Yuri Leite Santos, Evdokia Tema, Patrizia Davit, Diego Elia, Valeria Meirano, Fulvio Fantino, Monica Gulmini
A multidisciplinary investigation of an ancient kiln excavated at Costigliole Saluzzo: new archaeometric and archaeomagnetic results

A multidisciplinary approach gathering archaeology, material sciences and geosciences can provide quality data regarding the characteristics and the production technology of archaeological artefacts beyond traditional archaeological methods. This study presents the integrated results of archaeological, archaeometric and archaeomagnetic analyses applied to an ancient kiln discovered at the archaeological site of Costigliole Saluzzo, in northwest Italy. Small samples of baked clay from the kiln s inner walls and central pillar were used for Fourier transform Infra-Red Spectroscopy and X-Ray Powder Diffraction, as well as for archaeomagnetic analyses in order to infer information about the firing temperatures reached during the kiln s use and to determine the direction of the Earth s magnetic field at the time of its abandonment. These analyses highlighted that a non-calcareous clay source was used for the construction of the kiln while the firing temperatures reached during its use ranged between 700 oC and 900 oC. Such temperatures make the fired clay a suitable recorder of the ancient geomagnetic field, registering the direction of the ancient field during its last firing. In fact, the obtained archaeomagnetic results show that the fired clay samples were characterized by a good magnetic stability and systematic alternating field demagnetization procedures successfully determined the direction of the characteristic remanent magnetization recorded during the last use of the kiln.

Paola Cennamo, Roberta Scielzo, Giorgio Trojsi, Elena Chianese
A study on microclimatic parameters and conservation state: the case of wall paints of the Archeological Site of Baia (Italy)

The present study investigated the correlation between the degradation processes of cultural heritage and environmental phenomena. The case study of this research was a semi-hypogeum room located in the North zone of the Mercury s Sector of the archeological park of Baia, Italy, and the near nymphaeum to highlight any correlations among the two chambers. The main diagnostic techniques used to investigate the environmental parameters were Ion chromatography and Thermography, related to other investigations based on the knowledge of the original materials of the artifacts and the biodeteriogens. Environmental monitoring was carried out too. All the data were then crossed to obtain a full knowledge of the conservative pictures of the rooms, fundamental to finding out the most compatible and effective restoration methodologies to apply in the conservation of room SB-E0-R07.

Emanuele Brienza
From landscape to excavation: using new smart tools for multiscale archaeological investigations

The world of geomatics today provides new tools, smart, low cost and easy-to-use for archaeological research in the field, from geographical positioning to detailed survey of past evidence. These instruments, light and not bulky, interface directly with tablets, I-Pads or smartphones via intuitive applications and speed up the data collection in the field, making the spatial and typological integration of archeological record increasingly and easier. However, to what extent these tools, beyond their apparent effectiveness, are precise and reliable and in which frameworks work better or worse? In this year I had the chance to use a new smart system for centimetric georeferencing, the Trimble Catalyst DA2, in various ancient sites of the world, facing different logistic and environmental situations, and following distinct purposes and targets: the use of this new geo-positioning system was always associated to detailed and close-range survey activities, related to landscape archaeology investigations and stratigraphic excavations.

Livio D'Alvia, Ludovica Apa, Emanuele Rizzuto, Zaccaria Del Prete
Study of wood samples positioning on two microwave planar coupled ring resonators for water content measurements

Microwave resonance-based techniques have become increasingly popular for the non-destructive testing of wood materials, as they enable the measurement of moisture content without causing damage. This paper presents a preliminary study focusing on the most suitable way of placing wood samples on two microwave planar coupled ring resonators, specifically the capacitive and inductive configurations, for water content measurements. The study aims to assess the impact of sample positioning on measurement accuracy, considering two different positions corresponding to the coupling points: between the ring gap and the feed line and the inner gap. Results indicate that, for capacitive coupling (c.c.), placing the sample in proximity of the inner gap is more suitable for detecting variations in permittivity, as evidenced by the regression analysis with a R2 value exceeding 0.98 for the two peaks. Instead, for the inductive coupling (i.c.) configuration, both positions present a good response. The regression analysis reveals a R2 value greater than 0.98 for the two peaks in proximity of the outer gap, and a R2 value of 0.9 for the inner one.

Eleonora Marconi, Antonio Budano, Giancarlo Della Ventura, Federico Fina, Alberto Botti, Sandro Tassa, Ottavia Palacino, Lorenzo Conte, Marianna Franco, Francesco Pacetti, Caterina Coletti, Armida Sodo, Luca Tortora
AI-assisted Reconstruction of Archaeological Pottery from digital 3D mesh models

Ancient pottery in archaeological sites is typically found as broken fragments. The collection, classification, and assembling of those pieces into their original artifact may take years of hard work, especially when the fragments are irregular, intermixed with parts of different vessels, or if some key pieces are missing. This problem is traditionally handled via two main steps: (1) the Classification of Archaeological Fragments into similar groups (CAF) and (2) the Reconstruction of each group into the original Archaeological Objects (RAO). Over the years, many alternatives have been proposed to solve this problem. A seminal approach was exploiting the color and texture properties of the fragments. More recently, the use of 3D computer-aided reconstruction methods gained attention as promising tools in pattern recognition. For this reason, researchers have implemented algorithms to collect all the information necessary to reconstruct a complete vessel from suitable data collected via 3D scanners. In this work, four types of algorithms were tested to reconstruct the objects without an a priori knowledge of the final shapes. The method exploited the geometric features obtained from the 3D mesh model acquisition on artificial samples from a broken mug, used as test cases. The best algorithm satisfying the final 3D reconstruction was then applied to the study of archaeological ceramic fragments from Villa della Piscina in the Parco Archeologico of Centocelle (Rome, Italy) within the project ERCOLE. The aim of this work is at developing a tool that satisfies the criteria of accuracy, performance, robustness, transportability, cost, and careful handling of archaeological specimens.