In the present work, several building materials suffering from black crusts and soiled surfaces were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and micro-Raman spectroscopy. The goal was to examine the elemental and molecular composition, the distribution on the samples, and the morphology of endogenous and exogenous compounds on those black crusts and soiled surfaces. The black crusts were deposited over different building materials such as limestone, sandstone, and brick that constitute a small construction called "malacate" as well as over a limestone substrate of a cemetery gate. Both constructions are dated back to the beginning of the twentieth century. The samples of soiling were taken from the façade of a building constructed in the 1980s. The analytical evaluation allowed in a first stage the determination of the composition and the observation of the morphology of soiling and black crusts. In addition, the evaluation of the compositions of the soiling and black crusts of different grade and formation allowed the assessment of the main weathering phenomena that the buildings have suffered, which were found to be sulfate impact, marine aerosol impact, depositions of metallic particles, crustal particulate matter depositions, carbonaceous particles, biodeterioration, and vandalism.

No abstract

The city of Nájera, located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, hosts an alcazar of Arab origin, which became the residence of the king of Pamplona-Nájera and later of the duke and duchess of Nájera. From this last period (1500-1600) date the ceramics that were unearthed during the recent excavations of the Alcázar of Nájera. These findings constitute the largest post-Medieval assemblage of ceramic pieces unearthed in the city. They include a large set of plain tin-lead glazed pieces of tableware, as well as some mono or polychrome decorated sherds. In this work, an archaeometric characterization was carried out on a subsample of these ceramics (n = 94) by means of a multi-analytical strategy. The pastes were analyzed chemically and mineralogically by ICP-MS and XRD, respectively. Further evaluations on a subsample of ceramic glazes was carried out by SEM-EDS and Raman microscopy. The preliminary results enabled establishing a main large compositional group (NAJ-A) and a smaller one (NAJ-B) which could tentatively be linked to a local production origin. Moreover, exogenous provenances such as Muel and Talavera were identified after the comparison with data from other Spanish contemporary majolica pottery productions.

Estudio, puesta en valor y musealización virtual de un horno de cerámicas basados en la información procedente de antiguas excavaciones RESUMEN:Las posibilidades actuales de visualización y difusión a través de las tecnologías digitales tienen un efecto favorable en la conservación y la puesta en valor de los restos arqueológicos depositados en los museos. Por lo tanto, deben ser consideradas como herramientas esenciales en la gestión de las colecciones y una manera de comunicarse con todo tipo de usuarios, desde los que cuentan con un elevado perfil tecnológico hasta los visitantes ocasionales. El artículo presenta un caso de estudio en el cual se ha revisado la información recogida durante una serie de excavaciones arqueológicas relativas a los restos de un horno, las cuales se realizaron en la localidad de Orduña (España) en los años 2000 y 2001. Esta información, conjuntamente con una nueva inspección de las piezas almacenadas en el Museo Arqueológico de Bizkaia, ha permitido la generación de nuevos productos -como el modelo virtual tridimensional-que ofrecen posibilidades mejoradas de estudio, comprensión y difusión de las piezas, su origen y la importancia que el oficio de la cerámica y su comercio tuvieron en el pasado.

No abstract