Analysis of polychrome Iron Age glass vessels from Mediterranean I,II and III groups by LA-ICP-MS

In this work the analytical results obtained by ICP-MS with laser ablation solid sampling and SEM-EDS for some polychrome glass vessels from the Iron Age are presented and discussed. The samples, coming from Etruscan sites near Adria (Northern Italy), belong to the so-called Mediterranean Groups I, II and III and are dated from the 5th, 3rd and 2nd century B.C., respectively. To date, analytical data for only two sets of vessels of the Iron Age have been discussed in the literature. In spite of the low number of available samples, this is the first time that vessels of all three periods are analytically compared. Elemental concentration data show that the samples can be classified as low-magnesia-low potash (LMLK) soda-lime-silica glasses, with low phosphorus and titanium contents, in agreement with data for similar samples of the same age. Bivariate and multivariate analyses of the contents of many elements characterizing the siliceous sands showed three distinct sets corresponding to the three periods. Since the sets indicate different provenances of the sands it seems rational to assume that different glassmaking locations were involved. Chromophores and opacifiers of the blue bodies and the yellow, white and turquoise decorations of the vessels were analytically identified, while the nature of the corresponding ores was hypothesized.     

Pompeii’s Stabian Baths. Mechanical behavior assessment of selected masonry structures during the 1st century seismic events

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried and preserved the Stabian Baths building in the exact configuration which the archaeological excavations carried out in the second half of the 19th century recovered. By combining archeologists’ studies with the analysis of deformations and cracking pattern due to the 1st century seismic events, in this article numerical models have been formulated which allowed the formation of some hypotheses coherent on the timeline of the events, the damage to as well as the change of the shape and stylistic language of the thermal building. Specifically, through global seismic analyses and kinematic analyses of masonry portions of the “destrictarium” block, it is proven that during the 1st century not only a sole catastrophic earthquake occurred but, at least, two important seismic events took place.

The purpose of this article is to identify and parameterize the responsible earthquake by the analysis of seismic effects detectable in the damages and archaeological remains of the masonry walls of the Stabian Baths. The identification of the earthquake and the grading of provoked damages represent a useful knowledge tool that provides information about the vulnerability of ancient buildings and can be suitably used also to safeguard architectural heritage from seismic risk.     

Local and territorial determinants in the realization of public–private–partnerships: an empirical analysis for Italian provinces

ABSTRACT

Relational networks and intangible factors are crucial elements for the competitiveness of a territory. Public–Private–Partnerships (PPPs), in particular, allow for the provision of goods and services that favour the exploitation of complementarities between public and private resources. They aim at promoting an increase in the overall efficiency of investment projects through a complex mechanism that distributes risk and revenues among stakeholders. This paper examines the local and territorial determinants of PPPs through an econometric analysis based upon Italian municipal data, grouped at the provincial level. Using a tobit model, we analyse the relationship between the realization of successful PPP initiatives and different sets of factors, including less analysed local and territorial determinants. We stress the role of the local management of infrastructure assets, the administrative efficiency of local authorities and the diffusion of previous local development initiatives. Local management and territorial context factors explain most of the occurrence of successful PPP initiatives in the pre-crisis period while usual determinants (infrastructure endowment and financial distress) display a weaker effect.     

Ghostly real estate: Haunting,debt and capitalist realism in Milan

Ghosts and analogous supernatural entities are pervasive cultural objects. Anthropologists have delved into the religious, social and cultural value of these presences in depth. However, the discipline does not seem to have dedicated enough energy to interpreting this phenomenon in late capitalist societies. Nevertheless, the relationship between ghosts and capitalism constitutes an object of great interest. The real estate sector seems to be particularly suited to investigating the logic of haunting in contemporary societies. Haunting, which gives rise to ghosts, is a compelling category for understanding power relations and economic brutality. Following Derrida, ghosts are relations that mediate different temporalities in the present. In the cases of the foreclosure I ethnographically observed in Milan, those peculiar relations are debt relationships. Judges and justice system actors who oversee the procedures, aware of the presence of ghosts, act in the awareness that this haunting can in no way be resolved, following a logic that Fisher has defined as ‘capitalist realism’.     

Beached swords from Marano Lagoon (northern Adriatic) reveal ancient land–sea connections and recent coastal evolution

Depositional and erosional processes, subsidence and sea-level changes have strongly modified the coastal landscape of northern Adriatic lagoons. Such rapid transformations have induced significant consequences on human settlements and, thus, on the archaeological visibility of the area, still largely unexplored. We present here six metal swords fortuitously retrieved by fishermen over the last decades in front of the barrier islands of Marano Lagoon (north-eastern Italy). Multi-analytical analyses carried out on the artefacts (X-ray radiography and computed micro-tomography, radiocarbon dating and typo-chronology) combined with the study of the coastal paleo-environment (mainly based on historical cartography and remote sensing) allowed the items’ main features to be defined, and highlighted both the historical importance of the area and the significant morphological changes that have occurred there over the last millennium. Data presented indicate that Marano Lagoon was a major hub in the northern Adriatic in the Late Middle Ages, during the crucial period of the Crusades, and in Early Modern times, connecting inland Europe with the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the research highlights the onset of coastal erosion that occurred in the last century after a phase of relatively geomorphic stability, possibly deriving from the intensification of human impact and climate change.