Progetto ARS. Archeometria e Remote Sensing per la diagnostica delle Sculture Italiche dall’Abruzzo: risultati preliminari

The phenomenon of the funerary sculptures is certainly the most remarkable expression of the archaic culture in the mid Adriatic context and it includes several funerary sculptures made of local limestone, dating between the 6th and the 5th centuries BC.2. However, it must be clear that the use of monumental tombstones in form of simple baetyli, that is rough menhir used as semata (markers) of the most monumental tombs, is already attested in the cemetery of Scurcola Marsicana since the 7th century BC3. These funerary sculptures seem to be typical of the ‘Mid-Adriatic’ area, intending with this term the area of the modern regions known as Abruzzo, southern Marche and Molise, which were part of the ‘paleo-Sabellian’ cultural koine between the 6th and the 5th centuries BC. They were representing important local figures or chiefs, attesting a socially differentiated society of Archaic Abruzzo (Fig. 1); and they were not used only for a phenomenon of ‘heroization’, which is widely attested in Archaic Mediterranean contexts, especially in association with tumuli, but also for remarking role and status of the dead person. Another interesting and important element for these sculptures is the presence of inscriptions, which are among the most representative linguistic samples of this cultural context.. in order to get more information about these important examples of Italic finds, a large team has been involved in the project ARS26, with the aim of a wider approach and a multi- as well as inter-disciplinary view. Data and results are constantly shared among the numerous scholars and specialists involved, as also protocols, results and typologies of analysis are widely discussed in advance within the team for a truly shared approach. The methodologies and technologies involved are quite numerous. The HD photography is a starting point for the photographic and photogrammetric documentation of the sculptures, for the stereoscopic and 3D modeling, as well as for the digital imaging and photo-interpretation. Every step is obviously aiming the analysis, the documentation and the dissemination of the results, not only for scientific purposes, but finalized to a possible fruition of the data also by the ‘wider public’. The remote sensing is based on different methodologies, from a basic photo-interpretation, to the use of filters based on different colors, as well as of UV fluorescence photography and spectroscopy, and of B/N and false color Infrared range, using, in this way, both visible and invisible spectrum. Concerning the study of the litho-types, for obvious reasons, a non-invasive approach has been chosen, avoiding therefore thin sections and destructive SEM analysis for the moment; therefore the petrographic analysis are made through a digital microscope and the results are then combined also with other techniques as the use of ultrasounds, reflectance, portable diffractometry and fluorescence. The macro- and micro-mapping of the tool marks are based on both on a direct analysis, on the use of the digital microscope, as well as on the analysis of the complete set of images, overlapping them and drawing the different typologies of marks, in order to understand the main tools which have been used, but also the way and the intensity of their use. This mapping is also giving interesting results for recognizing modern interventions (as old restorations or false marks and integrations). Thanks to the collaboration with restorers, also an analysis of the main restorations is in progress, because these sculptures are mainly coming from finds dating to the beginning of last century, when they were polished and restored before the exhibition in the museums, but without any report of which kind of work was done for each of them. Moreover, the use of the infra-red thermo-camera and the analysis of the data of the reflectance from the laser-scanner27, can give interesting data about the substratum ofthe colors, the conditions of the sculptures, as well as the changes of the consistence of the substratum, which is often indication of later restorations of false elements.