Monumental Complex Research Articles

«Difeso… con ogni mezzo sul suolo patrio». Armando Ottaviano Quintavalle e il salvataggio del patrimonio artistico di Parma al castello di Torrechiara

The aim of the article is to investigate the role played by the Superintendent and art historian Armando Ottaviano Quintavalle (1894-1967) for the protection of Parma’s and Piacenza’s cultural heritage inside the Castle of Torrechiara, in Langhirano, during the Second World War. The article elaborates and deepens some results of the research conducted during my master’s thesis, starting from the archival sources preserved in Parma’s Library of the National Gallery, in the Monumental Complex of Pilotta. The first paragraph analyses the activities of the Superintendent at the Regia Galleria, then, the second one focuses on the development of the shelter established inside the Castle, for the protection of the artistic heritage of the province. Finally, the last paragraph explores the actions taken by Quintavalle’s “human capital”, that is, his employees, through a technical-logistical reconstruction of the events that occurred in Langhirano.

THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF PALMYRA BEFORE AND AFTER THE WAR IN SYRIA

In the article there is example of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the article examines the problems of loss and preservation of the world historical, cultural, archaeological and architectural heritage in the context of modern local military confl icts. During the periods of Antiquity and the middle Ages, a complex of monuments, unique in composition and size, was formed here, combining ancient Eastern, Roman, Byzantine and Arab elements. During the ongoing acute armed confl ict in Syria, because of the purposeful actions of religious terrorist-extremist organizations, defi ned by the author as an "international historian of cultural terrorism", hesuffered catastrophic damage. An analysis of the scale of this damage, as well as the effectiveness of the efforts of the Syrian authorities, international organizations and the world community, shows that the preservation and restoration of Palmyra's heritage is possible because of painstaking, complex, joint work of all interested parties. Thus, the example of Palmyra showed the military confl icts in the Middle East, along with the actual destruction of entire states, the death of a huge number of people, the economic crisis, millions of refugees, was an attack on the heritage of ancient civilizations, which caused unprecedented loss of world cultural heritage in modern history. Now the world community faces a long and comprehensive joint effort to determine the damage, restore, and prevent further destruction and looting of the cultural heritage of Palmyra and Syria.

Investigations on historical monuments\u2019 deterioration through chemical and isotopic analyses: an Italian case study

In this paper, we analysed the efflorescences present in the frescos of a monumental complex named S. Pietro a Corte situated in the historic centre of Salerno (Campania, Italy). The groundwater of the historic centre is fed by two important streams (the Rafastia and the Fusandola) that can be the sources of water penetration. The aims of this work are to (i) identify the stream that reaches the ancient frigidarium of S. Pietro a Corte and (ii) characterize the efflorescences on damaged frescos in terms of chemical nature and sources. In order to accomplish the first aim, the water of the Rafastia river (7 samples) and the water of the Fusandola river (7 samples) were analysed and compared with the water of a well of the Church (7 samples). The ionic chromatography measurements on the water samples allowed us to identify the Rafastia as the river that feeds the ancient frigidarium of S. Pietro a Corte. To investigate the nature and the origin of the efflorescences (our second aim), anionic chromatography analyses, X-ray diffraction measurements, and the isotopic determination of nitrogen were performed on the efflorescences (9 samples) and the salts recovered from the well (6 samples). Results of these analyses show that efflorescences are mainly made of potassium nitrate with a δ15N value of + 9.3 ± 0.2‰. Consequently, a plausible explanation for their formation could be the permeation of sewage water on the walls of the monumental complex.

Returning from the Underworld: The West Kennet Palisades in the Avebury Monument Complex

In recent decades some archaeologists have come to doubt key components and properties of the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (EBA) Avebury monument complex. By site excavation of the Beckhampton Avenue, Silbury Hill, and the West Kennet Palisades the idea of an integrated group of contemporaneous monuments has been thrown into doubt. In this paper these critiques are themselves critiqued and further tested by an inter-disciplinary exercise integrating archaeology, landscape phenomenology, and archaeoastronomy. It is suggested that the emergent properties of this procedure reveal that these recent doubts are unfounded and that this monument complex was designed for rituals to initiate neophytes by simulating journeys through a virtual underworld.

Dating the Noceto Vasca Votiva, a unique wooden structure of the 15th century BCE, and the timing of a major societal change in the Bronze Age of northern Italy.

The Noceto ‘Vasca Votiva’ (votive tank), discovered in excavations on a terrace at the southern edge of the Po Plain, northern Italy, is a unique well-preserved wooden (primarily oak) structure dated to the advanced through late Middle Bronze Age (~1600–1300 BCE). This complex monument, comprising two super-imposed tanks, is generally linked with an important but uncertain ritual role involving water. The context provides extraordinary preservation of both wooden, other organic, and cultural finds. The key question until now, hindering further interpretation of this remarkable structure, has been the precise date of the tanks. Initial work pointed to use of the two tanks over about a century. Using dendrochronology and radiocarbon ‘wiggle-matching’ we report near-absolute construction dates for both of the tanks. The lower (older) tank is dated ~1444±4 BCE and the upper (more recent) tank is dated 12 years later at ~1432±4 BCE. This dating of the construction of the Noceto tanks in the 3rd quarter of the 15th century BCE further enables us to reassess the overall period of activity of this wooden complex and its association with a major period of societal change in the Bronze Age of northern Italy starting in the later 15th century BCE.

Ianus Augustus, Caput Viae (Mengíbar, Spain): An interprovincial monumental border in Roman Hispania

AbstractRecent research undertaken as part of the Iliturgi Project has located the remains of an Early Imperial building complex linked to the Via Augusta. They include the foundations of an arch and a monumental platform whose size and characteristics allow it to be identified as the Ianus Augustus, a monumental complex near the River Baetis that marked the limit between the Roman provinces of Baetica and Tarraconensis. Its location makes it a reference point for our knowledge of the ancient geography of Hispania and for understanding Roman interprovincial frontiers. Geophysical prospections in its surroundings have also revealed the possible remains of a bridge across the river.

Dry biocleaning of artwork: an innovative methodology for Cultural Heritage recovery?

An innovative methodology is proposed, based on applied biotechnology to the recovery of altered stonework: the “dry biocleaning”, which envisages the use of dehydrated microbial cells without the use of free water or gel-based matrices. This methodology can be particularly useful for the recovery of highly-ornamented stoneworks, which cannot be treated using the conventional cleaning techniques. The experimental plan included initial laboratory tests on Carrara marble samples, inoculated with dehydrated Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells, followed by on-site tests performed on “Quattro Fontane” (The Four Fountains), a travertine monumental complex in Rome (Italy), on altered highly ornamented areas of about 1,000 cm2. The mechanism is based on the spontaneous re-hydration process due to the environmental humidity and on the metabolic fermentative activity of the yeast cells. Evaluation by physical-chemical analyses, after 18 hours of the biocleaning, confirmed a better removal of salts and pollutants, compared to both nebulization treatment and control tests (without cells). The new proposed on-site dry biocleaning technique, adopting viable yeast cells, represents a promising method that can be further investigated and optimized for recovering specific altered Cultural Heritage stoneworks.

L’arredo liturgico medievale della cattedrale di Bari: note per una sintesi critica tra storia e storiografia

The Cathedral of Bari hosted liturgical furnishings from different phases of the Middle Ages, responding to certain historical circumstances and to both different cultual and aesthetic demands. However, during the very long history of this monument, modifications, dismantling, and dispersions have affected - as very often happens - the medieval furnishings, disseminating their materials not only within the monumental complex, but also in various museums of the city. In this paper, historical events but also historiographic items concerning all these surviving evidences are retraced, ideally bringing them here together to focus on chronologies and on some still critical issues. Material, bibliographic and documentary data, published and unpublished, are therefore put into a systematic dialogue. The aim is to provide an updated summary of the status quastionis of the studies on these works of art as well as to arouse new ideas for reflection on the efforts taking place over the centuries for redefining the sacred space within the metropolitan seat of Bari.

A re-interpretation of the Levens Park ring cairn, Cumbria, based on the original excavation archives

ABSTRACT The site of a Beaker burial excavated in Levens Park, Cumbria was published by David Sturdy in 1972 as that of a farmstead or place for the living altered into a ring cairn or place for the dead. However, the recent discovery of the excavation archive and contemporary correspondence reveals a far more complex monument than previously understood. We draw attention to a series of important omissions from the excavation report, provide a detailed account of the excavated monument and seek to create a new narrative regarding its development and purpose. We argue that the monument was built as a series of changing structures and demonstrates the idea of monuments in progress and, thereby, the creation of communal memory and identity. The absence of a full report of this excavation means that its wider significance has remained unknown. It represents one of the earliest examples of what Sturdy called ‘rescue archaeology’ and demonstrates a complex sequence of structural components and burial that contributes to our understanding of the Early Bronze Age. The broader archaeological appraisal of Levens Park, which provided the context for this excavation, represents one of the earlier examples of landscape archaeological survey in Britain.

FREE SPACE AS AN ELEMENT OF OPEN-AIR MUSEUMS’ EXHIBITION

In the area of architectural heritage preservation, the leveling of monument objects’ environment is an important problem. The essence of the monuments is laid not only in their material structure but also in a historically formed environment and spatial configuration that exhibits their historical and cultural content, enriches artistic properties.
 Open-air museums are specific institutions that are characterized by the use of not only monumental volumes and structures but also the free space between them. Cultural landscapes - lands of estates and residences, parks in palace ensembles, territories of monastic complexes, industrial landscapes, memorial places, and archaeological complexes become elements of the exhibition. Features of exhibition space organization in open-air museums are not sufficiently highlighted in scientific literature.
 Depending on the selected exhibition concept, a set of activities of the museum is determined and the museum zoning occurs. The use of free spaces is divided into two levels depending on the scale – urban planning and architectural. The urban planning level is responsible for the environmental design of the overall space of the ensemble or the complex of monuments. The architectural level of open-air museum formation envisages the organization of existing buildings, structures, and areas between them.
 On the urban-planning level, it is important to ensure the convenience of the visual perception of the complex: to reveal the most interesting fragments of the environment and visual connections, to emphasize the basic aesthetic, associative, symbolic, and practical properties of cultural landscapes within the open-air museum. On the architectural level of organization, free spaces become the basis for many activities - various educational, cultural, and entertainment events.
 Free space in museums serves as an exhibit, an element of activity processes and various events, and also serves as a basic tool for detecting and emphasizing the characteristic features of exhibited complexes and ensembles.

A combination of terrestrial laser-scanning point clouds and the thrust network analysis approach for structural modelling of masonry vaults

Terrestrial laser-scanning (TLS) is well suited to surveying the geometry of monumental complexes, often realised with highly irregular materials and forms. This paper addresses various issues related to the acquisition of point clouds via TLS and their elaboration aimed at developing structural models of masonry vaults. This structural system, which exists in numerous artifacts and historical buildings, has the advantages of good static and functional behaviour, reduced weight, good requisites of insulation, and aesthetic quality. Specifically, using TLS, we create a geometric model of the ancient masonry church, S. Maria della Libera, in Aquino, largely characterised by naves featuring cross vaults and previously used as a case study in the paper entitled ‘Terrestrial laser-scanning point-clouds for modeling masonry vaults’, presented at the 2019 IMEKO TC-4 International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage. The results of the TLS survey are used as input for a structural analysis based on the thrust network analysis. This recent methodology is used for modelling masonry vaults as a discrete network of forces in equilibrium with gravitational loads. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach is both effective and robust in terms of assessing not only the safety conditions of existing masonry vaults, the actual geometry of which significantly influences the safety level, but also to design new ones.

The Beginning of the Palaeoeconomics Study in Ukrainian Archaeology (to the 100th Anniversary of B. A. Shramko’s Birth)

Almost all models of the palaeoeconomical researches used by representatives of the world economic science are suitable for studying the economic systems of antiquity. Interdisciplinary research, which combines the techniques and methods of research in economics and archaeology, seems to be very productive. This trend in the English language literature has been recorded only since 1990-ies. In Ukrainian archaeology it originated much earlier. On the example of the scientific biography of Borys Andriiovych Shramko, Doctor of Historical Sciences, the founder of the Kharkiv Archaeological school, who would have turned 100 in January 2021, the formation of the palaeoeconomic direction can be traced. The main problems that were posed and solved by the researcher are shown. It is noted that all the activities of the scientist were «targeted» in nature, i.e. before the start of excavations of the complex of the archaeological monuments in the vicinity of the Bilsk hill-fort, the largest settlement structure in Eastern Europe, B. A. Shramko set himself the task of studying the economic system of the region. The achievements of the scientist in the study of agriculture, cattle breeding, crafts, domestic crafts, construction are shown. To study these branches of the economy, the methods of natural sciences were widely used, i.e. research by B. A. Shramko, since 1960-ies have had an interdisciplinary character. It is concluded that B. A. Shramko was the first in Ukraine who conducted a study of the palaeoeconomics using the method of economic research. Moreover, it can be noted that B. A. Shramko proved the participation of the region he studied in the world-system structures that developed in the early Iron Age.

A Changing Cityscape in Central Italy: The Gabii Project Excavations, 2012–2018

ABSTRACT Excavations carried out at the Latin city of Gabii between 2012 and 2018 have contributed new data to a number of debates around the emergence, lived experience, maintenance, decline, and resilience of cities. Gabii’s urban trajectories demonstrate both seemingly familiar forms of urbanism and, on closer study, many locally circumscribed elements. Specifically, the Gabii Project excavations have uncovered an early Iron Age (8th–5th centuries b.c.) hut complex that has provided evidence for architecture, funerary rites, and quotidian activities during the initial polynuclear settlement at urbanizing Gabii. A unique monumental complex constructed in the 3rd century b.c. has been identified and is interpreted as a public structure potentially used for ritual activities; the study of this complex raises questions about the creation and reception of markers of civic identity. Excavation data has further characterized the reorganizations that took place during the first centuries a.d., when Gabii’s settled area contracted. Rather than unidirectional decline, evidence for industrial activities increases, and elite investments in the city persist, especially in the mixed-use elite domestic and agricultural complex. These results provide detailed evidence for how ancient cities developed and transformed in the face of shifting local and regional conditions, especially smaller urban centers (Gabii) at the periphery of mega-urban centers (Rome).

The case study of Villa Beatrice d’Este: management planning of a multi-layered site with Medieval ruins in the Veneto Region, Italy

Villa Beatrice d’Este is a 17th century Venetian Villa in the Veneto Region, Italy, located within the area of the Euganean Hills Regional Park. The villa was built to replace a previous 13th century Medieval Monastery, whose structure was integrated in the villa. Remains of the Medieval structures are still visible today. The monumental complex constitutes an example of a multi-layered site with continuous life from Medieval times up to the present days. For this reason, the site was selected as a case study by the EU-funded project RUINS[1], in view of proposing a management plan to protect and valorise its complex heritage, as an example of heritage site with Medieval ruins in Europe.
 
 [1] RUINS, Sustainable re-use, preservation and modern management of historical ruins in Central Europe - elaboration of integrated model and guidelines based on the synthesis of the best European experiences. A project funded by the EU through the Interreg Central Europe Programme.

Considerazioni sull’autorappresentazione di Trimalchione: gli affreschi della <i>porticus</i> e il monumento funebre

This article addresses some issues relating to the life of Trimalchio, the well-known freedman of Petronius' Satyricon. In particular, it focuses on the modalities of self-representation of the freedman through two ekphrasis, the one painted in the frescoes of the porticus, and the other represented by the monumental complex of his tomb. The two descriptions are interpreted not only in the light of literary references, both internal and external to the Petronian novel, but also trying to find precise archaeological counterparts that would help to insert literary fiction in a realistic context. From the comparison with the literary and archaeological data some details emerge that highlight the complex and multifaceted Trimalchio’s desire for self-representation, which denotes a deep and lucid consciousness of himself and of his own condition beyond the well-known cliché of the rich upstart.

Early Monumentality in the Belize River Valley: Excavations of a Preclassic E-Group at Cahal Pech, Belize

Recent investigations at Cahal Pech, Belize, documented a previously unrecognized Middle Preclassic (700–500 cal BC) E-Group complex. Located in an open public plaza, the monumental complex likely functioned as a forum for communal public events. In the Late Preclassic, the E-Group was replaced by an ancestor shrine where several royal tombs are located, as well as buildings separating public civic space from private elite space. These shifts in monumental construction temporally track the development of ideological manifestations of power and provide evidence for the formalization of dynastic rulership by an emerging elite class.

Between land and water: Hydraulic engineering in the Tlalixcoyan basin, Veracruz, Mexico

Recent remote sensing research in the Tlalixcoyan basin, Veracruz, has identified patterns of raised fields and public civic-ceremonial plaza groups that suggest a local and decentralized strategy of cooperation to develop hydraulic and agricultural resources. This perspective provides support for Scarborough and Lucero’s (2010) cross-cultural conceptualization of hydraulic strategies in the semi-tropics, but we note some exceptions to their model as well. We conclude based on the remotely sensed data that (1) most of the interconnected field systems are too large or complex for a single family or lineage to have built and maintained alone; (2) the Tlalixcoyan settlement system is divided into clusters that likely represent social groupings akin to administrative districts; (3) each residential cluster possessed its own public civic-ceremonial plaza group; (4) each plaza group could have provided the seat of cooperation in the creation and maintenance of common-pool resources like raised fields; and (5) despite the implication of local hydraulic management within districts, the region as a whole presents a hierarchical settlement distribution with the Tlalixcoyan Monumental Complex at the top. The last two points represent central hypotheses generated from the remote sensing data that will be tested in future field research.

Памятники ойратской буддийской архитектуры в Казахстане: проблемы изучения историко-культурного наследия калмыков в трудах проф. Ж.О. Артыкбаева

The article analyzes the views of the famous Kazakh historian Zh.O. Artykbaev on the problems of preserving and studying the historical and cultural heritage of the Kalmyks. In the works of the scientist, special attention is paid to archaeological monuments, Buddhist monasteries, memorial sites, cultural and natural landscapes associated with the ethnic history of the Kalmyks and Oirats, military events, and the life of prominent historical figures. The task is to develop systematically an integral concept for the preservation, actualization and scientific study of historical and cultural heritage as a new interdisciplinary field of knowledge at the intercountry, all-Russian, regional and local levels, taking into account the accumulated domestic and foreign experience, the optimal model of informatization of heritage, the use of environmental monitoring tools to modern the state of objects of historical and cultural heritage and unique territories. The national historical and cultural heritage of the Kalmyk people is the code of its self-identification. The essence of national self-identification is seen in the unity of inheritance and actualization of cultural knowledge and values accumulated by past generations. Today, more than ever, it is important to understand and realize the need to preserve knowledge about their cultural and historical past. The historical and cultural heritage of the nomadic civilizations of Central Asia, which includes a vast complex of old-written monuments, places of worship, archaeological artifacts and other various items of material culture, has a huge information potential and allows you to get to know the spiritual culture of nomads more deeply.

Реставрация надгробия княгини Елены из церкви Святого благоверного князя Феодора Новгородского Александро-Невской лавры

The article discusses the process of restoration of a stone tombstone from the burial of the court aristocracy of the Russian Empire of the XIX century. The monument is notable for its location, which symbolically and culturologically associates it with the complex of funerary monuments of the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, representing objects of cultural heritage. The need to restore the tombstone generates the need to study the biography of the deceased, a historical person associated with various significant events. It is important that the author of the article is a restorer, an active participant in the restoration of stone slabs, a specialist in the restoration of stone as a material of architectural monuments, sculpture and applied art. The article analyzes in detail the methods of restoration of objects of this kind, describes the processes of clearing the stone, the mechanical connection of disparate fragments into a single whole. Much attention is paid to the technical and technological aspects of restoration, chemistry and physics of the materials used. The restoration of the slab resulted in the possibility of accurate reading of its text, made in Georgian and Russian.

The Seal of Novgorod Veche in Publications and Researches

The article is devoted to so-called “seal of the Novgorod veche” or “the seal from the collection of Count M. V. Tolstoy”, which not only has been periodically published since the second half of the 19th century, but also has been undergoing transformations from publication to publication. It is often interpreted in the scholarchip as the 15th-century monument of sphragistics. It supposedly sealed decisions of the Novgorod veche — the supreme authority of the Novgorod Republic, i. e. having been in use until 1478. The iconography of the seal enables some authors to suggest the emergence of the attributes of Novgorod independence — the “veche stepen”, which is understood as a platform for orators to speak, and the rod of the Novgorod archbishop. This article attempts to trace the history of the development of this approach to the monument of sphragistics and to understand whether this source meets the requirements applied by researchers. The author demonstrates that all known images of the seal are rooted in the only source — the illustration in the 1855 corpus by of A. B. Lakier of 1855 reproducing the seal of Novgorod voevodas of the late 16th — early 18th centuries. The version that this seal belonged to the Novgorod veche was formed in the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries, but took its final shape in the presentation by A. V. Artsikhovsky. Unfortunately, the ingenious and outwardly convinving idea of Artsikhovsky is refuted by the whole complex of monuments of Novgorod sphragistics.