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An abundance of plant remains (pollen, seeds/fruits and wood) and wood artefacts was found during the excavation of an Etruscan-Roman well located at Cetamura del Chianti in Tuscany, Italy, which contained rich cultural and ecofact assemblages in a stratified context. The findings provide evidence for the presence of a mixed oak forest during the time span of the usage of the well. The main decline of deciduous Quercus, possibly due to forest clearance, is recorded during the late Etruscan period (ca. 300–100/50 B.C.). A diffusion of Quercus ilex occurred during the Roman period (from ca. 50 B.C. to 68 A.D.). Food plants are well represented in the well, particularly cereals and grapevine. The morphometric analysis of the grape pips suggests that fully domesticated forms were cultivated, and that wild fruits may have been gathered in the woods or harvested from weakly domesticated individuals. Some botanical finds could possibly be linked to ritual practices, although the state of preservation of the seed/fruit record, the majority waterlogged, does not meet criteria for carbonized remains used for attributing the plant remains to ritual offerings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2008, during a rescue excavation in the Sa Osa area, near the town of Cabras (Sardinia, Italy), a Nuragic settlement was discovered. The excavation revealed numerous pits, wells and structures dug by the local communities between the Early Copper Age and the Iron Age. These structures were interpreted as elements of a settlement mainly involved in primary production. The most remarkable structure is Well-N, radiocarbon and archaeologically dated to the Late Bronze Age, which has yielded large amounts of waterlogged plant remains, animal and fish bones and pottery. Despite the limited set of samples, the combination of macro-remain and pollen analyses in this unique context provides important information useful for exploring not only local subsistence systems but also human impact on the surrounding environment. Grapes and figs are the most abundant remains together with other fruits and edible vascular plants. Remains of melon and mulberry were identified being the earliest remains of these two species for Western Europe. Their presence may confirm early trade between Nuragic people and the eastern Mediterranean and/or African coasts. Intentional selection of wood suggests practices associated to the collection of raw material for specific technological demands. The presence of intestinal parasites in the pollen record points to the possible use of the well as a cesspit, at least in its later use, and this is one of the earliest evidence of this type of structures in prehistoric contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In favourable conditions of low temperature and low oxygen concentration, archaeological waterlogged wooden artefacts, such as shipwrecks, can survive with a good state of preservation. Nevertheless, anaerobic bacteria can considerably degrade waterlogged wooden objects with a significant loss in polysaccharidic components. Due to these decay processes, wood porosity and water content increase under ageing. In such conditions, the conservation treatments of archaeological wooden artefacts often involve the replacement of water with substances which fill the cavities and help to prevent collapse and stress during drying. The treatments are very often expensive and technically difficult, and their effectiveness very much depends on the chemical and physical characteristics of the substances used for impregnation. Also important are the degree of cavity-filling, penetration depth and distribution in the structure of the wood. In this study, the distribution in wood cavities of some mixtures based on polyethylene glycols and colophony, used for the conservation of waterlogged archaeological wood, was investigated using synchrotron radiation X-ray computed microtomography (SR-µCT). This non-destructive imaging technique was useful for the study of the degraded waterlogged wood and enabled us to visualise the morphology of the wood and the distribution of the materials used in the wood treatments. The study has shown how deposition is strictly related to the dimension of the wooden cavities. The work is currently proceeding with the comparison of synchrotron observations with the data of the solutions viscosity and with those of the properties imparted to the wood by the treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of bowls containing colors were found in Pompeii. These colors represent the original raw materials used for Pompeian wall paintings, and their recovery allowed us to chemically and mineralogically characterize their constituents. Our study focused on white, black, grey, blue, yellow, red, pink-violet, and green colors. The analysis, performed with optical microscopy and SEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR techniques demonstrated that each color was produced mixing more components and that the colored pigments were both of natural (e.g., ochre, jarosite, celadonite) and artificial (cuprorivaite, charcoal) origin. The analytical results were compared with historical sources and previous works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a multi-analytical chemical study performed on the original, almost totally conserved, content of a small ceramic jar from the Antinoe archaeological site (fifth to seventh centuries ad, Roman Egypt) and now belonging to the archaeological collection of the Istituto Papirologico ‘Girolamo Vitelli’ (Florence, Italy). Scanning electron microscopy with an energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM–EDX), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were all used to characterize the inorganic components of the archaeological material. The organic substances were analysed using FTIR, direct exposure mass spectrometry (DE–MS) and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The inorganic component essentially consisted of halite (NaCl). Among the NaCl crystals, lamellar elements were identified. They were chemically characterized by carbonato-apatite and showed a concentric morphology typical of the scales of small fish. The most prevalent organic constituents of the sample were monocarboxylic acids, α,ω-dicarboxylic acids, and cholesterol and its oxidation products. The organic material composition was consistent with the occurrence of lipids of animal origin. In addition, diterpenes related to pine pitch were also identified. The overall results suggest that the material recovered in the small ceramic jar found in Antinoe is a residue of fish-based pickles such as garum, muria, allex and liquamen, which were commonly used in Roman times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three apparently well-preserved shipwrecks dating back to Roman times were brought to light near Piazza Municipio in Naples (Italy), during the excavation for the construction of Line 1 of the subway. The shipwrecks were covered by marine sand and silt, below the water table. In order to establish the nature and the extent of wood degradation and, therefore, determine how best to preserve the shipwrecks, a diagnostic investigation was carried out. The study involved the identification of wood species, chemical characterization of the residue component and physical and micro-morphological characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the results of a diagnostic survey on the shipwrecks from the archaeological site of the ancient harbour of San Rossore (Pisa, Italy). The original waterproofing, caulking and painting materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS), energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The major constituents of the waterproofing and caulking materials detected on the planks were tricyclic abietanes showing a high degree of aromatization. These compounds are indicative of a pitch obtained from the wood of trees of the Pinaceae family. The analysis of the organic components of the paint samples revealed diterpenoid acids characteristic of Pinaceae resins together with linear long-chain alcohols and fatty acids, highlighting the presence of beeswax. Noticeably, the characteristic odd carbon number alkanes that are normally present in beeswax were not detected. The EDX and XRD analyses showed that hematite, calcite, cerussite and kaolinite were employed as pigments to paint the ships’ hulls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]