Petrography for cultural heritage

The course has the declared aim to provide the adequate knowledge to the study of mortars, ceramics and rocks used in cultural heritage.

Based on the Dublin descriptors the objectives of the course are:

Knowledge and understanding. Provide students with the necessary knowledge for the recognition and description of the mineralogical and petrographic characteristics of natural and artificial lithic materials (mortars and ceramics)

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding in order to: 1) interpret petrographic data in order to understand the aspects related to their use in cultural heritage through examples of common interest; 2) knowledge of analytical methods for the study of natural and artificial stone materials.

Autonomy of judgment. Develop in students a critical approach to petrographic and mineralogical data and their contribution to archaeological studies.

Communication skills. To provide students with the ability to understand and communicate petrographic concepts applied to archaeology.

Learning skills. Develop autonomy in the study of minero-petrographic data applied to cultural heritage.

Lessons; laboratory lessons will be held at the end of the course.

Introduction:

• The petrographic study applied to cultural heritage.

Lithic materials:

• Mineralogical, compositional and structural features
• Classification of common rocks used in cultural heritage.
• Provenance of the main rocks used in antiquity.

Ceramics:

• Petrographic and mineralogical characteristics of ceramics.
• The microscopic description of ancient pottery and their classification.
• The raw materials.
• The production processes.

Mortars:

• Petrographic and mineralogical characteristics
• Processes for the production of binders and technological evolution.

Notes on the petrographic characteristics of glass and metal.

Files and Power Point lecture notes

For not attending students will be provided lecture notes

For further details :

• Cuomo di Caprio N. La ceramica in archeologia, 2: antiche tecniche di lavorazione e moderni metodi di indagine. L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2007.
• Lazzarini L. Pietre e Marmi Antichi. CEDAM, 2004.
• Rice P. Pottery Analysis: A Sourcebook. University of Chicago Press, 2006

Final oral exam.

The student must show adequate knoledge of the scientific method of investigation and data analysis techniques.

These skills will also be verified through the discussion on specific issues dealt with during the lessons based on scientific articles provided by the teacher.

The assessment of the exam will take into account the knoledge  of the contents and skills acquired, linguistic accuracy and lexical properties, as well as the argumentative ability demonstrated by the candidate.

the raw materials of ceramics

the raw materials of mortars

petrographic description of pottery

differences between minerals and rocks