http://romanportland.net/files/doc/seminar2008/jan_elsen_seminar2008s.pdf

Microscopy of historic mortars—a review

Abstract Repair mortars used for restoration are assumed to be highly compatible with historic materials in terms of physical, chemical and mechanical properties in order to assure the durability of masonry on the long term. Compatibility criteria are defined based on the original mortar characteristics but the quality and the performance of the repair mortar after application on masonry are not generally evaluated. From this perspective, historic mortars and repair mortars from three historic masonry structures were analyzed in terms of chemical, mineralogical, and physical point of view. A methodology is given taking into account the added value of analytical techniques and the basic requirements from both practical and scientific point of view.

Characterization of repair mortars for the assessment of their compatibility

Characterization of repair mortars for the assessment of their compatibility in restoration projects: Research and Practice

Clothing, jewelry, animal remains, ceramics, coins, and weaponry are among the artifacts that have been discovered in graves in Gaul dating from the fifth to eighth century. Those who have unearthed them, from the middle ages to the present, have speculated widely on their meaning. This authoritative book makes a major contribution to the study of death and burial in late antique and early medieval society with its long overdue systematic discussion of this mortuary evidence. Tracing the history of Merovingian archaeology within its cultural and intellectual context for the first time, Effros exposes biases and prejudices that have colored previous interpretations of these burial sites and assesses what contemporary archaeology can tell us about the Frankish kingdoms. Working at the intersection of history and archaeology, and drawing from anthropology and art history, Effros emphasizes in particular the effects of historical events and intellectual movements on French and German antiquarian and archaeological studies of these grave goods. Her discussion traces the evolution of concepts of nationhood, race, and culture and shows how these concepts helped shape an understanding of the past. Effros then turns to contemporary multidisciplinary methodologies and finds that we are still limited by the types of information that can be readily gleaned from physical and written sources of Merovingian graves. For example, since material evidence found in the graves of elite families and particularly elite men is more plentiful and noteworthy, mortuary goods do not speak as directly to the conditions in which women and the poor lived. The clarity and sophistication with which Effros discusses the methods and results of European archaeology is a compelling demonstration of the impact of nationalist ideologies on a single discipline and of the struggle toward the more pluralistic vision that has developed in the post-war years.

https://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/religion.occult.new_age/occult.conspiracy.and.related/Effros,%20Bonnie%20-%20Merovingian%20Mortuary%20Archaeology%20and%20the%20Making%20of%20the%20Early%20...pdf

Merovingian mortuary archaeology and the making of the early Middle Ages

This thesis puts under examination the linguistic and non-verbal elements of early medieval clothing on the basis of semiotic systems that pertain to the use and function of early medieval textiles in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England. An attempt is made here to address the possibilities in the research of the diverse messaging systems which reflect social roles and identities communicated visually through dress and dress accessories. In the course of this examination the relationship of early medieval people with dress and their concepts about their bodies is explored. While seeking to establish the most important elements in the structure of early medieval dress, we will also try to explore and deploy the methodologies of corporeal semantics, the criteria of visibility of the vestimentary display and the elements that make up the key focus of the apparel. The empirical evidence is drawn from both Merovingian and Carolingian Frankish and Anglo-Saxon contexts and comprises both texts of diverse genres which set the framework of a historical narrative for the subject in the light of comparative historical analysis. This framework is set against, is compared and challenged by the archaeology from early medieval burial sites and relics. My aims are, first the establishment of a common semiotic plane of interaction and comparison between two types of source material, the historical sources and the archaeology. In order to accomplish this, the disparities between the quality and quantity of textual and artefactual evidence and their inherent limitations are also researched and evaluated. My second aim is to find out ways to extract information about textile and metalwork artefacts from the written sources and organise it so that it will be possible to visualise and understand the structure and the role of dress in early medieval societies in reference to the construction of social and personal identities. This is an interdisciplinary task and the interpretative tools suggested here and the theory of verbal and non-verbal meaning of textiles could also be used as suggestions for further research directions of other types of linguistic and artefactual expression. Moreover, this task - to the point that the above issues and aims are resolved - could form the premise upon which a new system of artefact evaluation of the finds pertaining to dress from early medieval burials, a key feature of early medieval archaeology, could be exploited.

Usage and meaning of early medieval textiles. A structural analysis of vestimentary systems in Francia and Anglo-Saxon England

Microscopical study of ancient mortars from Tournai (Belgium)

Quantitative composition of ancient mortars from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Tournai (Belgium)

L’ouvrage est destine aux specialistes de la ceramique gallo-romaine et aux acteurs de l’archeologie de terrain soucieux d’identifier rapidement et de classer adequatement la ceramique antique provenant de contextes decouverts en Gaule du Nord. La premiere partie du livre est concue comme une introduction methodologique, au sein de laquelle sont abordees succinctement les methodes d’analyse et du traitement de la ceramique gallo-romaine. L’approche contextuelle de celle-ci fait egalement l’objet d’un chapitre reserve aux principales notions generalement manipulees par le ceramologue, a savoir l’assemblage, l’horizon chronologique et le facies. La seconde partie correspond a un dictionnaire de la vaisselle issue du grand commerce rencontree en Gaule du Nord, durant toute l’occupation romaine. Il s’agit d’un veritable guide, pouvant aider a la reconnaissance des ceramiques. Il a ete realise sur la base d’une collection de reference classee selon des normes bien definies, resultant d’une recherche interdisciplinaire associant les approches archeologique et archeometrique. L’ouvrage prend en compte, successivement, les terres sigillees du Haut-Empire et du Bas-Empire, les ceramiques fines et les ceramiques communes a large diffusion. L’illustration y occupe une place importante, elle se repartit entre des photos de vases representatifs de la categorie concernee, des photographies montrant la structure des pâtes et des revetements, des planches typologiques et des cartes de diffusion et de distribution de la vaisselle.

La ceramique romaine en Gaule du Nord: Dictionnaire des ceramiques. La vaisselle a large diffusion

Soixante-dix ans apres le tome 1 du Manuel d'archeologie gallo-romain d'Albert Grenier, Michel Redde, Raymond Brulet, Rudolf Fellmann, Jan Kees Haalebos et Siegmar von Schnurbein proposent une nouvelle synthese sur l'architecture militaire romaine dans les provinces des Gaules et des Germanies. La premiere partie analyse les differents types de constructions et de techniques observees dans les camps militaires, en replacant l'evolution de cette architecture dans son contexte historique, de la conquete de la Gaule au milieu du Ve s. ap. J.-C. La seconde partie est un catalogue qui, sans pretendre a l'exhaustivite, presente les sites incontournables et d'autres moins connus, notamment en France. Chaque notice, bien documentee et toujours illustree, est assortie d'une bibliographie. Cet ouvrage est le fruit d'une collaboration internationale a laquelle plus de cinquante auteurs ont ete associes. Il s'adresse a des etudiants et a des chercheurs non specialises, qui y trouveront des informations commodes, a jour, rassemblees pour la premiere fois.

L'architecture de la Gaule romaine : les fortifications militaires

Cette etude est destinee a clarifier l’evolution au niveau de la composition et des techniques de fabrication des mortiers a chaux utilises dans les structures archeologiques decouvertes sous le niveau de sol actuel de la cathedrale de Tournai (Belgique) qui remonte au xiie siecle. La recherche s’inscrit dans un projet interdisciplinaire plus large qui vise a etudier la transition des villes et des territoires ruraux Romains a Post-Romain et leur transformation jusqu’au Moyen Âge (Brulet et Verslype, 2001). Les resultats presentes, concernent la mineralogie des mortiers et indiquent que celle-ci peut varier selon l’hydraulicite du liant, qui a son tour est mis en relation avec les conditions de cuisson du calcaire dans les fours a chaux anciens. Cette etude est donc particulierement interessante lorsqu’il s’agit de comprendre et de clarifier la connaissance empirique possible de l’interdependance de la temperature de cuisson et de l’hydraulicite de la chaux utilisee a Tournai. Il est en effet possible que pour certaines applications ou durant certaines epoques de l’histoire cette connaissance fut exploitee.

/pdf/mineralogie-des-silicates-de-calcium-presents-dans-des-q57bgorut7.pdf

Raymond Brulet

Papers

Microscopical study of ancient mortars from Tournai (Belgium)

Quantitative composition of ancient mortars from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Tournai (Belgium)

La ceramique romaine en Gaule du Nord: Dictionnaire des ceramiques. La vaisselle a large diffusion

L'architecture de la Gaule romaine : les fortifications militaires

Minéralogie des silicates de calcium présents dans des mortiers anciens à Tournai