Abstract
The archaeological sites of Mikulčice and Pohansko (South Moravia – the Czech Republic) belong to the oldest and the most important localities of Slavic settlement in Central Europe. A number of historic mortars sampled here were collected in order to study their composition, mortar structural characteristics and raw materials provenance. The aim of this study was not only the comparison and characterisation of the historical mortars from these archaeological sites, but we also evaluated the suitability of these mortars to be dated by 14C analysis.
The samples were characterised by several analytical techniques as polarised light and scanning electron microscopy, thermal analyses or quantitative X-ray diffraction. Stable isotope analyses and cathodoluminescence were also performed. The collected mortars contained a considerable amount of lime particles that can adversely affect the possibility of 14C radiocarbon dating. According to the results of the analyses, the samples from both localities had a similar character. Mortars were very rich in the binder and contained unburnt limestone fragments that occurred frequently. Unburnt fragments were classified mostly as a micritic limestone contained bioclastic fragments. This material was determined as Ernstbrunn limestones according to the composition and structure. Stable isotope analysis also suggested that all studied lime samples came from a single source. The presence of geogenic carbonates (not fully burnt lime) affects the resulting 14C age of the analysed samples fundamentally. The character of mortars leads to a discussion on how to adapt the separating procedures of the individual fractions and avoid geogenic carbon contamination.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ringbom, Å., Gustavsson, K., Lindroos, A., Heinemeier, J., Sveinbjörnsdôttír, Á.: Mortar dating – a method with a potential for the future. In: Proceedings of the 2nd European Congress of Medieval studies of the Fédération Internatiole des Instituts d’ Ètudes Médievales, Barcelona (1999). Author 1, A., Author 2, B.: Title of the chapter. In: Editor 1, A., Editor 2, B. (eds.) Book Title, 2nd ed., vol. 3, pp. 154–196. Publisher, Publisher Location, Country (2007)
Hale, J., Heinemeier, J., Lancaster, L., Lindroos, A., Ringbom, Å.: Dating ancient mortar. Am. Sci. 91, 130–137 (2003)
Lindroos, A.: Carbonate Phases in Historical Lime Mortars and Pozzolana Concrete: Implications for 14C Dating. Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Åbo Akademi University, Åbo (2005)
Heinemeier, J., Ringbom, Å., Lindroos, A., Sveinbjörnsdóttir, Á.E.: Successful AMS 14C dating of non-hydraulic lime mortars from the medieval churches of the Åland Islands, Finland. Radiocarbon 52(1), 171–204 (2010)
Reimer, P.J., et al.: IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4), 1869–1887 (2013)
Marzaioli, F., et al.: Accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of lime mortars: Methodological aspects and field study applications at CIRCE (Italy). Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. 294, 246–251 (2013)
Lichtenberger, A., Lindroos, A., Raja, R., Heinemeier, J.: Radiocarbon analysis of mortar from Roman and Byzantine water management installations in the Northwest Quarter of Jerash, Jordan. J. Arch. Sci.: Rep. 2, 114–127 (2015)
Ponce-Antón, G.: Hydrotalcite and hydrocalumite in mortar binders from the medieval castle of Portilla (Álava, North Spain): accurate mineralogical control to achieve more reliable chronological ages. Minerals 8, 326 (2018)
Toffolo, M.: Radiocarbon dating of anthropogenic carbonates using the thermal decomposition method. In: MoDIM 2018. Mortar Dating International Meeting. Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Bordeaux (2018)
Arnau, A.Ch.: New strategies for radiocarbon dating of mortars: multi-step purification of the lime binder. In: Proceedings of the 4th Historic Mortars Conference, Santorini, pp. 665–672 (2016)
Hajdas, I., et al.: Preparation and dating of mortar samples - mortar dating inter-comparison study (MODIS). Radiocarbon 59(5), 1–14 (2017)
Hayen, R., et al.: Analysis and characterisation of historic mortars for absolute dating. In: HMS 2016, 4th Historic Mortars Conference, pp. 656–664 (2016)
Bakolas, A., Biscontin, G., Moropoulou, A., Zendri, E.: Characterisation of the lumps in the mortars of historic masonry. Thermochim. Acta 269(270), 809–816 (1995)
Pesce, G.L., Ball, R.J.: Dating of Old Lime Based Mixtures with the “Pure Lime Lumps”, p. 40 (2011)
Leslie, A.B., Hughes, J.J.: Binder microstructure in lime Mortars: implications for the interpretation of analysis results. Q. J. Eng. Geol. Hydrogeol. 35, 263–275 (2002)
Ingham, J.P.: Investigation of traditional lime mortars – the role of optical microscopy. In: Proceedings of the 10th Euroseminar on Microscopy Applied to Building Materials, pp. 1–18 (2005)
Elsen, J., Brutsaert, A., Deckers, M., Brulet, R.: Microscopical study of ancient mortars from Turnay (Belgium). Mat. Character. 53(2–4), 289–294 (2004)
Poláček, L.: Hradiště Mikulčice-Valy a Velká Morava. Svazek: II, Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Brno, v. v. i., Brno 2016, p. 151 (2016)
Galuška, L., Poláček, L.: Církevní architektura v centrální oblasti velkomoravského státu. In: Sommer, P. (ed.) České země v raném středověku, Praha, pp. 92–153 (2001)
Wihoda, M.: Od Moravanů k Velké Moravě a zpět. In: Koupřil, P. (ed.) Velká Morava a počátky křesťanství, Brno, pp. 46–50 (2014)
Měřínský, Z.: České země od příchodu Slovanů po Velkou Moravu, p. 564. Libri, Praha (2009)
Baxa, P.: K významu kostola sv. Margity Antiochijskej v dejinách Kopčan, okr. Skalica. In: Pamiatky Trnavy a Trnavského kraja 3, Trnava, pp. 44–47 (2000)
Poláček, L.: 50 let výzkumu v Mikulčicích. Přehled výzkumů 46, 324–327 (2005)
Poláček, L.: Terénní výzkum v Mikulčicích. 2. Rozšířené vydání, ARUB, Brno (2006)
Baxa, P., Gregorová, J., Poláček, L.: Projekt archeologického parku Mikulčice-Kopčany. Pamiatky a múzeá 2003(1), 53–57 (2003)
Poláček, L., Mazuch, M., Baxa, P.: Mikulčice-Kopčany. Stav a perspektivy výzkumu. Archeologické rozhledy 58, 623–642 (2006)
Dreisler, P.: Opevnění Pohanska u Břeclavi. Masarykova Univerzita Brno, p. 274 (2011)
Macháček, J.: Zpráva o archeologickém výzkumu Břeclav-Líbivá 1995–1998. In: Archaeologia mediaevalis Moravica et Silesiana I, pp. 39–62. Masarykova univerzita, Brno (2000)
Dresler, P.: Analysis of archaeological field prospection in the hinterland of the early medieval centre Pohansko near Břeclav. In: Abstracts book/13th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists. Zadar, pp. 128–129 (2007)
Eckel, E.: Cements, Limes and Plasters. A Facsimile of the 3rd ed. Donhead Publishing, Dorset (2005)
Rietveld, H.M.: A profile refinement method for nuclear and magnetic structures. J. Appl. Crystallog. 2, 65–71 (1969)
Folk, R.L.: Practical petrographic classification of limestones. AAPG Bull. 43(1), 1–38 (1959)
Dunham, R.J.: Classification of carbonate rocks according to depositional textures. Mem. Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol. 1, 108–121 (1962)
Elsen, J.: Microscopy of historic mortars—A review. Cem. Concr. Res. 36, 1416–1424 (2006)
Addis, A., et al.: Selecting the most reliable 14C dating material inside mortars: the origin of the Padua Cathedral. Radiocarbon 61(2), 375–393 (2016)
Dotsika, E., Psomiadis, D., Poutoukis, D., Gamaletsos, P.: Isotopic analysis for degradation diagnosis of calcite matrix in mortar. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 395, 2227–2234 (2009)
Kozlovcev, P., Válek, J.: The micro-structural character of limestone and its influence on the formation of phases in calcined products: natural hydraulic limes and cements. Mater. Struct. 54(217), 1–27 (2021)
Acknowledgement
The research was carried out with the support of the Czech Ministry of Culture, as a contribution to project DG20P02OVV028. The authors would like to thank the colleagues from the Department of Stable Isotopes of the Czech Geological Survey who carried out the MS analysis.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Kozlovcev, P., Kotková, K., Frankeová, D., Válek, J., Viani, A., Maříková-Kubková, J. (2023). Characterization of Historic Mortars Related to the Possibility of Their Radiocarbon Dating, Mikulčice and Pohansko Archaeological Sites. In: Bokan Bosiljkov, V., Padovnik, A., Turk, T. (eds) Conservation and Restoration of Historic Mortars and Masonry Structures. HMC 2022. RILEM Bookseries, vol 42. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31472-8_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31472-8_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-31471-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-31472-8
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)