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Francesca Mariani, Giosuè Caliano, Stefano De Angeli, Paola Pogliani
Acoustic characteristics and defects of adhesion of ancient construction materials using the PICUS system

The text discusses the applications of the PICUS system in comparison to traditional auscultation techniques for analyzing detachments in historical and artistic artifacts. Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques, although valuable for assessing the condition of materials and structures, face limitations in terms of feasibility, optimal operational conditions, and potential risks to delicate objects. In practical work environments, conservator-restorers often rely on traditional auscultation techniques, involving tapping the surface and observing vibrations, due to their accessibility, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness. These techniques provide immediate tactile feedback and insights into the condition and integrity of the artwork. However, they are subjective and rely on the expertise of the conservator-restorer. Overall, a combination of PICUS techniques and traditional auscultation can enhance the understanding of artifacts while considering practical constraints.

Eleonora Clò, Gabriele Gattiglia, Eleonora Rattighieri, Francesca Anichini, Antonio Campus, Marta Rossi, Mauro Buonincontri, Anna Maria Mercuri
The Fathers' cell gardens of the Charterhouse of Calci-Pisa in Tuscany (Central Italy): pollen and multidisciplinary reconstruction

The archaeological investigation of the Charterhouse of Calci-Pisa (Central Italy) is a research project launched in 2018 by a multidisciplinary team of the University of Pisa. Three different monks gardens (the Prior s, the Apothecary s, and the Master s garden) have been investigated. The study focused not only on their structural transformations, evidenced by flowerbeds, pools, and fountains, but also paid special attention to pedological variations, plants diversity, and the presence of root systems, animals, and microorganisms, to detail changes in use, such as the succession of crops or fertilisation practices. Palynological and archaeobotanical results allowed us to reconstruct the succession of seasons in the gardens, with colourful and fragrant flowers, ornamental, aromatic, medicinal herbs, and fruit trees. The gardens seem to have a functional space organisation strictly related to the monks' peculiar kind of life, their personalities and feelings, and their relationship with nature and divinity.

Alma Kumbaric, Flavia Bartoli, Zohreh Hosseini, Giulia Caneva
Identification of plant elements represented in the suburban Villa della Piscina di Centocelle (Rome, Italy) as a source of reconstruction of the ancient gardens

Plants in art are not only decorative elements, they have symbolic values that cannot be neglected, because are bearer of a message, which need to be understood. Moreover, they usually show the connection with the surrounding natural landscape. Indeed, the phytoiconographic elements are important tools to reconstruct the lost garden. Our works aims identifying the plant representation to provide useful information for the reconstruction of the the ancient villa’s garden. We studied decorated wall remains and ceiling structures identifying the plant species and attributing their symbolic value and garden role. Preliminary data show the presence of more than twenty plants, mainly Mediterranean. The symbolic groups present a slight prevalence of solar and salvific elements. For the garden we identified species to decorate and border the flowerbeds, but also with productive role. The analysis of these represented naturalistic elements gives support in understanding the historical landscape behind their representation.

Susana Silva, Paulo Carvalho
Preserving and valuing historic gardens: an analysis of projects under the Portugal 2020 investment framework (2014-2020)

Gardens are delicate and vulnerable assets. They are also cultural, artistic, and historical documents of great relevance that must be preserved and valued. Various funding programmes have sought directly or indirectly to help comply with this principle. The aim of this study is to analyse the conservation and enhancement interventions carried out in Portuguese historic gardens between 2014 and 2020, under the Portugal 2020 Community Support Framework. This is a funding programme for projects in various thematic areas. The public database containing all approved applications was therefore analysed. Twentyfour projects involving 20 historic gardens were identified. This is a relatively small number of projects considering how many historic gardens there are in Portugal. Most of the approved projects are located throughout the North and Centre regions, and the interventions mainly focused on the physical rehabilitation of the spaces and their elements. Some suggestions are presented to enable these funds to be more widely used in Portuguese historic gardens.

Susana Silva, Paulo Carvalho
Garden heritage and tourism: present and future of Madeira Island as a garden destination

Madeira Island (Portugal) is widely recognized for the exuberance of its landscape, largely anchored in the abundance of gardens, parks, and flowers. These are one of the biggest tourist attractions, as well as one of the great brand images of this region, which has helped to position the island on the route of a worldwide interest in visiting gardens. Garden tourism has therefore gained expression. This work aims to analyse the trajectory of the garden tourism in this destination by evaluating the supply and demand trends in the three main entrance-fee gardens. It goes beyond the strategies implemented and looks at the constraints that remain, the associated challenges and potentialities, finishing with suggestions to improve the garden experience in Madeira. It is a fact that tourism has acted as a vehicle for validating this heritage. The island has a huge range of spaces capable of positioning it as an outstanding garden destination. The demand for gardens has increased, although it is still firmly based on the three anchor-gardens. Improvements in maintenance and available information are highlighted, but Madeira s garden tourism lacks a strategic and comprehensive vision of its multiple actors and interests.

Souen Fontaine, Alex Sabastia, Jérôme Sialelli, Denis Dégez, Alexis Rochat, Marine Sadania
Combining acoustic and optical cameras onboard an ROV as a detection and expertise tool for underwater preventive archaeology: a case study off Marseilles (France)

The development of preventive archaeology at sea and particularly offshore has led to the establishment of a protocol for geophysical detection and in situ identification of potential maritime cultural assets. To resolve the difficulty in precisely characterising, and therefore selecting for in situ expertise, acoustic anomalies corresponding to isolated or scattered objects, which are potential indicators of homogeneous buried sites or sites that are at the surface but deteriorated or very old, a new protocol for detection and expertise using an acoustic camera mounted on an ROV was developed and tested during an archaeological suvey in the Mediterranean. The results of this work demonstrate the relevance of this method, and point to a number of possible applications.

Manuela Ritondale
Archaeological predictive modelling in underwater contexts. Utility and challenges

Despite the availability of various remote sensing methods allowing for mapping, monitoring, and studying the underwater cultural heritage at previously unreachable depths, underwater operations remain costly and challenging to sustain in extensive areas. The adoption of formal models indicating where to expect archaeological remains would be extremely beneficial to optimise underwater archaeological investigations. However, whilst archaeological predictive modelling has increasingly been employed in terrestrial contexts, this technique is underdeveloped in the maritime domain, particularly in the Mediterranean basin. While hinting at a mistaken notion of what predictive models should achieve, this underdevelopment also highlights specific caveats, which should be addressed to improve current archaeological predictive modelling approaches, thus promoting their further development in maritime areas. This contribution presents a new GIS-based methodology for the prediction of shipwreck locations in Mediterranean territorial waters (i.e., 12 NM zone); particularly, it focuses on strategies to deal with data biases, model uncertainty and testing.

Nikos Papadopoulos, Crescenzo Violante, Dimitrios Oikonomou, George Kritikakis
Coastal and shallow marine geophysical investigations in the Roman site of Baia in Naples, Italy

The Roman site of Baia (Naples, Italy) belongs to the Campi Flegrei volcanic field, which is affected by vertical ground movement called Bradyseism, that strongly influenced the morphology of the coast. As a consequence, a number of architectural remains are now below the sea water surface, and partly or totally buried within the marine sediments. This work presents the results of the coastal and ultra-shallow marine geophysical survey aimed to investigate and reconstruct the onshore-offshore hidden built environment in the specific site. The geophysical approach included Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to check the continuation of structural remains on the coast, static 3-D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) to reconstruct the architectural relics in the shallow part and 2-D dynamic ERT to examine the layers below the the seabed in the deeper sections of the bay. The outcomes of this work contributed to the better understanding understanding of the submerged cultural landscape of Baia expanding the archaeological knowledge towards the shallow part and the coast.

Vasileios Giannakopoulos, George Papatheodorou, Dimitris Christodoulou, Elias Fakiris, Maria Geraga, Panagiotis Gkionis, Nikos Mavrommatis, Thomas Levy
A low cost Unmanned Surface Vehicle for mapping shallow-water UCH sites: Ancient and historical shipwrecks in Methoni bay, Greece

Advancements in remote sensing technologies and marine robotics have revolutionized the surveying of underwater cultural heritage (UCH), surpassing the limitations of conventional means. In shallow water areas, Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs) offer advantages over research vessels, such as extended autonomous operation, maneuverability, low power consumption, and reduced environmental impact. In this study, conducted at two wreck sites in Methoni Bay, Greece, an USV was employed, equipped with a side scan sonar system operating at frequencies of 455/800 kHz, which was integrated into the Lowrance Elite-7 Ti sonar device. The collected data sets were processed using ReefMaster and SeaView software to generate accurate mosaics for inspecting and mapping UCH sites. The aim of this work is to demonstrate the use of USVs as a viable method for investigating and documenting underwater cultural heritage sites situated in shallow water environments.

Alexandros Labrianidis, Elias Fakiris, Georgiou Nikos, Dimitris Christodoulou, Xenophon Dimas, Maria Geraga, Nikos Mavrommatis, George Papatheodorou
Marine remote sensing and photogrammetric survey of an UCH site: A cluster of cannons in the SW Gulf of Patras, Greece

This study combines marine remote sensing and photogrammetry to investigate underwater cultural heritage (UCH) sites in the Gulf of Patras, Greece. The research utilized multibeam echosounders, side scan sonar, and marine magnetometers to detect potential UCH sites, followed by visual inspections using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with a GoPro camera. Photogrammetry techniques were applied to create high-quality 3D models of the identified UCH site, revealing sunken cannons within a Posidonia oceanica meadow. Despite shape alteration caused by concretions and biological colonization, the 3D models provided valuable morphometric data. This integrated approach demonstrates the effectiveness of marine remote sensing and photogrammetry in mapping and documenting UCH sites, contributing to the preservation and exploration of underwater heritage.

Page 4 of 936 Results 31 - 40 of 9356