Non-Invasive Approach to Investigate the Mineralogy and Production Technology of the Mosaic Tesserae from the Roman Domus of Villa San Pancrazio (Taormina, Italy)

Abstract

The archaeological excavations at Villa San Pancrazio (Taormina, Italy) are bringing to light a vast Roman-Imperial residential quarter featuring luxurious dwellings decorated with wall paintings and mosaic floors, pointing it out as one of the most significant archaeological sites of the city. The polychrome and black and white mosaics recovered date back to the middle Imperial period, during the 2nd century AD. This work deals with the first archaeometric investigations of the materials employed for the tesserae production with the aim of elucidating the mineralogical composition and obtaining analytical evidence that can contribute to extracting information related to their production technology. For that purpose, a non-invasive methodology, based on micro energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (μ-EDXRF) spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy, was used to characterize a wide selection of stone, ceramic and glass tesserae. Chemometric tools were exploited to manage the large set of elemental data collected on black and white lithic samples, providing essential clues for the subsequent investigations. The results evidenced the employment of natural lithotypes (calcareous sedimentary, dolomitic and volcanic) local and imported, and also artificial materials, such as ceramic made firing magnesium-rich clays, soda-lime-silica glasses made with different opacifying and coloring agents (such as calcium antimoniate, cobalt and copper).