Testing recipes: an experimental approach to paint production processes in Levantine rock art (Spain)

Over more than a century, several proposals have been made on the composition and technical features of the pictorial recipes used by Levantine prehistoric painters. In this paper all these proposals are surveyed and tested through systematic experiments to determine the technical affordance of pigments and binders in different pictorial recipes. Experimental results were then used as independent analytical parameters employed as diagnostic criteria to systematically study an archaeological sample of nine sites located in the Maestrazgo region (Spain) and their surroundings. Results reveal that out of 112 experimental recipes, only 16 afforded the production of paintings technically similar to Levantine rock art.     

A post-imperial,pluralist nationalism? From the Five Nation Republic of China to multicultural Taiwan

Although many nations emerged during the collapse of the empire, the case of China is curious in its failure to divide into separate nation-states. Resisting disunion, the Republic of China (ROC) adopted a rhetoric of national pluralism and laid claim to the fallen Qing Empire's vast territory. This divergence from other post-imperial nationalisms engenders questions about the legacy of imperialism in the ROC's approaches to nation-building. Such questions remain salient after the ROC retreat to Taiwan (1949), as since the end of martial law (1987), the ROC has championed itself as a model of multiculturalism. This paper examines the extent to which today's ‘Multicultural Taiwan’ paradigm differs from 20th-century official conceptualisations of pluralism, through discourse analysis of publications from the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission (MTAC). Investigation finds that despite centring Taiwan in national ideology, certain Chinese imperialist attitudes towards cultural hierarchy remained influential in MTAC representations of pluralism within Asia.     

From crisis to creative critique: the early twenty-first century Mediterranean crossing on stage and screen in works by Teatro delle Albe and Andrea Segre

The article analyses the 2010 play Rumore di Acque [Noise in the Waters] by the Teatro delle Albe and Andrea Segre’s 2014 docufilm Come il peso dell’acqua [Like the Weight of Water] as creative responses to the Mediterranean migrant crisis. In challenging the frozen representation and rhetoric of public reporting and discourse, characterized by recurring images of boats accompanied by the number of arriving or dead migrants, both works propose a critical reading of the migration phenomenon through a focus on individual stories. As the play and the docufilm themselves cross a sea of genres and expressive tools, they also place the migrant at the centre of an interrogation of national paradigms and Western societies. They ultimately call into question the exclusionary politics and policies of the contemporary world and identify in the empathy towards the human quest for freedom and recognition a lively engine of the early twenty-first-century global community, so profoundly marked by movement and displacement.     

Performance-based Seismic Risk Assessment of Urban Systems

ABSTRACT

Disaster risk mitigation has become a urgent global need. Similar to other natural hazards, earthquakes may cause significant damage on a large scale. In Europe and in other regions with dense urbanization, seismic events can heavily impact historical city centers due to the several structural fragilities. These centers are often part of the worldwide cultural heritage and their preservation is considered a strategic issue. Furthermore, earthquakes may have severe negative short-term economic effects on the impacted communities and adverse longer-term consequences for economic growth. For this reason, the development of an efficient approach for urban seismic risk assessment becomes essential. An original approach is proposed, based on performance concepts and multidisciplinary perspectives. The procedure is applied for validation to the city center of Concordia Sulla Secchia (Italy), damaged by the 2012 Pianura Padana Earthquake (PPE), comparing predicted damage scenarios with the actual post-seismic survey data.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment of historical centers at urban scale

Seismic prevention and mitigation of historical centers have gained a central position within earthquake engineering topics, particularly in areas such as Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Many historical towns in these countries have been strongly damaged, due to the high quantity of old buildings and urban structures and infrastructures. In this article, these aspects are described, modeled, and investigated in terms of structural safety, the goal being the set-up of a comprehensive strategy for seismic prevention and mitigation of a whole historical center. The proposed approach is based on two relevant parts: the first is an urban risk assessment, the second is a prioritization of retrofitting interventions so as to optimally increase urban safety.

The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is shown with reference to a complex case study, the historical center of “Montebello di Bertona”. It is initially modeled as a series/parallel system and then studied by applying seismic reliability methods. Seismic retrofitting interventions are finally prioritized.     

Combining residue analysis of floors and ceramics for the study of activity areas at the Garum Shop at Pompeii

In this paper, we propose the application—for the first time in the Mediterranean area—of the combination of the study of chemical residues in floors and ceramics, with the aim of providing information about the activities carried out in archeological buildings. We chose the Garum Shop at Pompeii to test the method. In fact, due to the peculiarity of this archeological context, it provided an ideal case in which the activities performed are in part known, and the ceramic vessels recovered are still in situ. Floor samples were studied by means of spot tests developed in Mexico aimed at identifying the presence of phosphates, fatty acids, and protein residues, while the organic residues preserved in the ceramic matrix of amphorae, dolia, and other ceramic vessels were studied by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Moreover, we integrated the data obtained with specific studies directed at better identifying the solid residues found inside two of the amphorae studied: botanical studies of fruit stones recovered in a Dressel 20 amphora and the characterization of the lime preserved in an African amphora. The research allowed for the identification of the traces of some of the activities performed, such as cooking and producing garum in the floors of the building, and the use and re-use of amphorae and dolia before the Vesuvian eruption.     

Georadar investigations in the central nave of Hagia Sofia,Istanbul (Turkey)

Within an interdisciplinary project to study Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia, a georadar survey was carried out in the central nave to assess if the deformations of the structure previously observed could be related to a differential behavior of the subsoil caused by architectural remains underneath. This study faces an unusual challenge since it was necessary to study the space beneath the scaffolding placed for the restoration works. The survey of the central nave was successful and allowed the detection of remains of walls that probably formed the basement of a previous 18- by 22-m structure. In addition, another interesting feature was discovered 2 m below the marble mosaic in the southeastern part of the nave. Although it is not possible to define its function, it seems that there could be a close relationship between this 2- by 3-m buried structure and the marble mosaic in the floor surface. Although some structures were identified under the floor of Hagia Sofia, there are no major changes in the topography of the central nave floor.     

The glass of Nogara (Verona): a “window” on production technology of mid-Medieval times in Northern Italy

The site of Nogara (province of Verona, Italy) provides valuable insights into the complexities of the glass industry in mid-Medieval times, due to its timing, which ranges mainly between the 10th and 11th centuries AD, and to the great quantity of glass findings, mainly tableware. In the present paper, the combination of archaeological, chemical and textural data allows us to identify production technologies in a time-interval perceived to be a period of technological transition for glass. In particular, the frequent occurrence of recycled natron glass and only a few glass samples made with soda plant ash indicate that recycling of earlier glass was common in inland Northern Italy in the 10th–11th centuries AD. In addition, blue and reticello decorations were obtained by recycling earlier glass mosaic tesserae, as shown by much Co, Cu, Sn, Sb and Pb and the presence of crystallised calcium antimonates. A few glass samples with chemical compositions intermediate between natron and soda plant ash glass were also identified, suggesting a gradual change in glass composition from natron-based towards soda ash-based production technology, which prevailed in the 13th-14th centuries. In conclusion, the difficulty in describing mid-Medieval glass as a well-defined entity, due to the great propensity for recycling earlier glass samples which causes variability in chemical compositions, particularly those of trace elements, is clearly documented here. In any case, this paper contributes to a new type of chrono-typological scanning and to more detailed knowledge of glass production technology during mid-Medieval times in Northern Italy, little found in the literature until now.     

Plants and Vegetation in the Archaeological Park of Neapolis of Syracuse (Sicily,Italy): A Management Effort and also an Opportunity for Better Enjoyment of the Site

Syracuse has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2005. Notable for its visible traces of the ancient Greek city, the inscribed sites are mainly located on the Ortigia Islet and in the Neapolis Archaeological Park. In this park, in addition to monuments of global significance such as the Greek theatre carved into the rock in the fifth century bc, wild flora of great interest are preserved. Some species may have been introduced in the classical period. In 2013, significant maintenance interventions of green areas were made, aimed at safeguarding the monuments and the most relevant flora present. This activity provided an opportunity to create, through an interdisciplinary project, some guidelines for the management of the green cover, and has also created new opportunities for the use of the site through thematic routes.     

Events,Social Memories,and Community in a Final Bronze Age Building’s Biography at Sant’Aniceto,Calabria, Italy

Archaeologists investigating Middle Bronze to Early Iron Age periods (1600–900 b.c.) in southern Italy often explore linkages between emerging inequality and foreign trade connections, establishing a coupled trope of “change emerges from external forces” and “waiting for civilization to arrive”. Based on excavations at the Recent/Final Bronze and Early Iron Ages (RFBA/IA, 1200–900 b.c.) site of Sant’Aniceto in Calabria, we offer an alternative narrative in which hierarchy and institutionalized inequality held little sway in this community. By employing a building biography approach, we examine the variety of ways people sustain their communities through the creation and value of difference (e.g., age, knowledge, or skill) that characterize daily life, even when political hierarchy is absent. Our research at Sant’Aniceto centers on understanding the locally-grounded experiences and lives of people by approaching social difference through the lens of the materialities of everyday life.