An insight into Gandharan Art: Materials and Techniques of Polychrome Decoration

Gandharan art developed in the Himalayan area in the early centuries CE. It has been investigated mostly from an iconographic point of view, missing, until very recently, a systematic technical investigation of materials and techniques. Recently our team began performing chemical analyses of the traces of the polychromy originally covering statues, reliefs and architectural decorations, to discover the ancient painting techniques and artistic technologies. This paper presents the results of the analytical investigation (optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry) of pigments, ground layers and binders of a new group of samples taken from stucco architectural decorations (2nd–3rd/4th centuries CE). The samples were collected directly at an archaeological site in the Swat Valley, ensuring the exact knowledge of their stratigraphic provenance, as well as the absence of any restoration treatment applied prior sampling. The results are discussed in the wider context of Gandharan polychromy investigated so far by our team, as found in sculptures and architectural decorations preserved in museums (in Italy and France) and in archaeological excavations in Pakistan. The aim of this research is to shed light on the materials and techniques of this Buddhist ancient art from this region and on the influences exerted on it from Eastern and Western artistic traditions

La laguna di Ostia : produzione del sale e trasformazione del paesaggio dall'età antica all'età moderna

Le saline poste sul litorale romano hanno rappresentato dall’antichità ad oggi uno dei luoghi di produzione del sale più importanti della Penisola ed una fonte rilevante di sostentamento per il territorio. E’ necessario innanzi tutto distinguere tra l’area utilizzata come saline nel territorio portuense e quella in riva sinistra del fiume. Fondamentale per lo studio del territorio e delle saline di Ostia è la precisa determinazione della reale estensione e dell’eventuale trasformazione nel corso dei secoli della laguna retrodunare, formata dallo stagno collegato al mare tramite un canale e dalle saline vere e proprie. Finora scarse notizie si conservano per l’età antica e medievale, mentre la cartografia rinascimentale e moderna descrive l'estensione del bacino acquifero in modo indicativo e sempre diverso ; invece i recenti studi geomorfologici del territorio propongono ipotesi ricostruttive tra loro non del tutto concordi. La recente ricerca archeologica, in parte coadiuvata da analisi geopedologiche, sta consentendo di delimitare topograficamente l’estensione della laguna almeno per l’epoca romano-imperiale. Inoltre, riguardo all’attività di produzione del sale sono conservati documenti di particolare interesse nell’Archivio di Stato di Roma.From Antiquity up to the Modern Age, salt-marshes on Roman coast have represented one of the most important Italian salt-marshes and a considerable support to food sustenance for the region. First of all, it is important to distinguish salt production in Agro Portuense from salt production in Ostia. It is very important, for this area, to define the real dimension of the coastal lagoon, made up of a lake, linked to sea through a ditch, and from sheer salt-marshes, and its chronological development. There are very few information about the Salt-marshes during Antiquity and Middle Age. On the contrary the Renaissance and Modern cartography represent the lagoon in the different and indicative way and the most recent geological research advances different hypotheses about this area. Nowadays, new archaeological studies, also supported by sedimentological and pedological analysis, allow to border the lagoon’s dimension at least in the imperial age. Furthermore, very interesting acts about the salt-marsh and salt’s storage are preserved in the Governmental Archives in Rome

Rinvenimenti di sculture altomedioevali sulla Vigna Barberini

Simona Pannuzi, Rinvenimenti di sculture altomedioevali sulla Vigna Barberini, p. 109-113. Nell'ambito dei lavori di scavo archeologico svolti dall'École française nella Vigna Barberini sul Palatino a Roma si sono rinvenuti due frammenti architettonici altomedievali, databili tra la fine dell'VIII-inizii IX sec, molto probabilmente pertinenti alla vicina chiesa di S. Sebastiano, costruita sul podio del cd. Tempio di Elagabalo. Questi, insieme ad un capitello a stampella conservato nell'Antiquario Palatino e ad altri pezzi riutilizzati proprio nelle murature dell'odierno complesso religioso, la cui chiesa era precedentemente dedicata a S. Maria in Pallara, portano a formulare un'ipotesi di retrodatazione dell'edificio di culto, generalmente datato alla fine del X sec.Pannuzi Simona. Rinvenimenti di sculture altomedioevali sulla Vigna Barberini. In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Moyen-Age, tome 103, n°1. 1991. pp. 109-113

Viabilità e utilizzo del territorio. Il suburbio sud-orientale di Ostia alla luce dei recenti rinvenimenti archeologici

Questo contributo intende analizzare le modalità di uso del territorio ed il problema della viabilità antica nell’area suburbana sud-orientale della città romana di Ostia, alla luce dei recenti rinvenimenti archeologici. Il suburbio ostiense risultava condizionato da una serie di elementi naturali : il mare ad ovest, lo Stagno ad est ed il corso fluviale con il meandro a nord. In età imperiale in questo territorio possono individuarsi differenti settori in relazione al loro utilizzo, anche a causa dei vincoli idrogeologici. In particolare, possono distinguersi una vasta area utilizzata a scopo funerario nella zona sud-orientale e lungo il lato meridionale dell’antica via Ostiense ed un’area invece rivolta alle attività commerciali presso il meandro del Tevere, mentre lungo le due sponde del lungo Stagno si praticavano attività agricole ed artigianali, anche connesse con strutture residenziali, condizionate dalla sistemazione del terreno paludoso con caratteristiche opere di bonifica idraulica con anfore.This research will analyse the different uses of the surroundings of Roman Ostia in ancient time and the problem of the main road in this territory, especially thanks to the new archaeological excavations. The suburbium of Ostia was conditioned by natural elements: the sea in the West, the Lagoon in the East and the Tiber with its meander in the North. In the imperial age, we can identify several areas with different uses, also conditioned by hydrogeological restrictions. In particular, we can recognise a large funerary area at the South-East of the Roman city ; furthermore, along the southern side of ancient via Ostiense, another area with commercial activities near the Tiber meander is to be found, whereas along the banks of the Lagoon the new archaeological investigations found remains of farming and craft activities, related in some cases with residential settlements, and traces of the drainage systems with amphoras of marshy land

The retouching on archaeological metal artifacts: reflections and proposals, between theory and practice

When the restoration of archaeological metal artifacts is considered, the reconstruction and chromatic treatment of the gaps often determine the correct reading of the object, by suggesting its original morphology and external coloring as linked to the degraded surfaces.However, for such a kind of artifact, it is particularly frequent to deal with a remarkable diversity of reconstructions and integrations related to conceptions usually based on opposing principles ranging from mimetic integrations up to a strict rigorism. The purpose of the present work is to contribute to the definition of a conservative intervention protocol based on the reversibility to get a correct and widely perceptive presentation of the restoration work for this kind of artifacts, aimed at their formal reconstruction and aesthetic retouching.Quando o restauro de artefactos metálicos arqueológicos é considerado, a reconstrução e o tratamento cromático das lacunas geralmente determinam a leitura correta do objeto, sugerindo a sua morfologia original e a coloração externa associadas às superfícies degradadas. Contudo, para tais artefactos, é particularmente frequente lidar com uma notável diversidade de reconstruções e integrações relacionadas com conceções, geralmente baseadas em princípios opostos, que variam da integração mimética até a um estrito rigor. O objetivo do presente trabalho é contribuir para a definição de um protocolo de intervenção conservativa baseado na reversibilidade, para obter uma apresentação correta e amplamente percetiva do trabalho de restauro para este tipo de artefacto, visando sua reconstrução formal e reintegração estética.Cuando se considera la restauración de artefactos metálicos arqueológicos, la reconstrucción y el tratamiento cromático de las lagunas generalmente determinan la lectura correcta del objeto, lo que sugiere su morfología original y el color externo asociado con las superficies degradadas. Sin embargo, para tales artefactos, es particularmente común tratar con una notable diversidad de reconstrucciones e integraciones relacionadas con concepciones, generalmente basadas en principios opuestos, que van desde la integración mimética hasta el rigor estricto. El objetivo del presente trabajo es contribuir para la definición de un protocolo de intervención conservativa basado en la reversibilidad, para obtener una presentación correcta y ampliamente perceptiva del trabajo de restauración para este tipo de artefactos, con el objetivo de su reconstrucción formal y reintegración estética

The retouching on archaeological metal artifacts: reflections and proposals, between theory and practice

When the restoration of archaeological metal artifacts is considered, the reconstruction and chromatic treatment of the gaps often determine the correct reading of the object, by suggesting its original morphology and external coloring as linked to the degraded surfaces.However, for such a kind of artifact, it is particularly frequent to deal with a remarkable diversity of reconstructions and integrations related to conceptions usually based on opposing principles ranging from mimetic integrations up to a strict rigorism. The purpose of the present work is to contribute to the definition of a conservative intervention protocol based on the reversibility to get a correct and widely perceptive presentation of the restoration work for this kind of artifacts, aimed at their formal reconstruction and aesthetic retouching

Long-Term Interactions between the Roman City of Ostia and Its Paleomeander, Tiber Delta, Italy

International audienceThis study examines the long-term interactions between the well-known Roman city of Ostia and a river meander. Located at the mouth of the Tiber river, Ostia was a major harbor city that connected Rome to the Mediterranean Sea. Based on aerial photography and borehole analysis, the paleodynamics of the Fiume Morto's paleomeander are understood to be linked to the urban evolution of the city of Ostia. Four periods of evolution have been identified as a result of this interdisciplinary work: (1) the foundation of Ostia's urban center, in the 4th to 3rd century BC, occurred when the meander already existed; (2) between the 4th century BC and the 3rd century AD, human/environmental interactions contributed to the compound growth of the meander that possibly eroded an important Roman road linking Ostia to Rome; (3) from the Imperial period until the meander was cut off in AD 1557–1562, the constricted meander channel at the apex led to the stability of the downstream river channel; (4) the cutoff of the paleomeander was completed in 1562, leading to the filling of the paleochannel. These successive phases of channel evolution mark changing fluvial risks from the Roman period to today

Long-Term Interactions between the Roman City of Ostia and Its Paleomeander, Tiber Delta, Italy

International audienceThis study examines the long-term interactions between the well-known Roman city of Ostia and a river meander. Located at the mouth of the Tiber river, Ostia was a major harbor city that connected Rome to the Mediterranean Sea. Based on aerial photography and borehole analysis, the paleodynamics of the Fiume Morto's paleomeander are understood to be linked to the urban evolution of the city of Ostia. Four periods of evolution have been identified as a result of this interdisciplinary work: (1) the foundation of Ostia's urban center, in the 4th to 3rd century BC, occurred when the meander already existed; (2) between the 4th century BC and the 3rd century AD, human/environmental interactions contributed to the compound growth of the meander that possibly eroded an important Roman road linking Ostia to Rome; (3) from the Imperial period until the meander was cut off in AD 1557–1562, the constricted meander channel at the apex led to the stability of the downstream river channel; (4) the cutoff of the paleomeander was completed in 1562, leading to the filling of the paleochannel. These successive phases of channel evolution mark changing fluvial risks from the Roman period to today

Long-term interactions between the Roman city of Ostia and its paleomeander, Tiber Delta, Italy

This study examines the long term interactions between the well-known Roman city of Ostia and a river meander. Located at the mouth of the Tiber River, Ostia was a major harbor city that connected Rome to the Mediterranean Sea. Based on aerial photography and boreholes analysis, the paleodynamics of the Fiume Morto’s paleomeander are understood to be linked to the urban evolution of the city of Ostia. Four periods of evolution have been identified as a result of this interdisciplinary work: (1) the foundation of Ostia’s urban center, in the 4th – 3rd century BC, occurred when the meander already existed; (2) between the 4th century BC and the 3rd century AD, human/environmental interactions contributed to the compound growing of the meander which possibly eroded an important Roman road linking Ostia to Rome; (3) from the Imperial period until the meander was cut off in AD 1557-1562, the constricted meander channel at the apex led to the stability of the downstream river channel; (4) the cut off of the paleomeander was completed in 1562, leading to the filling of the paleochannel. These successive phases of channel evolution mark changing fluvial risks from the Roman period to today