Architectural stratigraphy

Introduction

Archaeology of architecture, also known as mural archaeology, architectural archeology or archaeological architecture, is a branch of archeology that is dedicated to the study of architectural materials.[1].

Origins

This discipline arises in Italy. The term was coined by Tiziano Mannoni" in 1990, and since then there have been international conferences and meetings aimed at grouping experiences in research in which the archaeological method has been applied to the study of buildings.

There are two fundamental elements that have favored the development of this discipline:

• - The great implication that archeology has in the tasks of restoring historical heritage.

• - The recent application of the use of stratigraphy to the study of buildings, especially within medieval archaeology.

Italy is where there are more consolidated critical studies. In Spain, Italian influence has made possible the so-called "stratigraphic literacy."

Schools

On the one hand there are a series of scholars who define the archeology of architecture as a new way of approaching the architectural record from post-processualist perspectives. It would be one of the many “archaeologies” that have been coined in the last two decades as a result of the fragmentation that characterizes postmodern idealist positions in archaeology. From this perspective, a whole series of interpretations of the architectural phenomenon can be grouped from contextual, structuralist, social, etc. positions. that pursues the interpretation of architecture both in symbolic and spatial terms.

Among the main themes that have been addressed so far, we must highlight the study of domestic architecture or the spatial dimension of the architectural phenomenon at various scales, delving into the symbolic dimensions and meanings of space.

A second approach, however, is more directly related to the expansion of the disciplinary scope of postclassical archeology in the last thirty years, in such a way that an archeology of architecture has been defined insofar as, having its own instrumental and conceptual baggage, it has generated a whole series of perspectives and models of social analysis of architecture that until now had not been systematically addressed by an archeology excessively indebted to stylistic-artistic positions.

Architectural stratigraphy

Introduction

Origins

There are two fundamental elements that have favored the development of this discipline:

• - The great implication that archeology has in the tasks of restoring historical heritage.

• - The recent application of the use of stratigraphy to the study of buildings, especially within medieval archaeology.

Italy is where there are more consolidated critical studies. In Spain, Italian influence has made possible the so-called "stratigraphic literacy."

Schools

scientific method

Systematization

Fundamentally, an attempt is made to establish a relative chronology, and once progress is made in this science, a direct fossil can be determined. As almost all buildings are multi-stratigraphed, stratigraphy can always be applied: sometimes we will obtain information about the reforms it underwent in successive periods; while in other cases we can understand the contributions that the different cultures that used it introduced to it.

Basic stratigraphic methods

• - Superposition, succession and continuity: the elements of a building are like strata; They overlap, are attached, creating chronological sessions.

• - Original horizontality and lateral continuity: the elements extend in a limited way (some elements intersect with others).

• - Typological identity: elements of similar materials and styles are contemporary.

• - Independence of actions and activities.

• - Actualism and uniformity.

• - Archaeology of Architecture Magazine, University of the Basque Country - CSIC.

• - Azkarate Garai-Olaun, A. (2001): «Analysis of the historical-constructive evolution of the cathedral of Santa María de Vitoria-Gasteiz (Application of the Archeology of Architecture to a complex model)», V Congress of Spanish Medieval Archeology, Valladolid, 1999, Junta de Castilla y León, pp. 177-211.

• - Azkarate Garai-Olaun, A. (2002): «Cognitive interests and social praxis in Archeology of Architecture», I International Seminar on Archeology of Architecture, "Archaeology of Architecture", I, pp. 55-72.

• - Azkarate, A., Caballero, L., Quirós,J.A., (2002): «Archaeology of Architecture: disciplinary definition and new perspectives», I International Seminar on Archeology of Architecture, "Archaeology of Architecture", I, pp. 7-10.

• - Bianchi, G., 1996: «Transmissione dei saperi tecnici e analisi deiprocedimenti costruttivi», Archeologia dell’architettura 1, pp. 53-64.

• - Blanco Rotea, Rebeca 1999: Methodology for the stratigraphic analysis of the Built Heritage and its application in San Fiz de Solivio (Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña), Santiago.

• - Brogiolo, G. P., 1988: Archeologia dell’edilizia storica, Como.

• - Brogiolo, G. P., 1996: «Prospettive per l’archeologia dell’architettura», Archeologia dell’Architettura 1, pp. 11-15.

• - Caballero Zoreda, L., 1996: «The stratigraphic analysis of historical constructions», in Caballero Zoreda, L., Escribano Velsaco, C. (eds.), 1996: Archaeology of Architecture. The archaeological method applied to the process of study and intervention in historical buildings, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid, pp. 55-74.

• - Caballero Zoreda, L., 1997: «About some experiences of archaeological reading of buildings», “Quaderns Científics i Técnics” 9, pp. 307-324.

• - Caballero Zoreda, L., Escribano Velsaco, C. (eds.), 1996: «Archaeology of Architecture. The archaeological method applied to the process of study and intervention in historical buildings”, Junta de Castilla y León, Valladolid.

• - Caballero Zoreda, L., Fernández Mier, M., 1997: «Archaeological analysis of historical constructions in Spain. State of the question", Archeologia dell'architettura 2, pp. 147-158.

• - Caballero Zoreda, L., Latorre, P., 1995: «Read the constructed document», Construction Reports 435, pp. 3-100.

• - Corsi, R., Menuncci, A., 1991: "The mensiochronological theory", in Boldrini E., Parenti R. (eds.): Santa Maria della Scala, Archeologia e edilizia sulla piazza dello Spedale, Florence, pp. 161-171.

• - Mannoni, T., 1976: «L'analisi delle tecniche murarie medievali in Liguria», Atti del colloquio internazionale di Archeologia Medievale, Palermo, pp. 3-12.

• - Mannoni, T., 1984: «Analisi di intonaci e malte genovesi. Formule, materiali e cause di degradation”, in Facciate dipinte. Conservation and restoration, Genoa, pp. 141-149, 195-197.

• - Mannoni, T., 1994: «Caratteri costruttivi dell'edilizia storica». Venticinque anni di Archeologia globale 3, Genoa.

• - Mannoni, T., 1996-1997: «Lo stato dell’archeologia del costruito in Italia», Notiziario di Archeologia Medievale 66, pp. 25-27; 67, pp. 7-11; 68, pp. 10-11.

• - Mannoni, T., 1997: «Il problema complesso delle murature storiche in pietra 1. Cultura materiale e chronotipologia», Archeologia dell’Architettura 2, pp. 15-24.

• - Mannoni, T., 1998: «Analisi archeologiche degli edifici con strutture portanti non visibili», Archeologia dell’architettura 3, pp. 81-85.

• - Mannoni, T., Poleggi, E., 1974: «Fonti scripte e tecniche murarie del castello di Genova», Archeologia Medievale I, pp. 171-194.

• - Mileto C., 1999: «Some reflections on Murario Stratigraphic Analysis», Loggia. Architecture & Restoration, 9, pp. 80-93.

• - Quirós Castillo, J. A., 1994: «Contribution to the study of the archeology of architecture», “Archaeology and medieval territory” 1, Jaén, pp. 141-158.

• - Tabales Rodríguez, M. Á., 1998: Archaeology in historical buildings of Seville. A proposal for intervention, Department of Prehistory and Archeology, Faculty of Geography and History, University of Seville, Seville, 2 vols.

• - Articles in Biblioarchaeology.

• - Archeology of Architecture Magazine.