Abstract
Dating of clay bricks (adobe) and plasters is a relevant topic not only for building historians in the Pannonian region. Especially in vernacular architecture in this region, clay with straw amendments is a dominant construction material. The paper presents the potential of the molecular decay of these amendments to establish prediction tools for age based on infrared spectroscopic measurements. Preliminary results revealed spectral differences between the different plant parts, especially culms, nodes, and ear spindles. Based on these results, a first prediction model is presented including 14 historic samples. The coefficient of determination for the validation reached 62.2%, the (RMSE) root mean squared error amounted to 93 years. Taking the limited sample amount and the high material heterogeneity into account, this result can be seen as a promising output. Accordingly, sample size should be increased to a minimum of 100 objects and separate models for the different plant parts should be established.
Highlights
Clay is one of the oldest construction materials in mankind
The objective of this work was to prove whether the molecular decay of straw in clay bricks and plasters measured by means of (FTIR) Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy can be used for dating purposes
The results indicate several important tasks that have to be taken into consideration, when results several important tasks that for have be taken into consideration, planning The a robust andindicate widely applicable prediction model agetobased on molecular decay
Summary
Clay is one of the oldest construction materials in mankind. Various building techniques have been developed according to locally available raw material and building traditions. Results of building techniques are, for example, rammed earth walls, cob walls, clay bricks, clay plasters, etc. Terms used for the clay itself, such as earth, loam, mud, etc., may vary regionally. In dry regions, remains of clay constructions are among the oldest testimonies of human settlements, whether in the Andes, Central Asia, the dry area of settlement around the Sahara Desert from Mali to Ethiopia and Egypt, or even the prolific region from the Levante to the delta of Euphrat and Tigris [1]. In comparison to other construction materials like wood or stone, scientific research on these constructions is rather scarce
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