Radiocarbon Dating of Mortars with a Pozzolana Aggregate Using the Cryo2Sonic Protocol to Isolate the Binder
2017
To date, finding a technique able to effectively isolate the carbon signal from the binder of a mortar is
still an open challenge. In this paper, the radiocarbon (14C) dating of one of the most challenging and diffuse types of
mortar, the one with pozzolana aggregate, is investigated. Eight mortar samples from three archaeological sites near
Rome (Italy) underwent a selection process called Cryo2SoniC. The selected fractions were analyzed by the accelerator
mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C technique and compared to known historical references. Additional scanning electron
microscopy analysis and petrographic investigations were done, respectively, to check the grain size of the
fractions selected by Cryo2SoniC, and further, to characterize the original mortar samples. The masses of carbon
yielded from the dated fractions were almost half of those released from some aerial mortars. The 14C dating results
were accurate for pozzolana mortars, from buried and unburied structures, with calcination relics and small contamination
of secondary calcite. A limitation in the purification protocol was observed on samples with a massive contamination
of secondary calcite deposition of ground water origin, occluding porosity and substituting up to the 80% of
the original binder matrix
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