Materials and technology of mosaics from the House of Charidemos at Halikarnassos (Bodrum, Turkey)

Heritage Science

Kasper Høegh Jensen¹  Thomas Delbey²  Poul Pedersen³  Kaare Lund Rasmussen⁴  Bjarke Jørgensen⁵  Birte Poulsen⁶ 

[1]ALK-Abelló

[2]Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the UK

[3]Department of History, Classical Studies, University of Southern Denmark

[4]Institute of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark

[5]Newtec Engineering A/S

[6]School of Culture and Society–Classical Archaeology

关键词: Tesserae;    Halikarnassos;    House of Charidemos;    Chemistry;    Production methods;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40494-022-00697-3

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract An excavation in 1856 by Charles T. Newton and a re-excavation in 1990–93 by a joint Danish-Turkish team revealed several mosaic floors in a late-antique domus from the fifth century CE, now called the House of Charidemos. Nineteen tesserae from the floor have been analysed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Raman micro-spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, and X-ray diffraction. Seven tesserae were made of opaque glass, eleven from various rock/lithic materials, while one of them was a ceramic fragment. This case-study reports the first analyses undertaken of tesserae from late-antique Halikarnassos. The results show the use of recycled Sb–Mn decoloured glass and two types of red glass. A comparison with tesserae from other sites in Anatolia from the same period shows similarities in the base glass composition, but also some particularities of the colouring and opacifying agents used for the mosaic of the House of Charidemos. The characterisation of the stone tesserae shows a homogeneity in the choice of the materials of the same colours, but no certain provenance has been established in the present work mainly due to the lack of comparative materials. Graphical Abstract

【 授权许可】

Unknown