Archaeometric study of mortars from the Pisa’s Cathedral Square (Italy)

Abstract

The present work is focused on the study of forty-two mortars used in the construction of both R P C M M " I T area, included since 1987 in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO, is famous for the presence of an important historical complex built in the Middle Ages (the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Leaning Tower and the Monumental Cemetery). The archaeologists discovered some structures related to more ancient periods: the Roman domus (1st 5 th centuries) and the older cathedral with its foundations and crypt (10th century). Based on OM, XRF, XRPD, TG-DSC and SEM-EDS analyses, the main characteristics of binder and aggregate of the mortars have been determined, and some raw materials used for the production of the analysed binding materials have been identified.

Multi-technical characterization of Roman mortars from Complutum, Spain

“…Table 15 presents the utility degree of the analytical techniques employed in this study. In agreement with the scholars [4][5][6][7][8]10,12,13,16,28] both optical and electronic microscopy, mineralogical, thermogravimetric and chemical analyses are suitable tools for characterization and in line with [1,15,41,53] grain size distribution and isotope analysis are distinguishing techniques regarding the constructive phases.…”

Growth of a sinkhole in a seismic zone of the Northern Apennines (Italy)

“…As long as for more precious natural materials, like gold and silver, even the exploitation of limestones and other lithotypes of stones for building purposes, as the production of quicklime, hydraulic lime and cements, has covered and still has a great importance (Cantisani et al, 2018;Fratini et al, 1994). The limestone exploitation to produce mortar and concrete in the territories of Florence and Prato has been active in the area from the Roman times (Cantini et al, 2017;Raneri et al, 2018). The main goal of this paper is to characterize the different lithotypes useful to the production of cement and limes for mortar production in this area by mean of chemical, mineralogical and petrographic studies and by defining their physical and mechanical properties.…”

Lime and Cement Plasters from 20th Century Buildings: Raw Materials and Relations between Mineralogical–Petrographic Characteristics and Chemical–Physical Compatibility with the Limestone Substrate

“…The raw materials, the calcination technologies and the building techniques evolved in different ways from one locality to another, leading each place to obtain its own style and best practices [2]. A plethora of papers deals with historical mortars, stones, and other geomaterials, with all of their related aspects, including archaeological inferences and significance [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14], raw materials provenance [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], the chemical, mineralogical and physical properties [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], degradation issues [33][34][35][36][37][38], and conservation/restoration techniques [39][40][41][42][43][44][45].…”