Binding Mixtures and Construction Practices in the Roman World: Towards an Integrated Approach in the Study of Ancient Building Materials

The volume Archeologia e archeometria delle miscele leganti di Aquileia romana e tardoantica (II sec.a.C.-VI sec.d.C.), published by Simone Dilaria (D.) in 2024 for the series Costruire nel mondo antico by Edizioni Quasar, proposes a methodologically innovative approach to the analysis of binding mixtures (i.e., mortars, concretes, cocciopesto, and plasters), restoring their interpretative centrality in understanding the building, economic, and social processes of the city of Aquileia, one of the main urban centers of northern Italy in Roman times.The result of a decade of field research in Aquileia, synthesizing years of studies conducted by the author at the University of Padua, the book provides a diachronic analysis of the most ubiquitous and, at the same time, most neglected building material in the history of ancient architecture: mortar.The research is distinguished by the large breadth of the sample analyzed: over 370 samples (or 430, if individual layers are counted)distributed among masonry structures, floors, and plastercovering a period of over eight centuries, from the 2nd c.BCE to the 6th c.CE, taken from contexts relating to a wide range of structures (public, private, monumental, and functional).The entire methodological approach is based on a multitechnique petrographic, mineralogical, and microchemical analysis, which guarantees a very high level of detail and reliability of data.This impressive amount of data has resulted in a book that stands out for its breadth, methodological depth, and interpretative ambition.The systematic study of binding mixtures, especially when supported by archaeometric analysis, makes it possible to move beyond artificial disciplinary boundaries and to reconstruct the building process as a coherent whole, in which materials, techniques, and labor are deeply interconnected.By focusing on these materialsproduced on site, frequently from local resourcesone gains access not only to construction techniques and material supply, but also to the organization of work, the distribution of skills, and the transmission of knowledge within and across building sites.In this perspective, binding mixtures offer a privileged lens through which to investigate the dynamics of ancient construction, bridging the gap between architecture, decoration, and craft practice, and revealing the underlying unity of what has too often been studied in isolation.The originality of this research is evident on several closely interrelated levels.