Monumental Complex Research Articles

L’Imperiale Palazzo de’ Pitti conservazione e valorizzazione

The museum complex of Pitti Palace is one of the strategic projects of UNESCO Management Plan, called The prince's path, together with Uffizi Gallery, Vasari Corridor and Boboli Gardens, constituting the site that, perhaps not surprisingly, in 2014 the Ministry equipped with managerial, administrative-economic autonomy. If the post-war history of the Palace has been characterized by inadequate investments of resources and tools, also for the purposes of knowledge of the architectural heritage (the first studies of that period, remain the main bibliographic references to this day) and of the relative maintenance, the so-called 'Franceschini Reform' has inaugurated a new season for the Site, in which the administration has the opportunity to deepen and experiment strategies and actions aimed at the practice of programmed conservation. As regards the monumental complex of Pitti Palace, the contribution presents interventions, analyzes and programs which have been conceived and conducted with a methodological approach that places analysis and monitoring of the state of conservation of the heritage.

Сибирский археолог Борис Александрович Коников (к 75-летию со дня рождения)

Boris A. Konikov is an archaeologist who devoted his activity to studying the culture of the medieval peoples of the Middle Irtysh region, uniting the archaeological sites left by them in the Ust-Ishim archaeological culture. The analysis of such materials requires extensive knowledge in the archaeology of the taiga Irtysh and Ob, Upper Irtysh, and Altai. Having found and then excavated several dozen sites of this culture, B.A. Konikov put forward an interesting and debatable concept of the development of the Middle Irtysh region by local and alien ethnic groups. Ceramic vessels, tools and figgeres made of bronze, silver, iron, and bones found during excavations have become a “golden fund”, allowing any scientist to get acquainted with these interesting materials with their own eyes. It should be noted in particular that the researcher obtained a solid, probably the largest in Western Siberia, a collection of cast bronze images of a person, animals, birds, on the basis of which it is possible to study religious ideas and beliefs, aesthetic views of people of the past. Field and desk work B.A. Konikov combined with teaching, giving general courses of lectures on archaeology, the history of the Ancient East, leading special courses and seminars for specialized students of the Omsk State Pedagogical Institute / University and its Tara branch. Another area of work by B.A. Konikov was the head of the Laboratory of Archaeological Research of the Omsk State Pedagogical Institute, whose employees prepared the Code of historical and cultural monuments of the Omsk region. Going to work as director of the Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel, B.A. Konikov did not break off his ties with his alma mater. But, of course, he gave the main attention to the museum, whose employees still remember him with warmth. We note his activity in organizing and holding the “December Dialogues” scientific conference, in which archaeologists, museum workers, art critics, and culturologists consider it an honor to take part. In recent years, B.A. Konikov holds the position of Advisor to the General Director of the Omsk Popov Production Association (RELERO), manages the project for the study of the complex of archaeological monuments “Omsk parking lot”, writes monographs. He is a member of several public organizations, and has been rewarded for his work.

The Sechín Alto Complex in the Pre-Hispanic Central Andes

The monumental complex of Sechín Alto in the Casma Valley of the north coast of Peru represents one of the earliest complex societies in the Americas. Carbon dates indicate that Sechín Alto began at the end of the third millennium bc, reached its architectural height in the middle of the second, and lasted for several more centuries. The massive platform mound at Sechín Alto measured approximately 250 × 300 m and stood 35 m high. Several other contemporary sites located within 1 km of Sechín Alto combined with other mounds, plazas, performance spaces, and monuments that spread over an area of several square kilometres. This article reviews the architecture, economy, and ritual practices of the Sechín Alto complex during its rise and apogee in the middle of the second millennium.

Preface

Selected papers from the 25th edition of the International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes (ICSLS 2022) The 25th edition of the International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes (ICSLS 2022) was held inside the wonderful Monumental Complex of Belvedere di San Leucio, in Caserta, south of Italy, from 19 to 24 June 2022. Initially scheduled for June 2020, it was postponed by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.ICSLS 2022 has brought together, in person, researchers from universities and institutions to stimulate new activities in those fields in which the analysis of spectral line shapes is of the utmost importance, including atomic and molecular physics, precision spectroscopy and fundamental metrology, plasma physics, astronomical spectroscopy, spectroscopy of planetary atmospheres and exoplanets, applications of spectroscopy to environmental, medical and industrial domains. There have been roughly 70 participants from 18 different countries, including Brazil, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Poland, Sweden, and USA. The scientific programme of the Conference consisted of 17 invited lectures, 28 selected talks and 29 poster presentations organised into two poster sessions. All contributions were distributed among the following seven Sessions:- Fundamental tests and measurements;- Laboratory and astrophysical plasmas;- Line shape theory and experiments;- Innovative methods;- Environmental spectroscopy;- Molecular parameters;- Earth and Planetary atmospheres.Regardless of the Session, the average quality of the presentations was very high.List of 25th International Conference on Spectral Line Shapes, International Program Committee, Local Organising Committee are available in this pdf.

THE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE GRAND DUCHY OF LITHUANIA IN THE SOUTH OF UKRAINE: TYAHIN FORTRESS

The article is devoted to the results of the research of the fortress Tyagin, built by the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas on the territory of the island Bolshoye Gorodishche in the late 14th to early 15th century. The archaeological materials provided valuable information about the syncretism of the complex of monuments on the island, the typology, layout and size of the fortress. It was one of the earliest stone castle-type fortresses on the northern Black Sea coast, a part of the defensive line of the southern borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The fortress’ defensive system included a synthesis of defensive architectural elements, ranging from timber-engineered structures known from Old Russian times to stone walls and buttresses of a new level of fortification in Europe. The fortress was armed with artillery and edged weapons, the main type being crossbows, which were widespread in Lithuania. The fortress of Tyagin was situated at the crossroads of trade routes between the East and the West, at the crossroads of the custom. The artifacts testify to the presence of Lithuanian cultural objects, Genoese influence, contact with Crimea, and trade and economic relations with Poland. The monument is an integral part of the cultural heritage of Lithuania and Ukraine. Keywords: fortress, cultural heritage, Lithuania, Ukraine.

A Biography of an Ancient Cultural Landscape: The Sky over Tarquinia

This paper discusses two kinds of research implemented to federate different disciplines and knowledge in support of archaeological research and the protection of the tangible and intangible heritage of ancient Tarquinia. The first part of the work examines the results obtained from the archaeological analysis, the concrete implications on the sustainability of ancient cultural landscapes and their possible transmission over time as an expression of the culture of a community. The second part of the work presents the reading and analysis of the ancient landscape and sites through chrono-stratigraphy, especially regarding two case studies in Tarquinia: the ‘monumental complex’ and the Ara della Regina sanctuary. The work focuses on the intangible aspects of the landscape as a result of archaeological research in the archaeoastronomical field. The orientation of the sacred structures and landscapes is presented herein regarding Etruria and the two case studies. The results shed light on the city’s perception by the population, identifying it as an entity that held and sheltered every aspect of the community’s life. The preliminary results of this study have made it possible to recognise aspects of significant historical and cultural value, which are the heterogeneous expression of a solid identity to be safeguarded and developed in a sustainable way.

Constructional Chronotypologies of the Military Structure in the Qasabat Al-ḥamrā

The monumental complexes of the Alhambra and the Generalife in the city of Granada (Spain), built by the Nasrid sultans more than six centuries ago, constitute the final phase of Hispano-Muslim art in which Islam reached its greatest splendour and marked personality in the Iberian Peninsula. The attraction and interest that these ensembles have aroused in the sensibility of contemporary man, especially from the 18^th century to the present day, hardly find a parallel in the world's historical heritage, and the consequences of this fascination have been considerable both on the architecture itself and on the ornamentation that distinguishes the Alhambresque revival. For this reason, any serious approach to the knowledge of the Alhambra site cannot do without a scientific analysis of its constructive characteristics and its evolution over the centuries, thus dismantling any possible distortion of the historical truth in favour of a false historical romanticism. From the analysis of the constructive chronotypologies that can be recognized in The Spanish Muslim architecture from the beginning of the Islamic domain until the end of the 14^th century, constructive characterization patterns are identified regarding the geographical, social, technical and material variables in the field of military architecture present in the Qasabat Al-Ḥamrā (hallmark of the period) and the analyzed contexts. Based on the seriation of functional and material values, and identification of local patterns, an interpretative model of the documented construction systems and materials is proposed, providing an unprecedented typological-constructive analysis of this paradigmatic heritage. Based on these premises and following the itinerary proposed by Vargas in 2013 to manage the different functional, material and technical variables used to identify types and systems, the aim of this work is to elaborate a model which meets formal, stylistic and constructive aspects. Thus, by identifying the constructive systems, techniques and typologies, we present a chronological description and review of the different types existing in the territory, extrapolated to the analyzed local context and supported by updated planimetries of the places of study.

Illuminating traces of an Achaemenid's monumental complex in the Southern Caucasus by electrical resistivity tomography

The Achaemenid Empire controlled the Western Asian landmass between ca. 550–300 BCE. By some estimates, its subject peoples made up almost 44% of the world population. In recent years, studies have moved from a consideration of its core region, located in the province of Fars, Iran, to the investigation of imperial rule in the dependent regions. Since Achaemenid centers were often built of mudbrick and thus not easy to recognize by traditional archaeological methods, geophysical methods play an important role in this research. This paper reports the results of an innovative Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) study undertaken at one such center, Saaklemo, in the Kakheti Province, Republic of Georgia and shows the wide impact of the geophysical methods in the detection of the archaeological sites.In three areas of this ancient site between 2020 and 2021, following archaeological survey and magnetometer prospection, several three-dimensional (3D) ERT measurements, composed of dense parallel two-dimensional (2D) tomographies with dipole-dipole configuration, were carried out. To reconstruct the resistivity distribution of the subsurface, we used the smoothness-constrained inversion method, especially as the substructure was made of mudbrick and thus resistivity values of these anomalies were close to the background anomaly. Therefore, with smoothness-constrained inversion, we could detect the slight resistivity differences, which were partly due to density differences, and hence this method was capable of detecting these anomalies.In area 1, for the first time with ERT method, we were successful in discovering an extensive mudbrick (partly burnt) substructure at a depth of 40 cm to 1 m. After analyzing the magnetic data and a 3D model of this substructure based on the ERT data, a large excavation was conducted and a mudbrick substructure with six in-situ bell-shaped column bases was unearthed, which was destroyed by conflagration. The size and the architectural techniques used for this building prove that this excavated structure was an administrative building and served for representative purposes. Further presumed mudbrick structures were detected in the other two areas with the ERT method, but they have not yet been excavated.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPLORATION IN THE ITUM-KALINSKY DISTRICT OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC IN 2021

The article presents the results of archaeological surveys conducted in 2021 on the territory of lands allocated for economic development under the project “Construction of a Tower Small Hydroelectric Power Station on the Argun River in the Itum-Kalinsky district of the Chechen Republic”. The purpose of the work was to localize on the ground and clarify the location of cultural heritage objects relative to the above-mentioned land plot, to ensure the preservation of archaeological monuments known from archival data located in the area of construction work, to identify new archaeological monuments in order to register them for state registration, protection and introduction into scientific circulation. During the work, the previously known objects of cultural heritage “Ushkaloy watchtowers-twins”, “Ushkaloy burial ground” were examined and two new objects of cultural heritage were identified: the complex of archaeological monuments “Bashin-Kali”, including the remains of the fortification of the Caucasian war period “Bashin-Kali” of the 19th century (built in 1858), two destroyed burial grounds of the early Iron Age – the Middle Ages and the settlement of the Bronze Age, as well as the burial ground “Guchum-Kali”. The works included the study of agricultural terraces of the economic territory of Guchum-Kali village. On the territory, in some places, several foundations of residential and outbuildings have been recorded, according to local residents, dating back to the period of the 30-40s of the XX century. The laying of pits on the terraces revealed the presence of materials dating back to the 19th-20th centuries. The high saturation of the exploration site with monuments opens up prospects for further study of the territory not only of the Itum-Kalinsky district, but also the study of archaeological monuments of the mountainous regions of Chechnya as a whole.

NEAR PROJECT - Accessibility Plan for the Monumental Complex of the Opera di S. Maria del Fiore in Florence. Accessibility as an Element of Social.

Italy is the country with the highest number of sites recognised as World Heritage by UNESCO and one of the nations with the highest density of sites of cultural interest both in Europe and in the world. Unfortunately, only a small part of these are completely and easily accessible, and certain of the most fragile sections of society, for example disabled persons, are in fact excluded from the possibility of visiting and discovering the said places. The research presented here represents an "experiment" in the application of the methodology of the Accessibility Plan to the monumental complex of the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, in other words the attempt to increase the degree of accessibility of the complex through a medium and long-term innovative strategic planning tool that takes into consideration not only material aspects (physical and sensory accessibility) but also aspects of an intangible nature, thus making it possible for people to fully understand the cultural meanings of the places, and focusing on the "experiential dimension of the visit" [1].

Exploiting HBIM for Historical Mud Architecture: The Huaca Arco Iris in Chan Chan (Peru)

The construction technique of raw earth, which has always been in use in most of the world, has left large monuments or architectural complexes to cultural heritage that need special attention due to the notable vulnerability of the material. A convenient way to deal this threat, besides physical intervention, is by using an information system, such as HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modeling), as a tool for damage assessment and conservation planning. This paper reports on its application in an archaeological setting, in particular, on the Huaca Arco Iris, a religious building of the old city of Chan Chan (Peru), the largest monumental complex in mud on the American continent. The study is part of the bilateral international project between the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) and the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC) in the use of HBIM for the prediction of possible natural or anthropogenic damages to buildings in raw mud. Exploiting the data coming from the direct and indirect analyses, a dedicated ontology is built to guide the management of these data within the information system. The creation of an HBIM system for the archaeological domain, based on the trinomial data–information–knowledge, is presented and validated. Following this approach, a customizable HBIM has been created with the 3D model of the spatial entities of the Huaca. As a result, the semantic relationship of an external wall, taken as the benchmark test of our experiment, with the contained bas-relief and the conservation cover is tested.

НОВОЧЕРКАССКИЙ ПАРАДОКС

Objective of the study is to consider the impact of the complex of material and spiritual monuments of the Don Cossacks’ fifth capital on the preservation of the cultural and historical landscape of the Rostov region, as well as the transmission of traditional patriotic values to future generations.   The methodological basis of the research. The study was carried out on the basis of an analysis of historical sources, scientific research, archival documents and materials from the Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks. Research results. The town of Novocherkassk is a real phenomenon in the national culture. Possessing a unique set of architectural, engineering, historical, cultural, artistic monuments and memorial objects associated with the activities of prominent Russians, it has every reason to create a museum-reserve in the city. That will allow it to become a strategic resource in the implementation of the State cultural policy. Prospects of the study are related to further research into the impact of other material and spiritual monuments on the preservation of the cultural and historical landscape of the Rostov region and other regions of Russia, as well as the transmission of traditional patriotic values to future generations.

Microstratigraphic analysis of the main Roman road in Hispania: the Via Augusta where it passes through the Ianus Augustus (Mengíbar, Spain)

Roman roads are omnipresent in the Mediterranean basin. Despite the methodological advances achieved, interdisciplinary studies including geoarchaeological techniques are still rare. The aim of this study is to offer a microstratigraphic analysis of an important Roman road in order to characterise the raw materials and construction techniques used to build it and their evolution over time. Our research focuses on the Via Augusta, the longest road in Roman Hispania, where it passes through the Ianus Augustus (Mengíbar, Spain), a monumental complex on the frontier between the provinces of Baetica and Tarraconensis. Archaeological excavations of this road have revealed vertical stratigraphic variations, suggesting the presence of several transit surfaces and repair works. A protocol was designed to characterise the road deposits at the microscale, where micromorphology revealed six overlying roads and their construction techniques. The combination of micromorphology, µ-XRF and the study of the textural parameters of the deposits allowed us to identify the raw materials used and their sources, as well as the specific features generated during the construction and use of the road. The results show how the technical solutions used survived as a tradition for centuries, and how the repair works identified in the stratigraphic sequence have a correlation with the road maintenance works mentioned in the Roman epigraphic record of Hispania Baetica. This study shows how detailed microstratigraphic analyses of Roman roads are very effective in the characterisation of road biographies.

Under the Mediterranean I: Studies in Maritime Archaeology

Under the Mediterranean I: Studies in Maritime Archaeology

Life before Stonehenge: The hunter-gatherer occupation and environment of Blick Mead revealed by sedaDNA, pollen and spores.

The Neolithic and Bronze Age construction and habitation of the Stonehenge Landscape has been extensively explored in previous research. However, little is known about the scale of pre-Neolithic activity and the extent to which the later monumental complex occupied an 'empty' landscape. There has been a long-running debate as to whether the monumental archaeology of Stonehenge was created in an uninhabited forested landscape or whether it was constructed in an already partly open area of pre-existing significance to late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. This is of significance to a global discussion about the relationship between incoming farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherer societies that is highly relevant to both Old and New World archaeology. Here we present the results of plant sedaDNA, palynological and geoarchaeological analysis at the Late hunter-gatherer site complex of Blick Mead at the junction of the drylands of Salisbury Plain and the floodplain of the River Avon, on the edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. The findings are placed within a chronological framework built on OSL, radiocarbon and relative archaeological dating. We show that Blick Mead existed in a clearing in deciduous woodland, exploited by aurochsen, deer and hunter-gatherers for approximately 4000 years. Given its rich archaeology and longevity this strongly supports the arguments of continuity between the Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers activity and Neolithic monument builders, and more specifically that this was a partially open environment important to both groups. This study also demonstrates that sediments from low-energy floodplains can provide suitable samples for successful environmental assaying using sedaDNA, provided they are supported by secure dating and complementary environmental proxies.

Indian Monument Recognition Using Deep Learning

Monuments are physical structures built or created dedicated to a person or event. Their importance to the region they belong to makes their documentation and preservation important. Monuments being 3D objects, pose is an issue in terms of the difference in perception of the monument images. There can be an immense variation because of the viewpoint from which the image is being taken. To overcome this issue, Data Augmentation is used in this study. Random Flip, Random Rotation, Random Translation and Random Zoom, Random Contrast, Random Hue, Random Brightness, and Random Saturation operations under Data Augmentation are applied on the dataset. This research uses Deep Learning architectures on a hybrid dataset of “Indian Monument Recognition Dataset” and “Qutub Complex Monuments' Images Dataset.” InceptionV3, MobileNet, ResNet50, AlexNet, and VGG16 recognize the monuments with an accuracy of 97.79%, 93.73%, 86.47%, 68.88%, and 61.33% respectively.

HBIM Methodology to Achieve a Balance between Protection and Habitability: The Case Study of the Monastery of Santa Clara in Belalcazar, Spain

The different technical and legal tools intended for heritage protection have augmented the possibilities to acknowledge important monumental complexes. However, a contrast lies in the artistic contexts in which, due to the consolidation of their programmatic typology, such monuments require habitation, unlike more conventional monuments. This article collects the results of an accurate investigation conducted by the authors, whose main objective was to obtain a tool that allows consistent measurement of different indicators in which both the protection of the elements, and the capacity for habitation, are safeguarded. To this aim, we contextualized the research at the Monastery of Santa Clara de la Columna in Belalcázar (Córdoba), a monastery with the highest heritage protection in Spain, and which, in turn, accommodates a religious community. The results have allowed us, for the first time in Andalucia, to define objective habitability parameters, within protected heritage contexts.

Non-destructive magnetic and chemical characterization of granite column shafts traded in the Mediterranean area: the case of Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa (Italy) and Basilica of Saint-Martin d’Ainay in Lyon (France).

AbstractWe present a scheme for non-destructive provenancing of granite shafts dating from the Roman to the medieval period using a combination of visual, magnetic, and chemical determinations. Our results on two monumental medieval complexes in Europe, in Pisa and Lyon, shows both oriental provenance, most likely spolia, and shaft from the quarries within the influence zone of the Pisa Republic (Elba, Corsica and Sardinia) that possibly correspond to shafts newly obtained in the quarries, particularly for the large diameter shafts of Ainay in Lyon (from Corsica) and Piazza dei Miracoli (from Elba and Sardinia). pXRF appears to be an efficient way to discriminate Corsican from Egyptian grey coarse grained granite provenance.

Influence of the ground on the structural identification of a bell-tower by ambient vibration testing

The article revolves around the structural identification technique through dynamic in situ tests trying to unravel the contribution of Soil Structure Interaction (SSI). The issue is addressed by considering the bell tower of Santa Sofia in Benevento (Italy) as a case study. Together with the homonymous church, the monastery and the fountain, the bell tower is part of a monumental complex included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2011. As the tower is completely separated from the other buildings of the complex, from a structural viewpoint it is quite a simple structure but likely to be affected by SSI. The latter phenomenon in some way could dictate the tower static and dynamic response, thus affecting the overall structural dynamic identification process. Invasive investigations are not usually allowed on cultural heritage due to preservation requirements. Thus, the paper proposes a simple but effective procedure for obtaining the data set required for both structure and soil characterization through noninvasive in-situ tests. The dynamic response of the subsoil at the tower site was firstly identified by reproducing the experimental amplification function provided by geophysical tests. Later, the results of an ambient vibration test performed on the bell tower have been interpreted and used to calibrate two refined 3D finite element models of the tower, one having the structure with a restrained base and another with a base compliant with the reality found. In the latter case, a suitable portion of the soil below the tower was included in the analysis domain. The contribution of the ground has been ascertained to move towards a reliable dynamic identification of the built cultural heritage. • Procedure for structure and soil data set characterization by noninvasive in-situ tests. • The importance of SSI on the correct identification of the structure behavior. • Combined geotechnical and structural optimization procedure to validate a FE model.

The tempo of the Iberian megalithic rituals in the European context: The cemetery of Panoría

Our ability to build precise narratives regarding megalithic societies largely depends on the chronology of the multi-ritual events that usually shaped these complex sites. The cemetery of Panoría offers an excellent opportunity for exploring ritual complexity in Iberia through radiocarbon chronology, as four of the nine recently excavated dolmens are remarkably well preserved. For this purpose, seventy-three radiocarbon dates were obtained and analysed within a Bayesian framework. The resulting refined chronology has led us to three main conclusions: i) in all tombs, the second half of the 4th millennium cal BC was an intensive but brief period of funerary depositions, probably over three to six generations; ii) after a long hiatus, most of the dolmens were reused in the 25th and 21st centuries cal BC during even shorter periods, spanning just a few decades and approximately one to four generations; and (iii) long after the funerary rituals had ended in the 21st century, the memory of the cemetery was revived in Late Antiquity. These short, punctuated periods of use are highly consistent with those seen in a growing number of European megalithic monuments. From Britain to Iberia, a pattern of short spans of use is dramatically changing our perception of the social and political roles of these complex monuments.