Study Of The Soluble Salts Formation In A Recently Restored House Of Pompeii By In-Situ Raman Spectroscopy

The walls and mural paintings of Pompeii exposed directly to the rainfalls are the most impacted in view of the observed decay. However, there are also wall paintings in protected rooms showing evidences of decaying. The aim of this research was to study the salts formed in such protected wall paintings only by non-invasive and in-situ Raman spectroscopy to understand their decaying processes. The perystile of the House of the Gilded Cupids (Regio VI, Insula 16), one of the most important houses of Pompeii was studied. Although an exhaustive restoration was carried out in 2004, a new conservation treatment was needed in 2013 and only two years later, extensive crystallizations of soluble salts were again threatening several of the restored surfaces, thus, the presence of an unsolved degradation pathway was deduced. Thank to the proposed methodology, it was pointed out that the key is the acidified rainfall impact in the non-protected backside of the walls containing the wall paintings. Thus, a new concept in the preservation of the houses of Pompeii is provided, in which the need of the protection of those walls from both sides is suggested to avoid the movement of water through the pores of the walls.The authors would like to thank the direction of Archaeological Park of Pompeii, for the permissions to perform our field studies during the 2015 APUV expedition. This work has been financially supported by the projects DISILICA-1930 (ref: BIA2014-59124) and MADyLIN (ref. BIA2017-87063-P) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). Moreover, the sponsorship of the APUV 2015 by BWTEK is also appreciated. Marco Veneranda and Iker Marcaida are grateful for their pre-doctoral grants to the MINECO and Basque government, respectively

Ceramica comune da mensa e da dispensa di Ercolano

L’eruzione del Vesuvio iniziata il 24 agosto del 79 d.C. coprì Ercolano con una “pioggia” di fango e materiali piroclastici ad alte temperature che sigillarono la città per una altezza di oltre 20 metri (Sigurdsson 1985). Solo a partire dal 1738 su iniziativa di Carlo di Borbone, dopo la breve parentesi degli scavi effettuati dal d’Elboeuf, si intrapresero ricerche sistematiche mediante cunicoli che coprirono con una rete di gallerie gran parte dell’abitato, violando un contesto archeologico ..

Painted gardens: Observations on execution technique

The cities of the area around Vesuvius have a rich repertory of frescoes showing lush gardens, attributable to the Third (25-20 BC to AD 40-50) and Fourth Styles (around AD 50 to AD 79). The numerous examples discovered attest to the strong appreciation shown by the artistic patrons of the epoch for these refined compositions, which, as we can see from their presence in various types of dwelling, were popular throughout Vesuvian society. The patrons’ wish to extend, albeit by means of an illu..

Gemmological Analysis of a Roman Sapphire Intaglio and Its Possible Origin

The gemmological analysis of a Roman intaglio engraved with a hippocamp (winged ‘sea-horse’) reveals that it was carved from a sapphire of basaltic origin. Its bluish grey appearance is due to Rayleigh scattering by sub-microscopic inclusions and is not related to an intervalence charge transfer process. In light of historically documented extensive trade relations between ancient Rome and Ethiopia (the kingdom of Aksum), we hypothesise that the recently documented basalt-related sapphire deposits in northern Ethiopia are a possible source of raw material for this Roman intaglio (as well as other basaltic sapphires used in Roman times), in addition to previously held views that ancient sapphires originate from deposits in Sri Lanka, France and perhaps South East Asia. This rare opportunity to characterise in detail one of the very few engraved sapphires from the Roman period permits a better understanding of gem materials used in classical antiquity

Ceramiche tardo antiche da Pompei

I risultati di scavi recenti mostrano la relativa vitalità dell’area vesuviana dopo la disastrosa eruzione del 79 d.C. In particolare, i materiali ceramici provenienti dallo scavo di via Lepanto possono offrire una esemplificazione dei prodotti circolanti in quest’area tra lo scorcio del IV e gli inizi del V secolo. Essi provengono da una serie di scarichi che almeno in un’area dello scavo risultavano sigillati da un piano di battuto a sua volta coperto dal materiale piroclastico dell’eruzione cd. di «Pollena» (473 d.C.) Sulla base della sigillata chiara D, questi materiali possono essere datati al più tardi ai primi decenni del V secolo. Le analisi archeometriche eseguite su un ampio campione di materiali suggeriscono per larga parte delle ceramiche comuni e da fuoco una produzione locale, pur non mancando prodotti di importazion

The impact of dysphagia in Parkinson's disease patients treated with levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel

Background: Dysphagia is common in advanced phases of Parkinson disease (PD), and is a risk factor for aspiration pneumonia. Nonetheless, dysphagia has been poorly investigated in PD patients treated with levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG). We aimed to analyze the impact of dysphagia on mortality in LCIG treated patients and its relationship with other PD disability milestones. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 95 consecutive PD patients treated with LCIG. Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test were used to compare mortality in patients with dysphagia from others. Cox regression was used to estimate the impact of dysphagia, age, disease duration, and Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) on mortality in the entire cohort. Finally, univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to estimate the association between dysphagia and age, disease duration, H&Y, hallucinations, and dementia. Results: A significantly higher mortality rate was observed in patients with dysphagia. In the Cox model, dysphagia was the only feature significantly associated with mortality (95%CI 2.780-20.609; p < 0.001). Univariate analyses showed a significant correlation between dysphagia and dementia (OR: 0.387; p:0.033), hallucinations (OR: 0.283; p:0.009), and H&Y score (OR: 2.680; p < 0.001); in the multivariate analysis, only the H&Y stage was associated with the presence of dysphagia (OR: 2.357; p:0.003). Conclusion: Dysphagia significantly increased the risk of death in our cohort of LCIG-treated patients, independently from other relevant features such as age, disease duration, dementia, and hallucinations. These findings support the management of this symptom as a priority in the advanced PD stages, even in people treated with LCIG

"Conservare il cibo da Columella ad Artusi. I luoghi della conservazione".

Il problema più grande per il mondo antico era legato alla conservazione del cibo. A differenza di noi, cittadini moderni di società avanzate, gli antichi potevano contare su poche specie di produzione strettamente locali, con la sola eccezione delle spezie, rigorosamente stagionali, e per di più esposte ai capricci del tempo e agli attacchi dei parassiti. Se la disponibilità di cibo significava gettare le basi per lo sviluppo della propria comunità, conservare il cibo significava assicurarne la sopravvivenza e la ricchezza: non stupisce pertanto la grande cura con cui venivano progettati i luoghi di conservazione. Sorprende, invece, la continuità con cui dall’età romana alla modernità questi luoghi siano stati impiegati, come testimoniano il De re rustica di Columella e La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene di Pellegrino Artusi. Attraverso una metodologia interdisciplinare il volume analizza dunque i luoghi di conservazione del cibo, una parte assai trascurata, ma fondamentale, della cultura materiale, considerandone aspetti costruttivi e funzionali espressi nei diversi periodi storici

Citrus Fruits in historical France: written sources, iconographic and plant remains

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