Production technology of early-hellenistic lime-based mortars originating from a punic-Roman residential area in palermo (sicily)

The topic of this study is the mineralogical and petrographic characterization of lime-based mortars of Hellenistic-Roman age (3rd century BCE), collected from a residential area located in the present historical centre of Palermo, near the remains of the Punic-Roman walls. The collected mortars have been analyzed by optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis and scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy-dispersive spectrometry. The aim of the study was the characterization of the mortars as pertaining to their aggregate and binder composition, aggregate size distribution and aggregate/binder ratio, so as to establish the provenance of raw materials and acquire informatio…