Characterization of concrete from Roman buildings for public spectacles in Emerita Augusta (Mérida, Spain)

María Isabel Mota-López; Rafael Fort; Mónica Álvarez de Buergo; Antonio Pizzo; Rubén Maderuelo-Sanz; Juan Miguel Meneses-Rodríguez; Duygu Ergenç

doi:10.1007/s12520-016-0434-9

Characterization of concrete from Roman buildings for public spectacles in Emerita Augusta (Mérida, Spain)

María Isabel Mota-López, Rafael Fort, Mónica Álvarez de Buergo, Antonio Pizzo, Rubén Maderuelo-Sanz, Juan Miguel Meneses-Rodríguez, Duygu Ergenç

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The aim of this work is to characterize the original concrete from Roman buildings for public spectacles, theatre and amphitheatre, from Emerita Augusta, Mérida, Spain. An advanced knowledge of the Roman concrete composition is required for a reliable restoration and preservation of these ancient monuments. The concrete was studied through mineralogical (optical polarized microscopy and X-ray diffraction) and petrophysical (bulk and real density, open porosity to water and Hg, mechanical strength and ultrasonic velocity) analyses. With this work, it is possible to fill the gap that exists in this field and the characterization of the materials used in the Roman concrete from these two buildings, never previously studied, despite the significance of this archaeological ensemble, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. The results allowed us to determine the composition of the Roman concrete and to infer the provenance of the aggregates used in these monuments.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1007-1022
Number of pages	16
Journal	Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Volume	10
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0434-9
State	Published - 1 Aug 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements Funding for this study was provided by the Autonomous Community of Madrid under the following programmes: CLIMORTEC (National Project BIA2014-53911-R) from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, GEOMATERIALES 2 (S2013/MIT-2914) and the Operational Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation: Spain-Portugal (POCTEP-RITECA) 2007-2013. The authors acknowledge the Consortium Monumental Historical-Artistic and Archaeological City of Mérida for providing us with legal authorization for sampling the monuments.

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by the Autonomous Community of Madrid under the following programmes: CLIMORTEC (National Project BIA2014-53911-R) from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, GEOMATERIALES 2 (S2013/MIT-2914) and the Operational Programme for Cross-Border Cooperation: Spain-Portugal (POCTEP-RITECA) 2007-2013. The authors acknowledge the Consortium Monumental Historical-Artistic and Archaeological City of M?rida for providing us with legal authorization for sampling the monuments.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Keywords

Heritage
Mineralogical analysis
Petrophysical analysis
Provenance
Roman concrete

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10.1007/s12520-016-0434-9

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abstract = "The aim of this work is to characterize the original concrete from Roman buildings for public spectacles, theatre and amphitheatre, from Emerita Augusta, M{\'e}rida, Spain. An advanced knowledge of the Roman concrete composition is required for a reliable restoration and preservation of these ancient monuments. The concrete was studied through mineralogical (optical polarized microscopy and X-ray diffraction) and petrophysical (bulk and real density, open porosity to water and Hg, mechanical strength and ultrasonic velocity) analyses. With this work, it is possible to fill the gap that exists in this field and the characterization of the materials used in the Roman concrete from these two buildings, never previously studied, despite the significance of this archaeological ensemble, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993. The results allowed us to determine the composition of the Roman concrete and to infer the provenance of the aggregates used in these monuments.",

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AU - Pizzo, Antonio

AU - Maderuelo-Sanz, Rubén

AU - Meneses-Rodríguez, Juan Miguel

AU - Ergenç, Duygu

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Characterization of concrete from Roman buildings for public spectacles in Emerita Augusta (Mérida, Spain)

Abstract

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Keywords

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