Constructing Connections: Tracing Cultural Networks Through Ancient Hydraulic Mortar Technology in the Western Mediterranean

01.10.2026 bis 30.09.2027

This project investigates cultural connectivity and technological knowledge in the ancient Mediterranean through the archaeometric study of hydraulic lime mortars. Focusing on the sites of Ampurias and Ullastret, in northeastern Spain, Nora, in Sardinia, and the Balearic Islands, the research aims to assess how construction technologies circulated and were adapted in a highly interconnected landscape, shaped by Greek, Punic, and Roman expansions, and covering the Hellenistic to Roman Imperial periods. The study combines archaeological interpretation with scientific analysis of mortar samples, reconstructing mortar recipes and production technologies with the use of archaeometric methods such as petrography, micro-XRD, and SEM-EDS. These will be integrated with existing archaeological records to identify technological patterns both synchronically and diachronically. By comparing the composition and technological features of hydraulic mortars from these different regions, the project seeks to trace pathways of knowledge transmission and better understand construction technology as a vector of cultural exchanges, shedding light on the still underexplored western Mediterranean.

Keywords: Archaeology; Mediterranean Archaeology; Technological Transfer; Archaeometry; Western Mediterranean; Construction Technology; Archaeological Mortars; Cultural Exchanges; Hydraulic Lime Mortars.