Damage monitoring on carbonate stones: Field exposure tests contributing to pollution impact evaluation in two Italian sites

During the last decades, many studies have been carried out on environmental monitoring in specific sites aiming at their protection and conservation; however, researches focused on the direct implications, in terms of quantitative evaluation of stone deterioration, of these monitoring actions are still scarce. This experimental work aims at monitoring the degradation processes affecting historical buildings constituted by carbonate stones. Specifically, specimens of Carrara marble and two limestones largely used in the Sicilian Baroque architecture, namely Noto and Comiso stones, were exposed outdoor in two Italian sites (Catania and Palermo), which are characterized by different environme…

Laboratory tests addressed to realize customized restoration procedures of underwater archaeological ceramic finds

The present contribution is part of a biennial research project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR). This study, currently in progress, deals with innovative experimental approaches applied to the chemical, mineralogical and physical transformations occurring during the prolonged permanence of archaeological ceramic finds in seawater environments as well as to restoration and conservation issues of the same underwater artifacts. The experimental approach used in this research consisted in the manufacture of ceramic test-pieces (briquettes) and their successive placing in underwater environment. This work aims at assessing how textural and compositio…

I materiali lapidei dell’apparato di facciata della Chiesa di S. Nicolò L’Arena di Catania: caratterizzazione e considerazioni sulla provenienza

An original experimental approach to study the alteration and/or contamination of archaeological ceramics originated by seawater burial

This paper deals with the proposal of an original experimental methodological approach specifically designed for appraising any compositional alteration and/or contamination of archaeological ceramics after the protracted contact with seawater. A series of ceramic test-pieces (briquettes and cylinders) were purposely manufactured by mixing selected calcareous or non-calcareous clays with different varieties of sieved sand temper. The aim was to reasonably simulate the ceramic pastes most frequently found in the shipwrecks recovered in the coastal areas of western Mediterranean. The used raw materials were previously characterized in terms of mineralogical and chemical composition (XRPD, XRF…