A study on the state of conservation of the Roman Necropolis of Carmona (Sevilla, Spain)

Abstract

The Roman Necropolis of Carmona (Sevilla, Spain) has experienced a severe deterioration since the accidental discovery in 1868, subsequent archaeological excavations starting in 1882 and adaptations of the whole archaeological area for visits. To this deterioration contributed the location in a soft calcarenite rock quarry, the adverse environmental conditions and the numerous and extensive wrong archaeological and managing interventions along more than a century. The cultural, artistic and religious importance of this Necropolis converts the protection and conservation of this archaeological site in a major issue. This work present the data obtained in a multidisciplinary research in which geology, geomorphology, micro-environmental and climatic monitoring, description of weathering forms and biological colonization were considered in order to propose corrective measures to minimize further deterioration.

Geo‐environmental evaluation for the preventive conservation of open‐air archaeological sites: the case of the Roman Necropolis of Carmona (Spain)

“…The water inputs to tombs potentially arise from two main processes: (1) either direct rainfall or runoff and (2) the effective condensation of water vapour on the inner surfaces of tombs, i.e. walls and ceilings (Sánchez‐Moral et al, ). The meteorological conditions primarily determine evapotranspiration in the case of allochthonous water, whereas the daily and seasonal variations in the microclimatic parameters inside tombs control the condensation process.…”

“…Only a few tombs still preserve part of their surface buildings. The degree of deterioration of most tombs in the Necropolis is moderate to severe (Fernandez‐Cortés et al, ; Sánchez‐Moral et al, ). For this work, we selected eight tombs that are representative of the main conservation problems: Four Columns, Circular Mausoleum, Three Doors, 118, Garlands, Servilia, Elephant and Postumius.…”

“…The main mechanisms of deterioration detected in the Necropolis are (Sánchez‐Moral et al, ) (1) cyclic dissolution/crystallization of salt minerals in the superficial and sub‐superficial pore system of the different support of the tombs, leading to a physical disaggregation of the supports (host rock and stuccos), (2) microbial colonization and the development of biofilms, and (3) dissolution of the host rock components. All these deterioration phenomena (see Figure ) have a common factor: the presence of meteoric water in the tombs in sufficient quantities and continuity to activate the deterioration mechanisms.…”

“…The archaeological excavations in the Necropolis began at the end of the nineteenth century. Surveys were performed without prior planning for the preservation and organization of the post‐excavation site (Cañaveras et al, ; Sánchez‐Moral et al, ). In addition, the area also shows important modifications that are related to the construction of facilities for visiting, mainly earthworks and trails that were built to protect the tombs from massive public visits.…”

“…For the Necropolis of Carmona, the evaluation of the conservation state in previous studies (Ariño & Saiz‐Jimenez, ; Benavente et al, ; Cañaveras et al, ; Laiz et al, ) allowed the main indicators of the currently active deterioration phenomena to be detected and to conclude that the main factor of the current deterioration of the tombs is meteoric water. Unfortunately, the exposure of the buried tombs to atmospheric conditions and modification of natural drainage has led to an important acceleration of the deterioration phenomena in this exceptional burial site (Sánchez‐Moral et al, ).…”