Researching Roman Mortars from the Danube Region - Archaeological Perspective of the MoDeCo2000 Project

Abstract

Lime mortar is a building material that has been used since the 8th millennium BC. For thousands of years, people used it to make floors or plaster walls, while it was used as structural mortar from the period of the Roman Republic, after the beginning of the 2nd century BC (Artioli, Secco and Addis 2019: 172-173). The addition of pozzolanic materials enabled the development of Roman cement opus cementicium) and the erection of monumental and durable buildings (Adam 2005: 116-156). The first constructions built with lime mortar on the territory of modern-day Serbia appear in the 1st century AD, after the Roman conquest of these areas and their inclusion into the Roman Empire. Historical sources and fresco depictions testify to the manner of preparation and use of lime mortar during Antiquity. However, these sources mainly refer to the territories of modern-day Italy. The only sources for studying the technology of making lime mortar and the use of raw materials in the territory of Moesia Superior and Pannonia Inferior are the physical remains of the buildings built using this material, as well as the remains of the mortar-making process (e.g., lime slacking pits).