Mortars of the Roman Frontier on the Danube

Abstract

The mortars have been always one of the most interesting topics for the researchers of Roman building constructions. The knowledge on this complex building material used in Roman architecture is mostly based on the research of the monumental structures in the territory of today Italy. However, many mortar examinations were executed by the researchers of provincial Roman archaeology as well, who tried to find evidence of the quality of building activities in the provinces. The territory of today's Serbia, except for the existence of scarce studies, was never in the research focus. Even the monumental bridge over the Danube, built at the beginning of the 2nd century that made Trajan’s conquest of Dacia possible, was not researched thoroughly enough when we speak of its building materials. During the last few years, the interest in the Roman buildings at the Danube territory has grown. Mortar Design for Conservation – Danube Roman Frontier 2000 Years after (MoDeCo2000) project is funded by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia. Its aim is to investigate the mortars used in Roman buildings along the former Danube Limes in Serbia, as well as to offer mortar recipes for building conservation practice.