Alessandro PierattiniThe Origins of Greek Temple ArchitectureCambridge University Press, 2022

Structural mortars are used to bind together single masonry units. Lime and gypsum were the most widespread mortars in antiquity and beyond, until the early 19th century. Lime mortars prevailed over dry masonry construction when Roman builders started to experiment with high quality binders. Since then, lime mortars were also employed by other building cultures. The characteristics of lime mortars depend on the local natural resources and on regional practices. Both aggregates and additives determined specific quality mortars. Gypsum mortars were widely employed in regions rich in gypsum deposits. Their quick setting and adhesive capacity were important for their employment in vaulted construction. Low energy requirement for production and fire resistance were also fundamental aspects for their success.

Restoration of built heritage can serve not only to preserve historical documents of the past but also to provide models for new sustainable architecture. Vernacular and, more generally, historic architecture is by its nature sustainabile and resilient. It is largely the result of experience and acquired knowledge, and shows how local resources can be used in a thoughtful and rational way in new construction. For this reason, it can inspire low-energy solutions necessary to address the current climate crisis. Conservation projects, in their turn, allow us to analyze the fabric of historic buildings, to understand which materials were used, how they were transformed and assembled, and how they offered the best response to the needs of use and resistance to the elements and natural hazards. In this paper, conservation of traditionaly-built architecture and new sustainable architecture are discussed as two partners pursuing the common goal of reducing the effects of climate change. The author investigates the way conservation and analysis of historic buildings allows us to interpret the complex and articulated reality of regional architecture. By retrieving the analysis of historic construction as a fundamental component for understanding architecture and adopting manual graphic records as a tool for expressing the complexity of the fabric of a building, it is possible to identify local building traditions and inspire new sustainable architecture.

Fired-brick vaulting can be traced in the West as early as the Late Bronze Age Cypriot site of Enkomi. However, there is a general lack of understanding of the way it spread across the Mediterranean. The earliest examples are from the 4th century BC, when dry-brick vaulting is found in furnaces and tombs (Great Greece and Sicily). Mortared brick vaulting became common only in Roman times. The use of lime mortar was extensively exploited by the Romans, who developed multiple solutions for solid-brick vaulting. However, tile vaulting was unknown. In this article I argue that the earliest evidence for tile vaulting is in Marrakech, and that this technique was inspired by vaulting techniques from Mesopotamia and Persia. Starting with the Roman examples, differences from tile-vaulting are highlighted. The discussion of examples of gypsum-mortared vaults in the East make it possible to propose that Almoravid builders developed this new vaulting technique by introducing brick and gypsum as a bonding agent to their territories on a massive scale.

Après une analyse autoptique et des études menées sur le Mausolée d’Hadrien / Château Saint-Ange entre 2009 et 2015, une nouvelle compréhension de l’architecture de cette construction massive est désormais possible sur une base plus scientifique. L’article est divisé en trois parties : analyse de la localisation du mausolée et sa relation avec la ville ; analyse des structures ; restitution architecturale de l’édifice. Les principales nouveautés peuvent être résumées de la manière suivante : identification de l’escalier qui conduisait au sommet de la structure ; identification d’une péristasis de colonnes autour du tambour ; compréhension de la disposition architecturale de la rotonde ; compréhension des principales phases de transformation ; identification d’un effondrement au cours de la première phase de construction qui a causé la modification du couloir d’entrée.

Fired-brick vaulting without centering is documented in several examples and over quite a large territory. In antiquity and the Middle Ages, we find three different solutions in the Mediterranean Region: dry-brick vaults, lime-mortared brick vaults and gypsum-mortared brick vaults. The article offers a concise overview of the evidence and offers a possible understanding of the historical context which fostered innovation in brick vaulting.

Mortar is of fundamental importance for the building technology. It is used to bind together masonry units and ease the building process. Several building techniques evolved to take advantage of the capacity of mortars to improve cohesiveness and form sound structures. In this paper, I discuss how lime and gypsum mortars were employed from the Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Gypsum mortars offered several advantages due to their adhesive properties and quick setting. Their use as a structural binding agent developed in regions rich in gypsum, and was particularly significant in vault construction. Lime mortars offered different advantages over gypsum ones, particularly in terms of mechanical resistance and resilience to humid conditions. The massive use of lime mortars started with the ancient Romans and continued throughout the centuries as the foremost binding material, until the introduction of Portland cement mortars in the nineteenth century.

High resolution techniques for data acquisition and processing procedures are increasingly applied in near-surface geophysics for archaeology. In this paper we present the preliminary results of two geophysical measurements campaigns aimed to the investigation of buried remains in the archaeological sites of Θουρία (Péloponnèse, Hellas) and Sibari (Southern Italy). In the first field survey the geophysical approach involved the integrated application of the geoelectrical and magnetic methods and an innovative tomographic analysis for the inversion of both resistivity and magnetic data. In the second case, we carried out high resolution magnetic measurements, interpreted by means of the use of an appropriate filtering procedure. The applied data inversion allows us to provide reliable space patterns of the most probable specific target boundaries, improving the information quality of geophysical methods. The results obtained at this early stage of data processing confirm some archaeological hypothesis about the investigated areas and confirm that the use of integrated geophysical methods allows the archaeologists to reduce the time and the costs of their surveys.

El artículo analiza una consolidación antigua en una pared de la gran terma en Iasos de Caria. El análisis se basa en la observación del uso inusual de elementos de hierro, insertados abundantemente en las juntas de una pared del caldarium. La inspección y estudio de las características constructivas del muro permitieron identificar un deterioro del revestimiento. Este último, formado por grandes y pesados bloques apenas esbozados y no unidos al núcleo del muro, se desprendió quizás por efecto de un terremoto. El uso de la cuña de hierro para crear contraste entre las piedras de un paramento constituía una solución óptima para consolidar la mampostería sin tener que desmontar todo el revestimiento. [it] L’articolo analizza un consolidamento antico su una parete delle grandi terme a Iasos di Caria. L’analisi si basa sull’osservazione dell’impiego inconsueto di elementi di ferro, inseriti in abbondanza nei giunti di una parete del caldarium. Il rilievo e lo studio delle caratteristiche costruttive del muro hanno condotto all’identificazione di un dissesto del paramento. Quest’ultimo, formato da grandi e pesanti blocchi appena sbozzati e non ammorsati al nucleo della muratura in conglomerato, si distaccò forse per effetto di un terremoto. L’impiego di zeppe di ferro per creare contrasto tra le pietre di un paramento dissestato, costituiva una soluzione ottimale per consolidare la muratura senza dover smontare l’intero paramento.

This paper discusses a masonry strengthening on the wall of the Great bath building at Iasos in Caria. The analysis is based on the observation of a peculiar use of iron elements, inserted in the joints of a wall of the caldarium. The survey and the study of the wall has demonstrated that the facing of the wall separated from its core, probably due to an earthquake. The damage is likely to have occurred because of the big and heavy stones of the facing which were not bonded to the core of the wall. The use of iron wedges might have been an ideal solution for strengthening the wall without dismantling it.