Abstract
This paper intends to characterize the floor mortar layers (nucleus, rudus and statumen) of the high imperial mosaics of the domus integrated in the Museum of Archeology D. Diogo de Sousa, the oldest roman housing testimonies known in Braga, Portugal. It offers an important archaeological and historical contextualization and first chemical characterization attempt on the mortars. The study of 13 mortar samples was carried out at a chemical level through X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). All samples presented low lime content when compared to similar studies. A high chemical similarity between nucleus mortars (opus signinum) and chemical composition differences between rudus and statumen mortars was determined, confirmed by statistical analyses. Their composition was distinctly related to the stratigraphic position of each floor mortar layer, following Vitruvius’ model, and to the external conditions and treatments (e.g., capillary rise with soluble salts and application of chemical treatments), to which they were submitted.
Highlights
Roman mortars are noted for their high durability and complex technological knowledge, related with its composition and execution methods
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The results obtained on the 13 mortars samples from different floor layers of the high imperial mosaics of the domus integrated in the crypt space of Museum of Archaeology D
Summary
Roman mortars are noted for their high durability and complex technological knowledge, related with its composition and execution methods. Some studies have been developed on the characterization of roman mortars in Portuguese archaeological sites, such as Beja-Pisões, Tróia, Conimbriga and Marvão-Anmaia [1,2,3,4]. The roman floor mosaics’ substrate has several preparatory mortar layers, carefully built (in terms of number, thickness and composition). These kind of mortar substrates are under study elsewhere, such as Greece, Italy, Slovenia and Spain [5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. In Bracara Augusta, the Roman name of Braga (Portugal), the roman mortars from its archaeological sites are poorly analyzed and there is no known bibliographic references concerning their characterization
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