The S. Omobono Sanctuary in Rome: Assessing eighty years of fieldwork and exploring perspectives for the future

Terrenato, Nicola; Brocato, Paolo; Caruso, Giuseppe; Ramieri, A.M.; Becker, Hilary; Cangemi, Ivan; Mantiloni, G.; Regoli, C.

doi:10.11141/ia.31.1

Cited by 8 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…1), is being investigated by an international research team (Terrenato et al, 2012). The new season of work aims at a full reconsideration of the archival, monumental and artifactual evidence from this important archeological site, which preserves some of the earliest evidence of human activity in Rome.…”

Section: The Archeological Site Of Sant'omobonomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To extend the archeological dataset of analyses on this rock, we collected three samples of dimension stones identified as Lapis Gabinus from the Fora of Caesar and Augustus (Lugli, 1957). Moreover, we collected four samples corresponding to as many different building stones that were reported as "peperini" in the Sant'Omobono archeological site (Terrenato et al, 2012), and one sample of a "peperino-like" rock employed in the concrete foundation of the Tabularium, all to be compared to the samples from outcrops at Gabii.…”

Section: Chronological Employment and Identification Criteria Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One sample of a typically crumbly "cappellaccio" block (SO-1) was collected from a massive tuff platform built before the podium of the twin temples, probably at the end of the sixth century BCE (Terrenato et al, 2012) (Fig. 4b).…”

Section: The Archeological Site Of Sant'omobonomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical identification criteria for “peperino” stones employed in ancient Roman buildings: A Lapis Gabinus case study

Farr

Marra

Terrenato

2015

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Lapis Gabinus is a durable volcanic stone originally exploited and employed in construction at the ancient Latin city of Gabii. From the second century BCE it was also exported to Rome, where it appears in a series of important monuments, including the Tabularium and the Forum of Augustus. It is a lithified hydromagmatic-surge deposit erupted about 285,000 years ago by the Castiglione Crater, 20 km east of Rome, and is similar in appearance to other local rocks that geologists and archeologists often call "peperino". In the present study we establish geochemical identification criteria to classify this rock and distinguish it from the other "peperini" employed by Roman builders. To this end, we have performed trace-element analyses on 17 samples of Lapis Gabinus collected from outcrops at Gabii, and on 11 samples representative of the other "peperino" stones occurring in the area of Rome. The resulting reference dataset has been employed to construct discrimination diagrams in which the geochemical compositional fields of the different rocks are defined. We then tested this identification method by plotting in these diagrams the trace-element compositions of 16 archeological samples of "peperino" stones collected from the buildings of ancient Gabii and Rome, spanning the sixth century BCE through the first century CE. Our results show that the three most common such stones (Lapis Gabinus, Lapis Albanus, Tufo del Palatino) have distinct trace-element compositions and can be readily distinguished using the proposed discrimination diagrams. This relatively simple and inexpensive identification method can be successfully extended to other archeological research on volcanic materials and employed for wider petrographic purposes.

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Section: The Archeological Site Of Sant'omobonomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chronological Employment and Identification Criteria Of The mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geochemical identification criteria for “peperino” stones employed in ancient Roman buildings: A Lapis Gabinus case study

Farr

Marra

Terrenato

2015

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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“…Subsequently, a large number of studies was carried out on the site [2][3][4] and numerous excavations were performed, providing a valuable insight into the activities conducted in the area from the archaic period to the Republican and Imperial age and after that the pagan temple had been converted into a Christian church. Over the years, nine trenches (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, now called D10, IX, X) were opened, while sector III has yet to be excavated [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeometric Approach for Studying Architectural Earthenwares from the Archaeological Site of S. Omobono (Rome-Italy)

et al. 2019

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This paper reports the findings of an archaeometric study performed on 14 architectural earthenwares from the archaeological site of S. Omobono, located in the historic center of Rome (Italy). The archaeological site, accidentally discovered in 1937, includes the remains of a sacred area previously occupied by two temples, one of which was converted into the church of S. Omobono, in 1575. The samples, dated between the 7th and the 6th century BC, belong to different sectors of the site. Their petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical characterization was performed by optical microscopy (OM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), and Raman spectroscopy (RS). The compositional data obtained were also subjected to the principal component analysis (PCA) in order to highlight similarities and differences among the samples. By combining geochemical and petrographic data, we were able to identify several different fabrics. Furthermore, the study provided valuable information on the firing temperatures of some samples and the provenance of the raw materials, by analyzing the chemical composition of clinopyroxenes present as non-plastic inclusions.

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“…twin temples, and a medieval church rebuilt in the 15th century B.C.E. and still in use today (Brock & Terrenato, ; Diffendale, Brocato, Terrenato, & Brock, ; Terrenato et al, ). Below the 1930s brickwork sheathing the church and the travertine blocks that compose parts of the Roman temple superstructure, the bulk of the architectural stone is tuff.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining geochemistry and petrography to provenance Lionato and Lapis Albanus tuffs used in Roman temples at Sant’Omobono, Rome, Italy

et al. 2018

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Tufo Lionato is a volcanic tuff that was used extensively for construction in Rome, Italy, during antiquity and after; at least three varieties can be identified: Anio, Monteverde, and Portuense. The widespread introduction of Tufo Lionato in Roman construction is generally dated to the mid‐second century before the common era (B.C.E.). Another tuff, Lapis Albanus, is held to have been introduced during the third century B.C.E. Due to their similar macroscopic appearance, it is impossible to reliably distinguish visually among varieties of Tufo Lionato, or between Lapis Albanus and other “peperino” tuffs, nor does geochemistry alone always allow definitive identifications. A combination of geochemical and petrographical analyses is presented here, to provenance building stone from the Roman temples of Fortuna and Mater Matuta at Sant’Omobono in Rome. The combination of techniques allows for secure identification of Anio tuff and Lapis Albanus, and their use in structures of the fourth–third and fifth–third centuries B.C.E., respectively, one to two centuries earlier than previously demonstrated. These findings show a diversification of tuffs used by the Roman construction industry earlier than henceforth acknowledged, and suggest the ability of archaeometric techniques to bring new perspectives even to such familiar archaeological contexts as the city of Rome.

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The S. Omobono Sanctuary in Rome: Assessing eighty years of fieldwork and exploring perspectives for the future

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Geochemical identification criteria for “peperino” stones employed in ancient Roman buildings: A Lapis Gabinus case study

Geochemical identification criteria for “peperino” stones employed in ancient Roman buildings: A Lapis Gabinus case study

Archaeometric Approach for Studying Architectural Earthenwares from the Archaeological Site of S. Omobono (Rome-Italy)

Combining geochemistry and petrography to provenance Lionato and Lapis Albanus tuffs used in Roman temples at Sant’Omobono, Rome, Italy

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