Chemical Characterisation of Wood of Roman Ships Brought to Light in the Recently Discovered Ancient Harbour of Pisa (Tuscany, Italy)

Holocene evolution of Portus Pisanus, the lost harbour of Pisa

“…Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental studies at Pisa have focused both on Portus Pisanus 14 , 15 and the ancient fluvial port in the area of Pisa-Stazione Ferroviaria San Rossore, where several ships dating from the 2 nd century BC to the 5 th century AD were discovered 21 – 25 . These exceptional findings (amphorae, artefacts pertaining to the loads carried, and on-board equipment such as sails, ropes, anchors) engendered a wider environmental study focused on the analysis of Arno flood events in relation to the shipwrecks 26 , 47 and on archaeobotany 5 .…”

“…The city is currently located ~10 km east of the Ligurian Sea coast but its long and complex history 16 , 17 is closely linked to its port, named Portus Pisanus by late Roman sources (Rutilius Namatianus descriptions in de reditu suo , Itinerarium Maritimum 501 ) 15 , 18 – 20 . Since the Imperial Roman period, most of the supplies imported from Mediterranean provinces reached the city of Pisa through a complex harbour system that included Portus Pisanus , the fluvial Ports San Piero a Grado and Isola di Migliarino, and other minor landings along the ancient coast, the Arno and Serchio rivers and canals including the site of Pisa-Stazione Ferroviaria San Rossore 21 – 26 . The heyday of the seaport played out from the Late Republican Roman period to the Middle Ages, when Pisa became an influential Commune and maritime power 16 , 18 , 27 .…”

Weathering of Compounded Products

“…283 SEM and FTIR studies were used to evaluate progress of degradation of historic wood ceiling. Lignin contents is thus enhanced.…”

Analytical Aspects of Waterlogged Wood in Historical Shipwrecks

“…Softwood and hardwood can be identified from their characteristic lignin components, and the content of lignin (Klason lignin structure) can be determined. 10,32 The degree of deterioration can be estimated from the relative amounts of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which display characteristic infrared absorption bands in "fingerprint" wavenumber regions from about 1800 to 800 cm -1 . Many reports describe qualitative changes in FT-IR spectra related to decay of wood over long periods of exposure.…”

“…37,38 3·5 Gas chromatography (GC-MS) and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry Gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC-MS) has been used to quantify the content of acetic acid in archaeological wood, 39 to chemically characterize organic wood extractives and also to chemically characterize compounds derived from lignin degradation. 10 Efforts to analyze the extent of degradation of waterlogged wood without extraction procedures by means of pyrolysis GC-MS have also been made. 25 However, difficulties arise when comparing data obtained from different temperatures and pyroprobes.…”