Abstract
Since 2018, a scientific research project, the “Lilybaeum Project”, is being carried out by a collaboration of physicists and archaeologists. The goal is to apply forefront analysis techniques to the investigation of archaeological artefacts, both in situ and in the laboratory. The first case study presented in this paper concerns the original investigation through X-ray computed tomography of a collection of objects from the Regional Archaeological Museum of Lilybaeum, in Marsala, Italy. In addition to a very significant collection of clay jars mostly from children’s graves of the ancient Lilybaeum necropolis, an unprecedented analysis of wooden planks belonging to the only existing wreck of a Punic Ship kept in the Museum is presented.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of data and material
The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author.
Data availability statement
This manuscript has associated data in a data repository. [Authors’ comment: The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request].
Notes
However, care should be taken when interpreting false-colour images: the applied contrast enhancement transforms tiny differences in grey levels into significant colour variations. This is the case for the base of all the vases presented herein. The clay used is the same as elsewhere in the body of the vase, but a known tomographic effect called “beam hardening” (which depends on the overall thickness of the material crossed by the beam during the whole measurement) makes the base appear darker. The transformation from grey scale to false-colour scale highly enhances this effect, turning the colour into dark purple which may induce to wrongly interpret the clay as less absorbing than it actually is.
A lateral spout is actually present in the pig-shaped bottle studied herein (see Fig. 12a later on).
The acquisition parameters, in this case only, were slightly different: 110 kV (instead of 130) voltage, 5 fps (instead of 7) frame rate.
This results from the observed u-shaped cross section of the striations, the absence of any directionality in the traces and the fact that the depth of the impression is deeper at the apex of the toes' convexity.
The presence of metal objects in the scan field can lead to severe streaking effects. They occur because the high density of metals gives rise to over range values in attenuation profiles. Generally, various interpolation techniques are used to substitute these over range values, so reducing the streaking effects and improving the quality of tomographic images.
Expertise provided by P. Martin (Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de Genève).
This would be also consistent with the fact that actual nails are longer (at least 40 mm) and have more domed heads [6].
Several elements will have to be taken into account in this regard: the so-called detached tack heads, the so-called headless tacks or brads inserted in the planking and the traces of tacks in the lead sheet, some of which are not pierced in their centre.
The inclination of the mortises may have some relevance in the fragment positioning hypotheses, as well as the distance between mortises, that—despite a certain variability—in other parts of the hull is typically around 4 cm. Notice that the distance between mortises for the two fragments (7 cm for Fragment 1 versus 4.2 cm for Fragment 2) could also be due to their different species of timbers or even to a default in the wood (for the anomalous 7 cm distance).
References
E. Caruso, A. Spanò Giammellaro, Lilibeo e il suo territorio: contributi del Centro Internazionale di Studi Fenici, Punici e Romani per l'archeologia marsalese, Centro internazionale di Studi Fenici, Punici e Romani del Comune di Marsala (2008).
R. Giglio, Problemi di archeologia urbana: Marsala, il “parco archeologico” di Capo Lilibeo e le attività di ricerca. Sicilia Archeol. XXXIV 99(2001), 67–83 (2002)
A. Mistretta, Il progetto Lilibeo. Genesi ed evoluzione di un centro punico-ellenistico nella Sicilia nord-occidentale. Antike Kunst 59, 123–131 (2016)
A. Mistretta, A. Mandruzzato, M. Seifert, Note di archeologia lilibetana. Un primo bilancio delle indagini della missione archeologica delle Università di Palermo e Amburgo, in Mare Internum – Archeologia e Culture del Mediterraneo 6, pp. 67–78 (2014)
M.G. Griffo, Un quadriennio di ricerche e studi al Parco archeologico e al Museo Lilibeo di Marsala, in Rassegne archeologiche e di studi sulla Sicilia antica nell'ultimo quadriennio, Kokalos LVI, 287–329 (2019)
H. Frost et al., Lilybaeum (Marsala). The Punic ship: final excavation report, Supplement to Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità XXX (1976).
C.A. Di Stefano et al., Lilibeo. Testimonianze archeologiche dal IV sec. a. C. al V sec. d.C., Catalogo della mostra (Marsala Chiesa del Collegio dal 3 dicembre1984), Palermo (1984).
A.M. Bisi, A. Tusa Cutroni, Lilibeo (Marsala). Nuovi scavi nella necropoli punica (1969–1970), Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità XXV, 662–769 (1971).
F. Albertin, M. Bettuzzi, R. Brancaccio, M.P. Morigi, F. Casali, X-Ray computed tomography in situ: an opportunity for museums and restoration laboratories. Heritage 2, 2028–2038 (2019)
A. Re, F. Albertin, C. Avataneo et al., X-ray tomography of large wooden artworks: the case study of “Doppio corpo” by Pietro Piffetti. Heritage Science 2, 19 (2014)
M. Bettuzzi, F. Casali, M.P. Morigi et al., Computed tomography of a medium size Roman bronze statue of Cupid. Appl. Phys. A 118, 1161–1169 (2015)
F. Albertin, M. Bettuzzi, R. Brancaccio, M.B. Toth, M. Baldan, M.P. Morigi, F. Casali, Inside the construction techniques of the Master globe-maker Vincenzo Coronelli. Microchem. J. 158, 105203 (2020)
F. Casali, X-ray and neutron digital radiography and computed tomography for cultural heritage. Physical Techniques in the Study of Art, Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 1, 41–123 (2006)
E. Peccenini, M. Bettuzzi, R. Brancaccio, F. Casali, M.P. Morigi, A new way to enrich museum experience through X-ray tomography: the diagnostic study of a wax anatomical model of the 18th century made by Anna Morandi Manzolini, in Proceedings of the 2015 Digital Heritage International Congress, Granada (2015), pp. 59–62.
C. Pavel, F. Constantin, C.I. Suciu, R. Bugoi, X-ray tomographic examinations of Teleac, Cicău and Apulum rattles, Proceedings of the 39th International Symposium for Archaeometry, Leuven (2012), pp. 193–197.
R.J. Jansen, H.F.W. Koens, C.W. Neeft, J. Stoker, CT in the archaeological study of ancient Greek ceramics. Radiographics 21, 315–321 (2001)
W.A. Kahl, B. Ramminger, Non-destructive fabric analysis of prehistoric pottery using high-resolution X-ray microtomography: a pilot study on the late Mesolithic to Neolithic site Hamburg-Boberg. J. Archaeol. Sci. 39, 2206–2219 (2012)
J. Kozatsas, K. Kotsakis, D. Sagris, K. David, Inside out: Assessing pottery forming techniques with micro-CT scanning. An example from Middle Neolithic Thessaly. J. Archaeol. Sci. 100, 102–119 (2018)
S. Karl, D. Jungblut, H. Mara, G. Wittum, S. Krömker, Insights into manufacturing techniques of archaeological pottery: Industrial X-ray computed tomography as a tool in the examination of cultural material, in Craft and science: International perspectives on archaeological ceramics, M. Martinón-Torres Ed., Doha, Qatar: Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation (2014)
A.S. Machado, D.F. Oliveira, H.S. Gama Filho, R. Latini, A.V.B. Bellido, M.J. Anjos, R.T. Lopes, Archaeological ceramic artifacts characterization through computed microtomography and X-ray fluorescence. X-ray Spectrometry 46, 427–434 (2017)
J.P. Morel, Céramique campanienne: les formes, Ecole Française de Rome (1994)
M. Formont, Selinunte: produzioni in tecnica policroma e sovradipinta. Genesi dei motivi secondari, in Se cerchi la tua strada verso Itaca... Omaggio a Lina Di Stefano, E. Lattanzi and R. Spadea Ed., Roma (2016), pp. 77–99
C.A. Schneider, W.S. Rasband, K.W. Eliceiri, NIH image to imageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nat. Methods 9(6), 671–675 (2012)
C. Carr, Advances in ceramic radiography and analysis: applications and potentials. J. Archaeol. Sci. 17, 13–34 (1990)
E. Gabrici, Rinvenimenti nelle zone archeologiche di Panormo e di Lilibeo, Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità II, 261–302 (1941).
M.G. Griffo, I reperti della necropoli di Birgi nella collezione “G. Whitaker” a Mozia, in Atti del V Congresso Internazionale di Studi Fenici e Punici (Marsala-Palermo, ottobre 2000), vol. II, Palermo (2005), pp. 631–643
C.A. Di Stefano, Lilibeo punica, Palermo, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato (1993)
H. Frost, The Punic wreck in Sicily, 1 Second season of excavation. Int. J. Nautical Archaeol. Underwater Explor. 3(1), 35–42 (1974)
J.R. Steffy, The Kyrenia Ship: an interim report on its hull construction. Am. J. Archaeol. 89(1), 71–101 (1985)
G. Uccelli, Le navi di Nemi, Roma, La Libreria dello Stato (1950)
H. Mary, G.J. Brouhard, Kappa (κ): analysis of curvature in biological image data using B-splines. bioRχiv 852772 (2019)
J. Schindelin, I. Arganda-Carreras, E. Frise et al., Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat. Methods 9, 676–682 (2012)
G. Lambert, C. Lavier, P. Perrier, S. Vincenot, Pratique de la dendrochronologie. Hist. Mes. 3(3), 270–308 (1988)
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Enrica Tagliamonte and Giulia Buono for interesting and fruitful discussions concerning the manufacturing of the clay artefacts. We are also indebted to Pascal Martin who has kindly provided his expertise concerning the analysis of the woods. Finally, we would like to thank the then Director of the Polo Museale of the Province of Trapani, Luigi Biondo, for his enthusiasm in promoting the successful debut in 2018 of the “Lilybaeum Project” at the Regional Archaeological Museum of Marsala.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest/competing interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Albertin, F., Baumer, L.E., Bettuzzi, M. et al. X-ray computed tomography to study archaeological clay and wood artefacts at Lilybaeum. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 136, 513 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01465-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-021-01465-1