Archäometrie

• Dr. Vilma Ruppienè
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schüßler
• Dr. Martin Müller (Archäologischer Park Xanten)
• Dr. Bern Liesen (Archäologischer Park Xanten)

Project duration: 2008 - 2014

Supported by Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft

Summary

In the ruins of different public buildings and private homes of Colonia Ulpia Traiana (CUT), founded at the beginning of the 2nd century AD by the emperor Trajan, numerous fragments of former wall and floor incrustations were discovered. The major share of slabs belonged to the interior decoration of the public buildings as Harbour temple, Capitolium, public baths and forum, whereas only few fragments could be attributed to the private contexts.

As CUT had no local quarries producing decorative stones, its needs for stones had to be covered by import from regional or foreign sources. Therefore, the first aim of this study was to characterize and to determine the types of stones used in the buildings of CUT with the help of petrographic (thin sections, XRD), chemical (XRF spectroscopy) and isotopic analysis (O¹⁸ and C¹³), in order to pinpoint their provenance.

The other goal was to observe, whether the differences were made in the choice of material in various buildings of CUT. Were public and private buildings decorated with the same stone types as the public buildings of Rome? Or were there preferably regional stones used in order to save high transportation costs?

The investigations revealed, that more than 40 different types of decorative stones were used in CUT. Most of the stones (ca. 80%) originate from Mediterranean sources. The most frequent are Fior di pesco, Breccia di Sciro, Cipollino verde, Pavonazzetto, Rosso antico, Rosso Iassense, Breccia coralline, Verde antico, Porfido verde antico, Porfido rosso, Greco scritto (Ephesian and Prokonnesian), pentelic, carrara, proconnesian, dolomitic thassian marble and others.

Also stones from various sources in Germania Inferior and neighbouring province (Gallia Belgica and Gallia Lugdunensis) were exploited and used by the romans for decorative purpose, but to a lesser extent than Mediterranean stones: course grained marble from Odenwald, trachytes from Drachenfels near Bonn and from Berkum/Wachtberg, Diabas from Trier, red Belgian limestones, Kohlenkalk from Aachen and some Belgian sources. Few types of stone were imported from French quarries: Lutetian limestone, Jurassic limestone from the Norroy quarries and Pierre de Pouillenay.

The choice of decorative stones was clearly different concerning particular public buildings. Every building was embellished with a varying spectrum of marbles. In some objects like forum the assortment of stones was chosen based on examples from Rome (preferred use of Pavonazzetto). Unlike the forum, Harbour temple was preferably decorated with Fior di pesco, which isn’t affirmed in either public building of Rome. Incrustations in the baths of CUT consisted primarily of regional carboniferous Limestone, Lutetian limestone and white finde-grained marble.

Publications:

V. Ruppienė/U. Schüßler, Incrustations from Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Near Modern Xanten, Germany). In: D. Matetić/P. K. Marasović (Hrsg.), ASMOSIA XI, Interdisciplinary Studies of Ancient Stone, Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference of ASMOSIA, Split, 18–22 May 2015 (Split 2018) 351–361. 

V. Ruppienė, Marmora in der CUT und ihr Weg an den Niederrhein. In: Chr. Eger (Hrsg.), Warenwege – Warenflüsse. Handel, Logistik und Transport am römischen Niederrhein. Xantener Berichte 32 (Darmstadt 2018) 407–422. 

V. Ruppienė, Natursteinverkleidungen in den Bauten der Colonia Ulpia Traiana. Gesteinskundliche Analysen, Provenienzbestimmung und Rekonstruktion. Xantener Ber. 28 (Darmstadt/Mainz 2015).

V. Ruppienė, Natursteininkrustationen aus den Bauten der Colonia Ulpia Traiana. In: Begleitband „Highlights und Methoden“ zur Archäologischen Landesausstellung NRW 2015 (Bonn 2015) 97–100.

V. Ruppienė/U. Schüssler/M. Unterwurzacher, Auerbach Marble Quarries in the Odenwald near Hochstädten – Exploitation during Roman and Medieval Times. In: Mining and Cultural Landscape. 8th Internat. Symposium on Archaeological Mining History, Reichelsheim, 9.–11. Mai 2013 (Reichelsheim 2013) 120–129.

V. Ruppienė/U. Schüssler, Porfido Verde Antico aus Colonia Ulpia Traiana bei Xanten. In: J. Lorenz (Hrsg.), Porphyr. Tagungsband der „Porphyr“-Tagung am 21.–22. Oktober 2011 in Weilbach und Amorbach. Mitt. des naturwissenschaftlichen Ver. 26 (Karlstein am Main 2012) 62–69

• Dipl.Min.Verena Gradmann
• Dr. Paul Bellendorf (Fraunhofer‐Institut ISC Würzburg, Conservation Sciences Team, Bronnbach)
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schüßler

Project duration: since 2011

Supported: by Heinrich Böll Stiftung

Summary:

From the ancient Islamic World, many noteworthy buildings like mosques and medreses are still preserved, but most of them are in need of being carefully conserved. In order to determine the composition of glazes decorating the inner and outer ceramic tiles of this cultural heritage, previous analyses were done by Mason et al. (2001, Archaeometry, 43, 191-209) and al-Saad et al. (2002, J. Archaeol. Sci., 29, 803-810). The database can now be enhanced with new data from Central Asian Islamic buildings. The distribution of the analysed objects allows estimations about the scope of the influence of the Near Eastern cultures and the cultural imprint of the historical Silk Road, respectively.

After preliminary analyses using EDS, the samples are now being analysed with mobile XRF. The comparison of the data from XRF and EPMA shows, that the results from the mobile XRF are less precise. However, with careful calibration on the basis of EPMA-data, mobile XRF can be an important tool for on-site analysis of large quantities of glazed tiles.The analysis data of the glazes give the opportunity to develop an adapted conservation material, which is chemically similar to the original substrate. It thus presents an art-historically reasonable solution for conservation concepts. The basis of the material is the hybrid-polymer ORMOCER®, which was developed by the Fraunhofer-Institute for Silicate Research, and which was already successfully used in different conservation projects, e.g. for glasses and metals as well as glazed tiles. Due to the variable composition of this material, a broad variety of physical properties can be considered, e.g. bonding to substrate, viscosity or surface tension.In order to imitate the historical glazes, the ORMOCER® will be modified with coloured glass, produced according to the chemical analysis of the historical ones. The material is tested in chemical and optical characterisation (EPMA, UV-Vis-spectrometry, refractometry) and in the application on ceramics, weathered in special furnaces. Iterations of characterisation and stress simulations yield a practicable and historically reasonable conservation material. In a long-term experiment, the material should be applied in the original conditions on the original historical buildings.

Publications:

Badr,J.,Drewello,R.,Huck‐‐Stiasny,C.,Schüssler,U.(2010):MaterialwissenschaftlicheUntersuchungdesFliesendekorsanderMoscheeKhojaZainuddininBuchara(Usbekistan). ‐ Archäometrie und Denkmalpflege ‐ Kurzberichte 2010 ,in:Hahn,O.,Hauptmann,A.,Modarressi‐Tehrani,D.,Prange,M.(Eds.): Metalla,Sonderheft3:172‐174.

• Prof. Dr. Heinz Gaube (Archaeology, Tübingen)
• Dr. Andrea Becker (Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin)
• Dr. Boaz Paz (Archaeometry, Bad Kreuznach)
• Prof. Dr. Ulrich Schüßler

Project duration: since 2008

Supported by the German Science Foundation

Summary: