Applicazione dei metodi multidisciplinari per l'indagine sulle antiche attività minerarie in Albania

Responsabili di progetto

Lorenza Manfredi, Ilirjan Gjipali

Accordo

ALBANIA - MoES - Ministry of Education and Sport of the Republic of Albania

Bando

CNR/MOES biennio 2018-2019 2018-2019

Dipartimento

Scienze umane e sociali, patrimonio culturale

Area tematica

Scienze umane e sociali, patrimonio culturale

Stato del progetto

Nuovo

Proposta di ricerca

The scarcity of studies on the exploitation of mines and implemented processing technologies, let the research considers pre-roman mines of Albania of a great interest. Indeed, what is well known through the geological exploitation carried out in the course of history is the presence of outstanding mineral resources in the country and which plays a key role in the economical development of the region. Therefore, the possibility of an integrated study that follows the ore from its extraction areas (taking into consideration the relative changes in the paleo-environment and the characterization of anthropogenic frequency) until the obtention of the final product, would be significant in order to trace the resources for a better comprehension of the past economic activities, and to reconstruct a complete production cycle referred to that period. Today, technical and analytical scientific tools such as GIS, remote sensing, drones, laser scanner, geomorphological mapping, geophysical surveys, archaeometallurgy, archaeometric analysis and archaeological investigations, makes it possible to reconstruct the historical economic landscape of Albania.
Extensive sampling of minerals, slags, semifinished products and handmade objects will be connected to data from satellite-images interpretation, archaeological surveys, geophisical and mine-petrographic analysis. in addition, archaeometric analysis will be made on every archaeological finds according to their single nature; after that, archaeological studies will be lead on the identified ancient settlements. The program also requires archaeometric studies on metallic finds and slags connected to Albanian mining history (even if they are already kept in museums) in order to understand and track the provenience of the metal they are made of.

Different steps will be taken to accomplish the complete historical reconstruction:
- Landscape studies through ancient tracks connected to mining activities in prehistory and ancient times;
- Use of contemporary technologies for the creation of a new database, in order to detect and control mining activities;
- Information sharing about human activities in ancient economy through new and updated sources;
- Complete SIG creation for data cataloguing;
- Re-elaborated version of all data in order to understand and finally track the whole historical metal production cycle in Albania, to understand minin exploitation and production systems. in addition, it will be useful to identify distribution channels and commercial routes for metal products from Albanian mines;
- Analysis of scientific and economic proposals for restoration and improvement of metal waste, in order to give new opportunities to increase the value of national cultural and environmental heritage;

One of the crucial aim of this project will be the possibility to transfer knowledge and technologies, and collaboration among teams of different nationality is seen as a great benefit. Technological methods will follow different chronological steps:
- Individuation of mining areas and samplings of important finds;
- Typological study of material evidences;
- Archaeometric analysis ( XRF, SEM-EDS, XRD) on minerals, slags, semifinished products, ceramic remains and pottery ( OM, S$M+ EDS, XRD) found during archeological surveys and comparison with objects already displayed and stored in Albanian museums;. If ceramics for melting (i.e. furnace remains, kilns, tuyeres, crucibles, and so on...) is found, it will be possible to conduct analysis on vitrification layers of ceramics under high temperatures in order to detect times and systems of pyro-metallurgical technic procedures.

At the end, great space will be given to data diffusion and results dissemination:
- Comparison of final results about Albanian metallurgy and mining history with similar studies in the Balkan area, in Italy and in other Mediterranean areas;
- Development of training courses about technologies for cultural and environmental heritage improvement in Albania and Italy, dedicated in particular to students and young people;
- Organization of two bilateral seminars to be held at the end of the project (probably in 2020), to finally show results of the joint research to scientific community and local dwellers;
- Bi-lingual publication of the final project report.

Obiettivi della ricerca

The project aims to create a wide-ranging framework that can describe the complete metal production on the eastern side of Adriatic sea: i.e. the historical and technical extraction methods, the pyrometallurgical processing of metals, the resource management and trade on the local, regional and Mediterranean level, the activities and manufactures, workshops, production processes technology, and the know-how of the artisans. This framework will be part of a bigger study of ancient mines on a general European and Mediterranean level. Using new kind of technological analyses and approaches will also help to transfer knowledge and techniques to one team to another, in order to build strong scientific and cultural relations between Italian and Albanian scholars and students. In addition, it will be very important to build a system of studying and analyses that can be used also in other ancient mine areas in Europe.
On the other hand, the restitution of the results coming out from this research, such as data organization and information dissemination will also be provided using up to date technologies, as well as a detailed database and 3D modeling for a better representation of the reality and making efficient instruments for data analysis and information sharing. Dissemination will be addressed not only to scholars and experts, but also to local people who dwell in involved areas, in order to involve them in cultural heritage development.

Ultimo aggiornamento: 03/12/2024