V. Morra, P. Cappelletti

Abstract

This study deals with the characterization of ancient mortars from Villa del Pezzolo, a Roman villa located in Seiano (Napoli - Campania, Italy), dated from 1st century B.C. to 3rd century A.D. During the A.D. 79 Vesuvius eruption, the villa was destroyed and then rebuilt twice, in the second and third centuries A.D. (Aucelli et al., 2015). The goal of this work is to improve the knowledge of Roman construction techniques by means of detailed microstructural and compositional examination of a) cementitious binding matrix and b) aggregates, to point out: provenance of raw materials, secondary minerogenetic processes, mortars’ mix-design. This research was conducted in collaboration with the Superintendence of Archeological Heritage of Campania. The first results confirmed that Roman engineers extensively used local geomaterials such as volcanic and sedimentary aggregates mixed with lime. The presence of leucite and garnet let us hypothesize the provenance of the volcanic aggregate from the Somma-Vesuvius complex.

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IMEKO TC

TC4 - Measurement of Electrical Quantities

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