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New compositional data on ancient mortars from Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey)

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Abstract

This study shows the results of a multidisciplinary collaboration between the University of Calabria (Italy) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), about the compositional characterization of some mortars taken from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Turkey), one of the most important buildings in antiquity. Twenty samples of joint mortars were analysed by micro-chemical analyses (SEM-EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), optical microscopy (OM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The compositional study allowed us to define, with more detail, the construction phases of the fifth, sixth and tenth century. The petrographic analysis in thin section by optical microscopy showed four typologies of sands, used as aggregate, with specific compositional features. SEM-EDS analyses and TEM observations of the binder around the ceramic fragments of the aggregate showed the presence of different morphologies of single C-S-H compounds.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the staff and the Direction of the Hagia Sophia Museum for their helpfulness and hospitality, as well as the Ministry of Culture of Turkey for the granting of all permits necessary to conduct investigations inside the monument. The work is part of the research activity of the Department of Biology, Ecology and Earth Sciences (DiBEST) of the University of Calabria, the Archaeological Prospection Laboratory, Universidad National Autónoma de México (UNAM), the Ramon y Cajal contract of A. Pecci RYC 2013-13369 and the ERAAUB (Consolidated Group 2014 SGR845) and was carried out within the framework of Murat Cura’s PhD thesis (2016). We would also like to thank Mariano Davoli, Ida Daniela Perrotta and Giancarlo Niceforo for their support on SEM-EDS, TEM and XRF analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra (DiBEST), Università della Calabria, Via P. Bucci Cubo 12B, 87036, Arcavacata di Rende, CS, Italy

    Domenico Miriello, Andrea Bloise, Murat Cura, Raffaella De Luca, Alessandra Pecci, Mirco Taranto & Gino Mirocle Crisci

  2. Archaeological Prospection Lab, Institute of Anthropological Research (IIA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, Mexico

    Luis Barba & Jorge Blancas

  3. Restructura - Surveys for Cultural Heritage, Cosenza, Italy

    Marco Cappa & Daniela De Angelis

  4. ERAAUB, Departament de Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Alessandra Pecci

  5. Freelance Surveying Engineer, Laser Scanning Expert, Istanbul, Turkey

    Hasan Bora Yavuz

Authors
  1. Domenico Miriello
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  2. Luis Barba
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  3. Jorge Blancas
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  4. Andrea Bloise
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  5. Marco Cappa
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  6. Murat Cura
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  7. Daniela De Angelis
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  8. Raffaella De Luca
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  9. Alessandra Pecci
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  12. Gino Mirocle Crisci
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Correspondence to Domenico Miriello.

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Miriello, D., Barba, L., Blancas, J. et al. New compositional data on ancient mortars from Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 9, 499–514 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-016-0375-3

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