Archaeometric Analysis of Structural Mortars from Sandrigo estate in Aquileia (UD)

Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Northeastern Italy founded in 181 BCE. The focus of the study is the site of the Sandrigo Estate, located outside the city walls, parallel to the Natiso cum Turro river. Ongoing excavations by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in the Sandrigo estate have uncovered significant buildings. The site has witnessed many transformations over time as multiple construction phases point to the construction or transformation of buildings into those with a new function. For the present study, the structural mortars, particularly those used in the construction of walls, were the focus of the research. Research aimed to characterize structural mortars from the Sandrigo estate to provide a better understanding of the chronology of construction phases and technological changes over time in addition to supplementing the archaeological data on the different phases of the site. Thirteen mortar samples were collected from walls related to different building phases The mortar samples were grouped based on similar petrological characterization, and each group was compared to various construction phases to verify the evolution of the building phases of the site.