Hannes LEHAR (University Innsbruck, Austria) Calculations and thoughts about construction, performance and function Research project funded by university Innsbruck Archaeological literature praises comfort, simple operation mode and construction of hypokaust. Excepting the fact that there isn’t “ONE hypokaust”, but rather countless variations, operation of reconstructed equipment showed that it isn’t as simple and unproblematical as assumed: none of these equipments is functioning as assumed. I consider the hypokaust heating system from archaeological and engineering sight with the goal to better understand the system through coaction of its parts. Additionally to own job-related heating engineering experience, I had assistance of three research centres and of development division of a boiler manufacturer. Experiences of operators of reconstructed hypokausts also influenced this project. For better comparison I used modern technical engineer standards as bench marks whenever possible. Some results: First time the heating load of 11 reconstructed roman buildings has been calculated according to ÖNORM. Based on this, elements of comfort for these buildings are deduced and evaluated. Individual system-components are described and their coaction within the complete system is reviewed. Special focus lies on the “panel heating”. For so far archaeological undetected components suggestions are made as to their possible appearance. Purpose is to give colleagues tools to look during analysis of past or future excavations upon leftovers of hypokaust heating systems from a new point of view: “you find what you know or what you are looking for”. Flow conditions in the hypokaust are presented. (Schematically and – for the first time – computer simulated) Heating process, combustion and aptitude of different fuel are examined, including evaluation-criteria. Problems with reconstructed equipment are addressed, probable causes presented, possible correctives shown. Suggestions for proper usage are given. Heretofore accepted facts are challenged, partly newly interpreted or differently solved. Keywords: Roman Hypokaust Heating...

Irina GREVTSOVA (University of Barcelona, Spain) Abstract: The presentation of heritage located in open air, specially the archaeological heritage, implies serious problems of understanding for the general public. This happens because of most part of the archaeological monuments are preserved in the form of ruins, without their original environment. Since the late Nineteenth Century the interpreters of the U.S. and Europe have been applying educational strategies to find different solutions. One type of interpretative tool is organizing routes with interpretative panels as elements of educational communication. On one hand, the aim of the poster is to analyze models of didactic intervention applied in urban archaeological contexts in Spain. This comparative analysis helps to identify the main characteristics and methods used in the field of archaeological heritage and to find an effective way to explain the heritage to the public. On the other hand, the poster is used to study current trends that have emerged recently thanks to an information revolution. The new interpretative contents designed for mobile phones, titled “nomadic museography “, are aimed at engaging the public interest on archaeological sites through user-friendly display. Currently these digital formats are changing the way we perceive and interpret archaeological heritage and give new possibilities to link a user with a heritage. Its use has a special impact in urban context, in which the demand of cultural consumption is growing. After studying several cases developed in Spain, the poster finishes with the presentation of the main conclusions on how the fix and mobile interpretative devices change the perception of archeological sites and which possible ways of development they could have in the future. Keywords: interpretation, archaeological heritage, interpretaive panels, new technologies, urban...

Antonella FURNO (University of Siena, Italy) Abstract: Each project of building archaeology includes several phases: the preliminary stage in which identify the aims of the project, then a phase of the fieldwork in which take all the necessary records and finally a phase of restitution in which the recordings are analyzed and oriented on each topographical point with the production of orthophotos to achieve a high level of knowledge of the architectural structure taken into analysis. At this point, all the archaeological cognitive instruments can be applied to (like stratigraphic interpretation, cronotipology of the material used, model buildings, construction techniques, characteristics of the mortars, mensiocronology) in order to obtain the information necessary to understand the work in progress history of the building. With the introduction of digital methods, the recording information have undergone a revolution that has allowed the management of numerous archives. In this context, I suggest to analyze the importance of man aging a digital archive of all metadata related to it. In this context it is included and discussed the opportunity to use the instrument of Google Maps “Google StreetView” as a special data storage of images. On these basis, we attempt to reconstruct a 3D model of SS. Stefano e Silvestro Church in the small town of Castelnuovo (L’Aquila) in the district of San Pio delle Camere, which was completely destroyed by the earthquake on April 2009. The wireframe of the church was rebuilt by deducting the minimum metric information  putting into the plan of the church derived from the archive of the land register, using the helpful tool AutoCAD and relying wholly on Google StreetView images and topographic points taken after the quake. A part of the church was created with the measurement of frontal images, while the east side of the church was recreated with the traditional geometric method of the inverse perspective: with a single image you can extrapolate the real distances or proportions of the three dimensional reality of the object. A good result if we consider the low resolution image, but it is to be taken into account that Google holds the original photos and the so called “raw files”...

Irina FIERASCU1 / Romulus DIMA2 / Radu Claudiu FIERASCU1 (1The National Institute for Research & Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry – ICECHIM, Bucharest, Romania / 2University Politehnica of Bucharest, Romania Abstract: Cultural heritage artefacts (by organic nature – leather, wood, bones, ivory, antler, etc., by inorganic nature, as stone, metals, glass or clay or composite organic/inorganic artefacts, such as some pigments or other combination of organic/inorganic materials) belong to the world heritage, and their welfare should concern everyone (archaeologists, museum curators or scientists from other areas). Fungi are found all over in nature, and can cause undesirable effects on both organic and inorganic materials. Once infected the artefacts, the fungus will grow using as food the substrate or even airborne particles (depending on the type of artefact). Biodegradation of the artefacts can often lead to irreversible effects. The use of antifungal natural extracts was always a viable alternative to the use of harmful chemicals (that often affects the rest of the environment or even human health). For example, nettle or olive leaf extracts are used since ancient times as antifungals. This paper presents the obtaining and characterization of natural extracts with antifungal potential. The plants used are native in Romania (Paeonia males, Allium ursinum, Ocimum basilicum or Calendula officinalis), and extraction methods used solvents as little as possible toxic (water, ethanol/water mixture) and different extraction conditions. Extracts were characterized using analytical techniques (UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy, HPLC) and in terms of antifungal potential (using the diluted inoculum technique). The results obtained are promising, allowing us to hope for a natural extracts based recipe for the removal and prevention of biodeterioration of the artefacts. Acknowledgements: The results presented in this work were funded by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007-2013 of the Romanian Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection through the Financial Agreement  POSDRU/89/1.5/S/52432. The authors wish to thank their colleagues Sorin Avramescu and Sanda Doncea for their analytic help. Keywords: Natural extracts, characterization,...

Radu Claudiu FIERASCU / Rodica Mariana ION / Irina FIERASCU (The National Institute for Research & Development in Chemistry and Petrochemistry – ICECHIM, Bucharest , Romania) Abstract: The influence of the environment on the artefacts often translates (in absence of protecting measures) into their damage trough physical, chemical or biological processes. Most artefacts (regardless of their nature) are affected by the action of fungi. Previously it was shown that the most widespread fungi are those of Aspergillus sp. and Penicillium sp. Developing new bioremediation recipes based on synthesized chemical substances (with low or absent toxicity for humans and to the rest of the environment) can remove the shortcomings of the currently used methods (gamma or UV irradiation, etc.). This paper presents the synthesis and characterization of new materials (hydroxyapatite and its derivatives, hydroxides of alkaline earth metals). Characterization of the synthesized materials was performed using state-of-the-art analytical techniques (XRD, XRF, FTIR, thermal analysis). Characterization in terms of antifungal action was performed using the diluted inoculum technique on culture media. The obtained results allow us to hope for an alternative method for the removal of biodegradation, using selected synthesized materials. Acknowledgements: This work has been funded by UEFISCDI trough Postdoctoral research project 06 PD/2011. The authors wish to thank their colleagues Contantin Radovici, Sanda Doncea and Simona Pop for their analytic help. Keywords: Materials, synthesis, characterization, artefacts,...

G. FESTA / G. GORINI / E. PERELLI CIPPO / R. CATTANEO / R. SENESI / C. ANDREANI (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Italy) Abstract: One of the most challenging tasks for urban excavation aimed at new archaeological findings is the preliminary inspection of the area with non-destructive in-situ techniques. State of the art technologies available for neutron-based methods, using cold, thermal and epithermal/fast neutron beams, are currently being applied to study CH artifacts at numerous neutron beam facilities throughout the world. The on-site Fast Neutron Logging System (FNLS) devised for deep analysis in urban areas, will provide elemental material characterization. The FNLS uses a fast (2.5 MeV)  neutron probe to realize a visual display of the hidden characteristics within the soil and hypothetical buried archaeological sites. The portable neutron system will be based on a logging head that will be positioned in the soil as a mining probing method. The FNLS will be composed of  a fast neutron source and a germanium detector for the determination of gamma spectrum emitted by surrounding nuclei after absorption of neutrons moderated by the same surrounding soil. Prompt (during neutron pulses) and delayed (between adjacent neutron pulses) gamma emission arising from (neutron, gamma) interaction in the materials can give access to isotopic specific information. The visual display can provide a distribution of elements, determined by means of the induced radiation after neutron capture. Detection of abundant elements which are not usually contained in the soil of the particular site will provide a clue about a buried object. The same instrumentation will also be optimized to measure the natural radioactive background, detecting the naturally radioactive elements in the investigated archaeological area. This will provide additional information on the elemental composition around the studied sites and detect interesting areas that worth to be excavated. Keywords: neutron...