Roman Wall Research Articles

Marble and pitch: Original data on Roman wall revetment, the example of the Saint-Martin-au-Val sanctuary (Chartres, France)

The rising water table has saved some of the marble decorations in the ancient sanctuary of Saint-Martin-au-Val. It has also preserved materials of organic origin. Yet a grey to black material has appeared associated with large stone shims visible on the plaster surface. These shims are known from Roman plasters. They are traditionally understood to be fitting elements, but this remains hypothetical. The material used is unprecedented: a kind of mortar made from pitch, beeswax and marble grains. It was obviously used to glue the shims to the underside of the marble slabs. These shims therefore had a completely different function: they were actually used to hold the marble parietal decoration in place, adding points of contact between the decoration and its plaster.

Understanding climate risks to world cultural heritage: a systematic analysis and assessment framework for the case of Spain

Understanding the spatial distribution of world cultural heritage in its present-day geographical context is the foundation for the identification of and subsequent protection from key threats and vulnerabilities, particularly those arising from anthropogenic climate change. To address this challenge, we classified 45 Spanish world cultural heritage sites (WCHS) listed in the UNESCO register (as of 2023) according to type, entry date, and creation date. To establish a basis for a detailed analysis of the specific impact of climate change on the Spanish WCHS, a spatial cartographic database was developed showing the relationships between the WCHS and key geographical and climatic variables. We then used historical climate data, combined with a review of the impact mechanism of climate conditions on cultural heritage, to quantitatively evaluate the extent to which the WCHS in Spain are affected by local climate conditions from five aspects: freeze thaw cycle, thermal stress (thermoclastism), hydrodynamic scoring, corrosion, and biodegradation. Based on the above climate condition risks, we identified the five Spanish WCHS with the greatest potential climate condition risks, including Santiago de Compostela (Old Town), Pyrénées—Mont Perdu, the Roman Walls of Lugo, the Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain, and the Tower of Hercules. Additionally, based on different shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), we conducted a qualitative assessment of climate risk changes for WCHS in Spain under climate change. We found that the SSP1-2.6 scenario had the lowest climate risk, emphasizing the importance of achieving carbon neutrality for the protection of the WCHS. Our work translates historical climate conditions into specific climate risk levels for cultural heritage, providing data and theoretical support for effectively assessing the climate risks to Spanish WCHS.

Archaeological and Archaeometric Insights into a Roman Wall Painting Assemblage from the Blanes Dump (Mérida)

In this paper we describe the archaeological and archaeometric analysis of a Third Pompeian Style assemblage from the Blanes dump in Mérida (Spain). Based on the pottery context, the material would have been part of the decoration of a public or private space remodelled towards the end of the 1st century AD. Several samples from to the middle area of the assemblage, including panels, inter-panels and a frieze, were selected and studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Raman, gas chromatography and petrographic analysis. The results revealed the use of hematite, cinnabar, minium and goethite in different panels, as well as goethite, Egyptian blue, calcite, glauconite and carbon for the decorative motifs. They allowed us to define the painting techniques used and how they have affected the degradation of the pigments.

The animal remains from Calle Almendralejo nr. 41 (Mérida, Spain): A contribution to our understanding of animal husbandry in the capital of Roman Lusitania

The study of zooarchaeological collections from Mérida is still rare, lacking above all information on the Romans diet and animal management. Here we present the description of the fauna found in a dump next to the northern part of the Roman wall, which also includes some contexts of ritual nature, dated to the 1st century AD until the beginning of 5th century AD. The osteological remains of animals have shown that most of them come from food waste and worked bones. We can see that there is a temporal evolution in the use of that space and in the species used, with smaller animals being preferred in the first phase and cattle being more abundant in the 4th century. Some improvement indicators were also identified, as would be expected for a provincial capital, such as Emerita Augusta. Also, ritual burials of numerous dogs as well as a skeleton of the oldest specimen in Iberia of Egyptian mongoose, camel and an edible dormouse, constitute interesting discoveries in this assemblage, demonstrating that this is an exceptional sample.

Shattered Economies: The Role of Glass Fragments in Early Roman Wall Mosaics as a Factor in Understanding Aspects of the Roman Economy and Society

Shattered Economies: The Role of Glass Fragments in Early Roman Wall Mosaics as a Factor in Understanding Aspects of the Roman Economy and Society

Roman wall paintings from the Roman Forum district of Carthago Nova: Characterisation of mortars and pigments

This paper aims to study the construction technique and characterisation of original mortars and wall paintings at the Roman Forum district of Carthago Nova (Spain). A multi-analytical approach was conducted on original fragments using Optical Microscopy (OM), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), colour tests (CIE L*a*b*) and contact angle measurements. Besides, the chemical composition was studied by X-fluorescence (XRF), Thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Infrared spectroscopy using attenuated total reflectance (ATR-FTIR). The mortars showed a multi-layered pattern consisting of three distinguishable layers that were decorated with low-thickness coatings. The top layer composition was eminently calcitic, while the central and bottom layers were probably elaborated with pozzolanic materials. It is worth noting that unusual minerals as cerussite (PbCO3) were identified in some layers, and probably associated to subsequent activities carried out in the site after Roman times. The top coating was made of hematite (Fe2O3) for red decoration, whereas graphite (C) and hydroxyapatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH)) were identified in black coatings, which suggests the use of animal bones in the production of black pigments. In addition, the outer surface of some fragments was most likely coated with organic substances to enhance colour and durability. Finally, SEM examination and EDX analyses also confirmed some of the above findings and the existence of NaCl surface crusts due to natural weathering.

Clusters of re-use: the late Roman Wall and the Unfinished Baths of Lepcis Magna

Lepcis Magna is a privileged site for investigating re-use in all its forms, and this paper focuses on the materials which are to be found recycled in two late-antique contexts: the late Roman defensive circuit and the so-called Unfinished Baths. In both contexts, the architects made use of a multitude of older elements, mostly architectural and epigraphic, many of which are still unpublished. These are discussed here for the first time in an attempt to investigate their character, their original provenance and in which ways they were employed within these new settings. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Baldock torcs: penannular neck rings from south-eastern Roman Britain and their significance for the development of provincial identities

This study defines and characterises the ‘Baldock’ group of copper-alloy penannular torcs, which were worn in south-eastern Britain during the 1st century AD. Torcs had an important local pre-Roman pedigree, but this new regional style of dress seems to have emerged around the time of the Claudian invasion and was worn in the heart of the new Roman province of Britannia. The significance of these torcs is explored, focusing on the new social contexts in which they circulated, their connections to new kinds of provincial identities, and the ways in which torcs were reimagined and transformed within Romano-British society. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Three monuments to Rhodopaios: a case study of re-use and continuity at Aphrodisias in the sixth century

The honorific monuments erected in late antiquity in the city of Aphrodisias are striking in their preservation and in their appearance. Two scholars, Charlotte Roueché and R.R.R. Smith, have provided full and ground-breaking publications of these monuments and have extracted important information from careful study of the epigraphic and sculptural elements. Further study conducted under the aegis of Smith and B. Ward-Perkins in the Last Statues of Antiquity Project, has grounded these monuments in the larger, empire-wide context of late antiquity. These fine academic studies have made these late Aphrodisian honours points of reference. Without the work of these distinguished scholars, this paper would not be possible or relevant. This paper seeks merely to focus attention on small details of structure, technique, and iconography in an attempt to sharpen our vision of the very last of these monuments. It endeavours to distinguish tendencies specific to the sixth-century honorific statuary habit at Aphrodisias and to understand the concept of re-use and recycling in that last moment of the statue culture in this conservative city, by looking at three monuments dedicated to the same man in the last moments of the habit. These are three statues monuments to one Rhodopaios of the second quarter of the sixth century, preserved in different states. The paper is divided into three parts; an introduction that considers the main trends of honorific statuary, the presentation of the three monuments of Rhodopaios, and a conclusion. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Re-carving is easy - when you are not detected

It has long been recognised that the majority of the portraits made in Rome and the western part of the Empire during the fourth through sixth centuries AD are recarved from older portraits. This conclusion derives primarily from studies of male portraits, whose facial features have been altered to a greater or lesser degree by the late-antique sculptors. In contrast, recarved female portraits have so far often gone undetected, because their faces have been altered in a more subtle manner or sometimes not at all. Instead, the sculptors focused their efforts on recarving coiffures, which served as individual markers. For the study of female recarved portraits, therefore, the back and profiles are more important than their faces. This observation makes it imperative to photograph female late-antique portraits (and preferably the male ones as well) from all four sides in order to enable scholars and students to see alterations made to their hair. This will allow for a fuller picture of recarving practices to be established. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Pagan iconoclasts? Some case studies from Roman Burgundy during Late Antiquity

This paper examines case studies from Roman Burgundy involving suspected symbolic recarving during Late Antiquity. Is it possible that religious desecration took place before the Theodosian Codex, and if so, why? Can we differentiate them from cases of wanton violence? The ambiguous cases found at the “Sources de la Seine” sanctuary (Côte-d'Or) and Entrains-sur-Nohain (Nièvre) help demonstrate the methodological difficulties involved in understanding the destruction of ancient sculptures. Through an investigation of selected examples from Sainte-Pallaye, Escolives-Saintes-Camille, and Sens (Yonne), we see that while desecration was a reality, the variety of methods employed were linked to the destination of the mutilated sculpture, as well as local customs and legal contexts. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Adorned medieval mummies from ‘Āsi al-Hadath cave, Lebanon: a multicultural community?

This paper investigates the personal adornment that was found in the medieval cave of ‘Āsi al-Hadath in Lebanon, which yielded a magnificent treasure from the second half of the thirteenth century. Indeed, several bodies lay there along with their belongings, all remarkably preserved. Historical sources reveal that this group belonged to the Maronite community. This paper attempts to address the identity of these individuals by studying the associated jewellery finds, thus adding new insights to this well-studied material. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Rethinking re-carving: revitalising Roman portraits in the third century

Research on the re-use of Roman material culture has often focused on repurposed architectural elements or re-carved portraits, and new approaches have increasingly focused on culture, context and memory with praxis, agency meaning, materiality, and reception as key issues. Sculpted portraits have been key players in the scholarly discourse beginning with the portraits of Rome’s ‘bad emperors’ such as Caligula, Nero, and Domitian reconfigured as a result of damnatio memoriae in the first century. The third century, however, proves to be a critical moment that witnesses a shift towards affirmative interventions that seek to refurbish and access the positive and legitimising aspects of the original images. Portraits are now redacted from likenesses of ‘good emperors’ such as Augustus, Hadrian, and Trajan to invoke the venerable authority of the imperial past. Private portraiture in the third century also provides evidence for secondary interventions not motivated by denigration but by the prestige of re-use. In a funerary context, the reconfiguration of portraits could confer ancestral honour and status. Ultimately the reuse of portraits, both imperial and private, can be read as highly creative revitalising acts of positive recycling. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Medieval bling: the display of jewellery on women's funerary monuments from England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries

This article suggests that more detailed analysis must be done when using artistic sources, in particular, funerary monuments, as evidence for medieval dress. Using archaeological, documentary, and literary evidence for jewellery in England in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, it asks why what seems to be a popular accessory was very rarely depicted on sculpted effigies and monumental brasses. Assumptions from just the visual evidence would conclude that brooches in particular were not a common piece of jewellery for noble women, but this does not correspond with the material evidence. The focus of this article, therefore, is on using an interdisciplinary approach to look at monuments as a source in their own right rather than as just a general mirror of contemporary fashion. By looking at three case studies, the article shows that deeper analysis of specific monuments can put them into religious, political, and historical context and provide information about the women depicted on them and the significance of accessories, such as brooches. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Brooches in context. Two cases from the Palatine Hill (Rome) and their different ways of communicating personal identity

Two Roman brooches from the north-eastern slopes of the Palatine Hill in Rome demonstrate the different ways that personal identity was expressed, for example, through the choice of objects from the past or by a marked peculiarity in shape and decoration. One brooch provides an opportunity to reflect on the concept of personal adornment acquiring particular meanings and values over time, potentially as a family heirloom. A second brooch, characterized by unusual shape and decoration, provides an invitation to further explore the relationship between the expression of personal identity and style. This paper, therefore, focuses on the potential of these objects to reveal new information about the relationship between objects of adornment and personal identity. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Signum and self: engraved gemstones and the expression of identity at Herculaneum

The replication of conventionalised motifs on engraved gemstones of the Roman imperial period has often prompted their dismissal by scholars who deem them too frivolous, too plentiful, and too small to be taken seriously as image-bearing objects, or else prioritise their workaday capacity as seals. Foregrounding gems’ function as personal adornment, this paper uses examples excavated from Herculaneum to argue that the repetition of certain images was, in fact, central to their agency as markers of identity, signalling the gender, age, and in some cases, social status of their wearer through the propagation of easily recognisable visual paradigms. Where other studies have emphasised the ways in which Roman jewellery communicated identity publicly, this paper also brings the material properties of gemstones into play to consider alternative, more intimate modes of viewing and suggest how engraved gems enabled the private self-bolstering and imaginative negotiation of identity as much as – or perhaps even instead of – its outward expression. On cover:Late Roman wall, the portion immediately south of the West Gate (Porta Oea) with re-used blocks from first-century mausolea (Drawing by Francesca Bigi) and Tombstone of Regina from South Shields (Arbeia) (Tyne and WearArchives and Museums/ Bridgeman Images). E-ISSN (online version) 2611-3686 ISSN (print version) 0065-0900

Handheld Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Field Archaeology: Characterization of Roman Wall Mortars and Etruscan Ceramics

Handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was applied to two studies of archaeological material at excavation sites in the Orvieto (Umbria), Italy geographic region. The short analysis times and wide range of detectable elements, covering both metals and nonmetals, achievable via LIBS played a central role in successfully exploring research questions specific to the analyzed artifacts. For one study, associations among Roman terraced walls at the Coriglia excavation site were established through comparisons among lime mortar elemental compositions measured in situ. New conclusions regarding construction phases were achieved, and agreement between handheld LIBS and handheld X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry results was established. Secondly, Etruscan bucchero pottery was examined to explore relationships among fabric color (gray and black), excavation site (Cavità 254 and Crocifisso del Tufo), and elemental composition. Differences were found and are discussed as they relate to ceramic production and object purpose. Principal component analysis was applied for data analysis in both studies.

The contribution of archeometry in characterization of decorative materials from the site of Villa di Teodorico in Galeata (Italy)

Villa di Teodorico in Galeata (Forlì-Cesena, Emilia Romagna) is an important archeological site in the north of Italy occupied from sixth century BC to twelfth century AD. The most interesting results concern the Roman age, when a large villa was built, and the late antiquity, when the Ostrogothic king Theodoric decided to build in this area his palatium (early sixth century AD). The archeometric investigation was performed on Roman wall paintings fragments and on late antique glass sectilia fragments belonging to Palazzo di Teodorico by using a multi-technique approach that included micro-Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, UV–visible–NIR diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optic fibers and optical stereo-microscopy.. This analytical approach allowed the identification of all components, collecting molecular, elemental, microscopic, morphological and chromatic data. The characterization of samples supplied essential archeological, historical and technological information. The production techniques and the rich materials employed suggest the importance of the site in different periods. The evolution of the manufacturing technologies and the possible trade routes mainly during late antique period are witnessed by the change in the raw materials.Graphical abstract

Pro anacorita —Identifying Individuality in London’s Anchorites, 1200–1550

Anchorites, Christian recluses who lived in cells typically attached to the sides of ecclesiastical structures, were a fixture of ascetic religious life in medieval Northwestern Europe, especially England. However, despite anchorites’ prominent place in Christian society throughout the Middle Ages, they have been markedly understudied by historians. This project, which focuses on the anchorites found within the bounds of the City of London—that is, the area of London largely surrounded by the Roman wall—addresses this lacuna by establishing what can be known about individual anchorites in London from 1200–1550 and exploring how London’s parish geography factored into the roles and lives of anchorites. Through rhetorical analysis of lay/merchant wills, anchorite wills, royal decrees and bequests, Church approvals of enclosures, and Henry VIII’s Chantry Certificates, this study will illuminate the unique religiosity of the medieval world of recluses, as well as attempt to give anchorites, especially female anchorites, something rarely afforded to them—treatment as individuals.

근대 유럽에서 풍경화의 발흥과 진화

This article aims to introduce how European landscape painting emerged in ancient times, gradually revived during the early modern period, and finally developed into an independent subject or genre, which later affects modern East Asian landscape paintings. Landscape paintings in Europe originate from the Minoan civilization of the Aegean sea around B.C. 1450. It also appears in a form of realistic style ‘painting within a painting’ in Roman wall paintings from Campania since B.C. 80. Although this tradition was neglected by the Christianity-oriented medieval art from the 4th to 14th century, it reappeared during the mid-14th century. As the Renaissance Humanism of the 15th and 16th century raised the awareness of the independent self, nature was objectified as a coexisting companion and began to be represented in a vision-based way.BR From the early 15th century, landscape painting was revived as the background of paintings of Flanders, Florence, and Venice. Later in 1473, those background materials began to appear on the canvas solely, signaling the rebirth of a ‘sheer landscape painting.’ Soon after, it developed into both watercolor landscape painting and oil painting landscape painting, and became an independent painting subject accompanied by the emergence of a subject specialist in the 16th century. In the Netherlands during the 17th century, with the support of the bourgeoisie, realistic and naturalistic landscape paintings thrived and landscape became a major genre in painting, eventually leading to the establishment of the tradition of modern landscape painting. Meanwhile, classical landscape painting flourished in Rome and became the canon of modern academic art. From the 18th century to the early 19th century, landscape painting was associated with Naturalism and Romanticism in England, while being the major theme of the Barbizon school in France. Eventually, landscape expanded as a part of the visual culture. On the other hand, German Romantic painters deviated from the customs of landscape paintings to elevate the spirituality of landscape, which combines the perception and mind as religious paintings does through the spiritual eye. After the mid-19th century, landscape, along with nude, became one of the most favored subjects in modern painting and photography, followed by the emergence of Impressionism which led landscape painting to its peak period.