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For thousands of years, mortar-based materials — including bedding mortars, plaster floors, internal wall plasters, external wall renders and stuccos, and concrete — have been key construction materials in many cultures throughout the world. This paper gives an overview and examples of the use and development of mortar-based materials in cultures across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Mesoamerica, prior to the development of hydraulic cements in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of historical buildings, the wide use of lime as a binder in various contexts of application emerges from a series of artistic and archaeological evidence in the Apulia (Italy) from the 4th century BCE to the 15th century CE. The large availability of carbonate rocks in the geological substratum from Daunian Subappennines to Salento areas strongly influenced the material culture of the region. In this paper, significant study cases were presented to bring to light the technological complexity, almost completely cancelled by the widespread presence of industrial products, in the use of lime over the centuries. Through examples of use from antiquity to the modern age in Apulia (Egnatia, Lamapopoli, Tertiveri, Siponto, Lucera and Monopoli sites), technological solutions indicating an ecological dimension of production were discussed, bearing witness to technologies on a human scale and sustainability. The comparison of petrographical (POM, SEM-EDS) and mineralogical (XRPD) results indicated the technological trend and custom for lime production in the Apulian region that starts from the choice of the stone to be calcined and the aggregates and passes through the modalities of lime hydration and preparation of the mixture up to the laying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqua Alexandrina is the last aqueduct built by ancient Romans for the city of Rome. At Giovanni Palatucci Park, the archaeological ruins run close to a pre-existent water system, Fragole cistern. This research aims at characterizing mortar samples from both constructions, to identify the materials used and infer about the technological level and the provenance of materials, using a multi-analytical approach. Combining the information obtained through the petrographic investigation of mortar thin sections at optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction on finely powdered samples and thermogravimetric analysis on the binder fraction, it was possible to attest the presence of both artificial and natural materials with pozzolanic behavior, which conferred hydraulicity to the mortars. The results show that materials are very similar in both constructions, confirming a well-established know-how in the production of hydraulic mortars by the Romans. The volcanic products used as aggregate are identified with two large pyroclastic-flow deposits erupted by the Colli Albani Volcanic District which extensively crop out in the area of Rome: Pozzolane Rosse and Pozzolanelle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated on the left bank of the Sabato river, the city of Abellinum (Campania region, southern Italy) represents a tangible testimony to the influence of the Roman civilization in Irpinia. At the site, where the remains of the public area of the town are preserved, archaeological excavations unearthed a monumental Pompeian domus, likely owned by Marcus Vipsanius Primigenius, a freedman of Agrippa, son-in-law of Augustus. The rooms preserved fine wall paintings of 3rd and 4th Pompeian style, reflecting the social status of the owner. From four rooms overlooking the peristyle, eight specimens of decorated plasters were collected, and petrographic and spectroscopic analyses were carried out to investigate the plastering and painting technology. Thin sections of all plasters depicted a multilayer technology, although differences in mix designs of the supports were highlighted. Some samples are pozzolanic plasters, containing volcanic aggregate, others can be classified as cocciopesto because of the presence of ceramic fragments mixed to the volcanic aggregate. Finally, the presence of marble powder also permitted the identification of marmorino. Moreover, the pigments, applied using a fresco or lime-painting techniques, consist of pure or mixed Fe- and Cu-based pigments to obtain yellow, orange, red, pink, and blue decorations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides the first detailed insight into the composition and properties of structural mortars used in a 4th‐century AD bath complex in Aquileia, the emblematic center of Roman culture in Northern Italy. Eighteen mortars, taken from different structures of the site, and three stone samples from the vaulting opus caementicium have been analyzed adopting a multianalytical approach integrating optical microscopy, X‐ray powder diffraction, X‐ray fluorescence, and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy‐dispersive spectroscopy. The properties of the compounds are outstanding, as revealed by the formation of hydraulic phases (i.e., Al‐tobermorite and AFm) in most of the samples: the waterproofing capabilities of cocciopesto mortars are remarkable, as revealed by the formation of anthropogenic Al‐tobermorite (5.5 wt%) in pool coating samples; the lightweight of the vaults was guaranteed by the use of porous caementa and pozzolanic volcanic aggregates imported from the Gulf of Naples, as demonstrated by petro‐mineralogical features and chemical analysis of major and trace elements. This is the first proven case of trade in these building materials to the north of the Italian peninsula. These outcomes shed new light on the robust technical expertise of local artisans in Aquileia and indicate that the Cisalpina province was by no means a peripheral reality in the Roman Empire, as far as mortar‐based materials are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research deals with mineralogical, petrographic, chemical, and microstructural characterization of raw materials from the Roman Dragonara cave (Phlegraean Fields, Campania region, Italy) through Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM), X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (FESEM/EDS), Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP). The aim of this study was to asses mortars hydraulic properties along with provenance of raw materials and mortars recipe. A focus on the reactions between the surface of the ceramic aggregates and volcanic materials with binding matrix proved to be crucial to define their role in the mix design of mortars. Representative results showed that hydraulicity of the analyzed mortars is mainly due to volcanic materials rather than ceramic fragments. In fact, reaction active elements such as Reaction Rims (RR), Interfacial Transition Zones (ITZ) and particularly Ca-rich rims were usually found at the matrix-volcanic fragments interface. Moreover, porosity tests evidence that bedding mortars, which contain mainly volcanic material and only sporadically ceramic fragments have a higher closed porosity of binder matrix due to the good pozzolanic reactivity. • Ancient mortars used ceramic fragments as pozzolanic materials. • Mortars hydraulicity due to technological addition. • Role of aggregates in mortars physical characteristics. • Multianalytical approach in historical mortars examination. • Secondary phases improving the technological properties of mortars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]