Characterization of artificial materials coming from the Norman-Svevian Castle of Cosenza (Calabria, Italy) to determine the constructive phases of the building

Raffaella De Luca (a), Marco Talarico (a) & Fulvio Terzi (a)
(a) Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences (DiBEST), University of Calabria, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy. Corresponding author e-mail: raffaella.deluca@unical.it

This work shows the result of the archaeometric study of artificial materials (bricks and mortars) coming from the Norman-Svevian Castle of Cosenza (Calabria, Italy). The principal aim of the study is to identify and to date the several constructive phases of the building through the comparison between the information coming from the historical and stylistic analysis of the building and the data obtained from the different analytical techniques carried out on the materials. For this reason samples of mortar and brick, coming from different areas of the building, were sampled and analyzed by optical microscopy in polarized light (OM), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The archaeometric study of these materials, indeed, is very important because it allows to reconstruct the history of ancient buildings, identifying the presence of different manufactures or restoration works and the production technology of the materials.

Archaeometry, brick, mortar, constructive phases.