The deterioration of Circular Mausoleum, Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain

Abstract

The Circular Mausoleum in the Roman Necropolis of Carmona was carved on a calcarenite sequence in an ancient quarry located in the town of Carmona, Southern Spain. This rock-cut tomb, representative of Roman burial practices, currently suffers from serious deterioration. A detailed survey over several years permitted the identification of the main tomb's pathologies and damaging processes, which include loss of material (scaling, flaking, granular disintegration), surface modifications (efflorescences, crusts and deposits) and extensive biological colonization. The results obtained in this study indicated that anthropogenic changes were largely responsible and enhanced the main alteration mechanisms observed in the Circular Mausoleum. Based on the deterioration diagnosis, effective corrective actions were proposed. This study shows that any conservation intervention in the interior of the tomb should be preceded by accurate in situ measurements and laboratory analyses to ascribe the source of the deterioration damages and thus designing effective treatments.

Geo‐environmental evaluation for the preventive conservation of open‐air archaeological sites: the case of the Roman Necropolis of Carmona (Spain)

“…The results from the analysis of several tombs, before and after different land‐use activities, confirm that effective condensation is a key factor in the deterioration process (e.g. Benavente et al, ,; Fernandez‐Cortés et al, ; Cañaveras et al, ). Effective condensation processes occur at least during a quarter of the year in many tombs (Fernandez‐Cortés et al, ; Sánchez‐Moral et al, ).…”

“…Certainly, the ideal option is that this entrance is south facing, reducing the relative humidity in the tomb by increasing insolation. However, this seems to not be a limiting factor as a newly exhumed tomb, regardless of the orientation of the main entrance of the tombs, should have a protective cover (similar to that proposed for the Circular Mausoleum tomb; Cañaveras et al, ). This seems mandatory to protect the exhumed tomb from direct rainfall and general weathering.…”

“…The archaeological excavations in the Necropolis began at the end of the nineteenth century. Surveys were performed without prior planning for the preservation and organization of the post‐excavation site (Cañaveras et al, ; Sánchez‐Moral et al, ). In addition, the area also shows important modifications that are related to the construction of facilities for visiting, mainly earthworks and trails that were built to protect the tombs from massive public visits.…”

“…Nevertheless, archaeological sites are not only threatened by physical deterioration due to visitors but are also threatened by natural deterioration caused by weather and pollution (Díaz‐Pedregal & Diekmann, ). For the Necropolis of Carmona, the evaluation of the conservation state in previous studies (Ariño & Saiz‐Jimenez, ; Benavente et al, ; Cañaveras et al, ; Laiz et al, ) allowed the main indicators of the currently active deterioration phenomena to be detected and to conclude that the main factor of the current deterioration of the tombs is meteoric water. Unfortunately, the exposure of the buried tombs to atmospheric conditions and modification of natural drainage has led to an important acceleration of the deterioration phenomena in this exceptional burial site (Sánchez‐Moral et al, ).…”

Nature and origin of the violet stains on the walls of a Roman tomb

“…Subsurface environments (caves, necropolises, catacombs, tombs, crypts, etc. ) are characterized by their microclimatic conditions, mainly high relative humidity the year round, lower temperatures than outside and poor ventilation (Saiz-Jimenez et al, 2011;Diaz-Herraiz et al, 2014;Fernandez-Cortes et al, 2015;Cañaveras et al, 2015). These conditions promote the growth of Actinobacteria, a common phylum in tombs, with Nocardia, Pseudonocardia and Streptomyces as the most abundant genera (Diaz-Herraiz et al, 2013.…”