Interdisciplinary action

The aim of this project is to carry out geophysical surveys (electrical resistivity, magnetism and ground radar) in the archaeological complex of the Porta Marina Forum in order to detect the presence of earlier structures that could document the early phases of occupation of the coastal sector of the city of Ostia outside the Late-Republican enclosure.

It is part of a wider project of geophysical prospecting and study of the maritime quarter of the city of Ostia, carried out by CCJ and CEREGE, which began in 2018 and is currently underway.

Partner(s):

• Laboratoire Géosciences Paris Sud (GEOPS - Paris)

Part of the archaeological operations conducted by the Centre Camille Jullian since 2019 on the submerged littoral remains of the Olbia-de-Provence site located at the western root of the double tombolo of Giens (Hyères, France), this interdisciplinary project is being carried out jointly with geomorphologists and sedimentologists from CEREGE.

It consists of a campaign to sample and analyze sedimentary cores from one of the landscape features that adjoins one of the structures (ensemble 1) of the submerged littoral remains of the Olbia colony, midway along its length to the west. This is an "indurated barrier beach", uncovered in the late 2000s, lying between -3 m and -0.20 m depth.

The FCGM project, funded by the Institut d'archéologie méditerranéenne in 2020, has enabled us to establish fruitful collaborations and a large corpus on the scale of Gaul, Spain and Italy concerning the quarries of origin of granite shafts used in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. While the Narbonnaise region accounts for 100% of casks imported from the shores of the Mediterranean (Egypt, Turkey, western Mediterranean islands), this is no longer the case as we move further north or west: other (probably) local sources have been identified in Betica, Lyon, Javols, Trier, Aachen and probably Prague. The aim is to better characterize these sources and to reflect, in the light of historical documents, on the circumstances and motivations that led to the choice of local or imported sources, particularly in the Middle Ages, when most of the columns in the northern corpus were implemented.

We propose to characterize and differentiate in a semi-quantitative (statistical) way the ancient building materials of the Orange theater or part of it, according to their facies (lithology, granulometry, structure, fossils...), their quality (induration, anisotropy...) and their age, by studying them on site and in identified or presumed extraction sites in the vicinity. Sampling will be carried out in the field. It will complement the existing collection of rocks and thin sections used for the study. We will also seek to refine the stratigraphic provenance and outcrop availability of building stones, and thereby better understand the choice of regional materials and their use in the theater.

Partner(s):

• Interdisciplinary Center for Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CICRP - Marseille)

This project focuses on the mechanical and acoustic characterization of archaeo-paleontological bone samples. There is an extensive literature on the identification of the physical properties of different elements and portions of recent human or animal bones. The aim of the project is to adapt and test new ultrasonic methods to modern and fossil bone samples, and to propose a protocol for measuring physical properties such as moduli of elasticity, micro-hardness or density.

Partner(s):

• Laboratoire Cultures et environnements : Prehistory, Antiquity, Middle Ages (CEPAM - Nice)
• Dracénie Provence Verdon agglomération - Archaeology and Heritage Unit (Draguignan)

The aim of the project is to carry out an integrated study (micropalaeontology, facies analysis, diagenesis, geochemistry) of the limestones of protohistoric sculptures from the Roquepertuse and La Cloche oppidums (Musée d'Histoire de Marseille). Samples will be taken from the works themselves, as well as from similar outcropping limestones, for microscopic thin sections and isotopic measurements (carbon and oxygen). Petrographic analysis of the thin sections and fieldwork will be carried out as part of an M1 STPE research internship. The aim is 1) to identify extraction sites and material supply circuits, 2) to understand the criteria that led to the choice of materials and 3) to identify robust limestone characterization criteria to help in the reconstruction of sculptures and the search for substitute materials.

Partner(s):

• Musée d'histoire de Marseille
• Interdisciplinary Center for Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CICRP - Marseille)
• Musée Granet (Aix-en-Provence)
• PACA Regional Archaeology Service
• Center des monuments nationaux

Metal seals are characteristic elements of public architecture in ancient Greece. The aim of this project is to set up a research teams bringing together archaeologists, architects and metal scientists to develop a methodology for analyzing these artifacts still in place at archaeological sites, particularly Delphi and Delos.

The ultimate aim, as part of a wider project, will be to provide information on the composition, strength and origin of the metal used in these staples, in relation to the archaeological data available for the buildings studied. This research will help complete a chrono-typological inventory of sealings in the architecture of these two sites.

Partner(s):

• Musée du Louvre (Paris)
• École nationale supérieure d'architecture de Strasbourg (France)

This project will consist of an analysis mission at the Rennes library. The aim will be to begin characterizing a richly illuminated manuscript from the late 15th century, based on paleographic, codicological and physico-chemical studies. This work would thus enrich the corpus we have studied to date.

Our Research is based on a global approach to the manuscript, which is studied as a historical witness, a textual support and a material object. In this way, we aim to shed new light on the organization of Parisian illuminators' workshops in the second half of the 15th century. Such an approach requires close interdisciplinary collaboration between the humanities and materials sciences, i.e. between medievalists and chemists.

Partner(s):

• Interdisciplinary Center for Heritage Conservation and Restoration (CICRP - Marseille)
• Laboratory of Molecular and Structural Archaeology (LAMS - Paris)
• Néel Institute (Grenoble)

The project aims to bring together a team of historians, archaeologists, palynologists and chemists to work on traditional beekeeping in the Mediterranean over the long term, and mainly in the ancient and medieval periods. By combining field, archival and laboratory research on the practice of beekeeping in terracotta hives, the aim is to be able to set up protocols that will enable us to work on the environment in which this beekeeping was practiced.

Partner(s):

• Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (IREMAM - Aix-en-Provence)

The project is a continuation of previous inventory campaigns, and a necessary complement to the creation of as complete a catalog as possible of granite column shafts of ancient origin, and a map of their distribution within and beyond the Roman Empire. The combination of analysis of the geological origin of individual shafts or shaft fragments and archaeological contextualization will enable a better appreciation of secondary post-Antique movements and strategies for their re-use in the medieval and modern periods. Sicily and Calabria are particularly rich in granite shafts, with the particularity of the presence of a local quarry at Nicotera, whose visit is one of the objectives of the mission. The richness and originality of the medieval history of this area, where the vast majority of shafts are reused and transported from medieval times, allows us to address the question of the flow of prestigious materials at this time, in a major hub of Mediterranean maritime routes, in particular around the Strait of Messina.

Partner(s):

• Università di Catania (Italy)
• Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Pisa, Italy)
• Istituto nazionale di geofisica e vulcanologia (Rome, Italy)
• Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza" (Italy)
• Università degli studi di Palermo (Italy)
• Accademia di Belle Arti di Catanzaro (Italy)