17 research outputs found
Making open access photos of ancient cultural heritage available via Flickr: a few thoughts by Dan Diffendale
No full textDaniel P. Diffendale is a Mediterranean archaeologist whose interests lie primarily in the first millennium BCE central Mediterranean. His current primary research focus is the use of volcanic building stone in the architecture of the city of Rome in antiquity. Since April 2007, he has shared his photographs in open access via Flickr. His over 10 000 photos are now widely used by scholars, either for their courses or for their publications. Klinai asked him to present his approach and his mot..
Combining geochemistry and petrography to provenance Lionato and Lapis Albanus tuffs used in Roman temples at Sant’Omobono, Rome, Italy
No full textTufo Lionato is a volcanic tuff that was used extensively for construction in Rome, Italy, during antiquity and after; at least three varieties can be identified: Anio, Monteverde, and Portuense. The widespread introduction of Tufo Lionato in Roman construction is generally dated to the mid-second century before the common era (B.C.E.). Another tuff, Lapis Albanus, is held to have been introduced during the third century B.C.E. Due to their similar macroscopic appearance, it is impossible to reliably distinguish visually among varieties of Tufo Lionato, or between Lapis Albanus and other “peperino” tuffs, nor does geochemistry alone always allow definitive identifications. A combination of geochemical and petrographical analyses is presented here, to provenance building stone from the Roman temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta at Sant’Omobono in Rome. The combination of techniques allows for secure identification of Anio tuff and Lapis Albanus, and their use in structures of the fourth–third and fifth–third centuries B.C.E., respectively, one to two centuries earlier than previously demonstrated. These findings show a diversification of tuffs used by the Roman construction industry earlier than henceforth acknowledged, and suggest the ability of archaeometric techniques to bring new perspectives even to such familiar archaeological contexts as the city of Rome
Drone borne magnetic gradiometry in archaeological applications: a Metaponto case-study
No full textApplied geophysics offers non-invasive techniques to uncover and characterize buried structures or characterize the type and quality of materials in archaeology. Among the various geophysical methods, the magnetic method stands out due to its effectiveness, speed, cost-efficiency, and non-invasive nature. This method leverages the magnetic susceptibility contrasts between archaeological features and the surrounding soils, making it particularly useful for detecting and mapping subsurface remains.
The magnetic method is highly sensitive to both natural sources, such as soils and rocks, and man-made objects, including ditches, storage pits, foundations, and walls. This sensitivity allows geophysicists to identify significant anomalies that indicate the presence of archaeological targets. The method’s ability to produce high-resolution data quickly and efficiently makes it a preferred choice for large-scale surveys.
Magnetic anomalies generated by archaeological targets are typically weak, dispersed over small areas, and often interfere with each other. Therefore, high-resolution magnetic data, collected with closely spaced survey lines near the ground, are essential for their identification. The survey area must be large enough to provide informative anomalies, especially for regular and elongated shapes of buried structures like buildings or roads.
One of the most advantageous applications of the magnetic method in archaeology is the use of gradiometric surveys. Gradiometric surveys involve measuring the magnetic gradient, which enhances the detection of shallow sources and improves the resolution of the data. This approach is particularly beneficial in archaeological contexts where the anomalies are often weak and spread over small areas. By using a pair of sensors to measure the magnetic field at different heights, gradiometric surveys can effectively filter out temporal variations and regional magnetic fields, focusing on the anomalies generated by archaeological features. Often, the two sensors are arranged in a vertical direction and spaced at a fixed distance, called the ‘baseline’. The choice of the length should be smaller than the distance between the sensor closer to the ground and the source depth. Therefore, depending on several conditions, the baseline for hand-held magnetometers ranges between a minimum of 0.25 m and a maximum of 1 m.
Recently, applied geophysics have further revolutionized methods of data acquisitions through the adoption of Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with new miniaturized magnetometers. UAV-based magnetic surveys can cover extensive areas at low altitudes, providing high-resolution datasets that are crucial for identifying subtle archaeological features. This technology is especially useful in challenging environments where ground-based surveys are impractical.
We conducted a UAV magnetic investigation in the archaeological site of Metaponto, arranging the magnetic sensors of the Geometrics Micro-Fabricated Atomic Magnetometer (MFAM) as a gradiometer. Then, aerial data was compared with a ground dataset used to validate the quality of the measurements collected with the drone
Recent Research on the Republican Phases of the Roman Sanctuary at Sant'Omobono
No full textThe ancient cult place under the church of Sant'Omobono in Rome's Forum Boarium has been the focus of archaeological investigation since its chance rediscovery during demolitions in the 1930s. The bulk of scholarly attention since then has focused on the remains of the deeply buried archaic temple and its associated material culture. Most of the remains visible today, however, are dated broadly between the early fifth century B.C.E. and the second century C.E., and yet many basic questions about these "later" periods of the sanctuary lack satisfying answers. For instance, which elements on-site can be assigned to discrete architectural phases? What materials were used in these phases, and how can these phases be dated? The ongoing work of the Sant'Omobono Project, which aims at a definitive publication of the site, has included a total station survey of all visible remains in conjunction with chemical analysis of the types of tufo used and archival research on the past 80 years of archaeological exploration; I present preliminary results of this work and identify prospects for future research
Five Republican monuments. On the supposed building program of M. Fulvius Flaccus
No full textIt has recently been argued that a group of five monuments at Sant'Omobono were part of a single building program, attributed to the Roman consul M. Fulvius Flaccus in 264 BCE, a program that also included a monument at Orvieto, loc. Campo della Fiera. The monuments in question include two altars, a circular 'donarium' and fragments of two bases carrying inscriptions of a M. Folvios, all at S. Omobono, and a trachyte donarium or altar at Campo della Fiera. Evaluating this suggestion provides an opportunity to re-examine the monuments at S. Omobono individually and on their own terms, before being brought into comparison with the Campo della Fiera monument. The evidence does not support the hypothesis of a single building program for the five Roman monuments as a group nor for the inclusion of the Orvietan monument in such a grou
Photomodeling Sant'Omobono: Meeting the Challenges of Topographic Documentation in a Waterlogged Urban Environment (Poster)
No full textThe use of digital photogrammetric techniques to document archaeological layers and features has become increasingly common in recent years. Photomodeling software such as PhotoScan uses multiple photographs of an object to model its geometry. In addition to providing more detailed topographical data than those acquired using a total station alone, such photomodeling offers potential solutions to problems posed by complex urban excavations. A deep sounding at the site of Sant'Omobono in Rome's Forum Boarium presented special challenges for topographical documentation. The depth of the sounding and the prospect of excavating below the water table necessitated the installation of steel sheeting to prevent slumping and collapse of the scarp. The initial height of the sheets above the sounding blocked sight lines and precluded the regular use of a total station to document excavation levels. At deeper levels within the sounding, the presence of sump holes, pumps, and occasionally small amounts of standing water presented additional challenges to the creation of photomodels. The creation of photogrammetric models that included fixed points around the excavation area permitted not only the calculation of real elevation data but also the recording of detailed topographic data for each stratigraphic unit thus modeled. The resulting photomodels can also be used in the creation of traditional transparency overlay plans. Photogrammetric documentation in a single context recording system such as that used at Sant'Omobono has the further advantage of allowing the reconstruction of detailed vertical sections, not only along the limits of the excavated area, but also along any axis within it. Photomodeling also has a potential analytical value in allowing more accurate calculation of sediment-volume estimates than is possible using traditional techniques. The use of photomodeling at Sant'Omobono provides a model for dealing with the specific topographic challenges of urban excavations and for richer data collection in all excavation contexts
Further Research on the Roman Republican Temples under Sant'Omobono
No full textThe temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta in Rome's Forum Boarium underwent numerous modifications during the Roman republic, from the initial construction of the twin temples on a large square podium in the years ca. 500 B.C.E. to the reconstruction of the sanctuary following a fire in 213 B.C.E., before a sitewide restructuring perhaps in the Late Republic or Early Imperial period. The Sant'Omobono Project, a collaboration between the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, the Università della Calabria, and the University of Michigan, aims at a full reconsideration of the archival, monumental and artifactual evidence from the site. Based on my work with the project since 2011, and especially on work undertaken during the summer of 2016, I present new conclusions and new questions about the architectural development of the site during the republic, including results offurther chemical analysis of tuff types used in the construction of the sanctuary structures and advances in understanding the Republican architectural terracottas
A note on the provenience of the Late Archaic architectural terracottas
No full textA brief discussion of where the Late Archaic architectural terracottas (published by D. Di Giuliomaria in the same volume) were found within the archaeological area at Sant'Omobono
