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This study investigates the potential of graphene-based additives to improve the mechanical properties of compacted soil mixtures in rammed-earth construction, contributing to the development of environmentally friendly building materials. Two distinct soils were selected, combined with sand at optimized ratios, and treated with varying concentrations of a graphene liquid solution and a graphene-based paste (0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 wt.% relative to the soil-sand proportion). The effects of these additives were analyzed using the modified Proctor compaction and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, focusing on parameters such as optimum water content (OWC), maximum dry density (MDD), maximum strength (qu), and stiffness modulus (E). The results demonstrated that graphene’s influence on compaction behavior and mechanical performance depends strongly on the soil composition, with minimal variation between additive types. In finer soil mixtures, graphene disrupted particle packing, increased water demand, and reduced strength. In silt–sandy mixtures, graphene’s hydrophobicity and limited interaction with fines decreased water absorption and preserved density but likewise led to diminished strength. Conclusions from the experiments suggest a possible interaction between graphene, soil’s finer fraction, and potentially the swelling and non-swelling clay minerals, providing insights into the complex interplay between soil properties.

The object of study in this paper is four unpublished kilns excavated in 2012 at Montelabate (Perugia, Italy), in the framework of the Montelabate Project. The workshop, in use from the mid-first to the fifth century AD, which produced amphorae, coarseware and tile, offers an interesting model for the study of the economy of production in Regio VI (Umbria). The location of the workshop allows the exploration of wider issues such as connectivity, changes in local and regional markets, and continuity in the exploitation of natural resources: the site had a rich clay deposit and was surrounded by densely forested hills, whilst the flat fertile fields were suitable for agriculture and wine production; connectivity was ensured by the river Ventia, a tributary of the Tiber, and by an internal road that joined the Via Flaminia. The paper discusses the substantial number of failed flat-bottomed wine amphorae of the Spello type, discovered at Montelabate, that revealed a large-scale production with little standardization, as eight different local types were identified. The manufacturing complex provides new evidence for a production system that played an important role on a larger regional scale as well as in the local economic network, which continued until the fifth century AD. Il presente contributo si focalizza sullo studio di un'area produttiva, composta da quattro fornaci rettangolari verticali, scavata per la prima volta nel 2012 a Montelabate (Perugia, Italia). La produzione, che comprendeva sia anfore che ceramica comune e laterizi, rappresenta un importante tassello per lo studio del quadro economico e produttivo della Regio VI (Umbria) tra la metà del I secolo ed il IV–V secolo d.C. La posizione geografica dell'officina permette di analizzare diversi aspetti quali i collegamenti e gli scambi commerciali, i cambiamenti del mercato sia locale che regionale e la continuità dello sfruttamento delle risorse naturali: le fornaci erano costruite accanto ad una cava di argilla ideale per la produzione ceramica, mentre il combustibile era fornito dalle colline coperte di boschi. Infine, lo sfruttamento agricolo con la coltivazione della vite si concentrava nelle aree pianeggianti collegate dal fiume Ventia, affluente del Tevere, mentre il collegamento terrestre era garantito dalla via Flaminia. L'analisi dei numerosi scarti presentati in dettaglio in questo contributo indica una prima fase di produzione che riguardava principalmente anfore vinarie a fondo piatto c.d. tippo di Spello, di cui sono stati individuati otto tipi. L'officina di Montelabate, pur in maniera ridotta, ha continuato a produrre ceramica comune e laterizi fino al IV–V secolo d.C, rappresentando un'importante testimonianza produttiva di epoca tardo-antica sia a livello locale che regionale.

A central debate is the improvement in the mechanical and water resistance of sustainable earthen architecture without additives or stabilizers. This innovative work aims to test the effects of a graphene-based additive, optimized for the improvement in concrete properties, on the strength and water resistance of raw-earth plasters without any stabilizer other than sand. Given the heterogeneous nature of raw earth, three different soils were tested by adding three increasing graphene-based additive contents (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 wt% of the earth–sand proportion). The link between soil intrinsic properties, i.e., geotechnical and mineralogical properties, and their interaction with the additive were investigated through geotechnical characterization, as well as mineralogical characterization, by XRD and ATR-FTIR analyses. The experimental tests carried out focused on the adhesion properties of the twelve different plasters on standard hollow bricks and on their interaction with water through capillary rise tests and erosion resistance tests. Conclusion from the experimental tests suggests that the graphene-based additive in earth plasters, by increasing the cohesion of the mixture, improves their adhesion performance.

The summer of 2022 saw the continuation of a multi-year fieldwork programme initiated in 2021 at the site of Falerii Novi, in the Middle Tiber Valley. A four-week campaign built upon the results of the previous season (Bernard et al., 2022), as well as long-standing exploration of the site by means of non-invasive methodologies (Keay et al., 2000; Verdonck et al., 2020). The ‘Falerii Novi Project’ (FNP) explores the development of this substantial urban site over the longue durée from its Republican origins through Imperial and late antique transformations and the reoccupation in the medieval period. The FNP is driven by socio-economic historical questions and by a desire to evaluate urban changes within their broader regional landscape (Andrews et al., 2023). The campaign from 30 May to 24 June 2022 consisted of stratigraphic excavation in three locations within the intramural area. This work represented a multi-institutional collaboration between the British School at Rome, Harvard University and the University of Toronto, along with researchers from Ghent University and the University of Florence, under the authorization of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per la Provincia di Viterbo e per l'Etruria Meridionale.

Falerii Novi and its territory have long been a subject of archaeological study by the BSR – first through the exploration of the Roman Campagna by Thomas Ashby and, following that, the surveys of John Ward-Perkins as part of the pioneering South Etruria Survey (Frederiksen and Ward-Perkins, 1957). First indications of archaeological layers were reached in all three cases at a depth of ca. 40 cm. Archaeological deposits in the eastern city are thinner and even absent in certain augerings, perhaps resulting from erosion facilitated by the presence of the northeastern town gate.

The recent discovery of a Roman ceramics manufacturing workshop at Montelabate (Perugia, Italy), in use from the first century BC until the late-fourth to fifth centuries AD, offers a unique opportunity to study the technical processes for producing Roman amphorae. Ancient and modern clays were sampled and analysed; they do not differ significantly, supporting the hypothesis of the exploitation of the rich local clay source that allowed a continuity of production. Characterization of the clays was performed using geotechnical methods (Atterberg limits and size distribution) and by thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence analyses. The material was suitable for pottery making with the addition of calcite and quartz sand temper. Production waste and discarded materials as well as good-quality products were also analysed with the same methodology. It is therefore possible to reconstruct the ancient technology by defining the recipe for the production of the amphorae and their firing temperature on the basis of the decomposition of clay materials and the presence of newly formed minerals.

In 2015 a joint research agreement was signed between the British School at Rome, the Ilustre Colegio Oficial de Doctores y Licenciados en Letras y Ciencias de Valencia y Castellón and the Museo de Prehistoria e Historia de la Diputación de Valencia for a three-year investigation of the necropolis outside the northeastern Nolan Gate at Pompeii.

In 2014 a final season of excavation was undertaken at Segni as part of the joint research initiative between the British School at Rome and the Archaeological Museum at Segni. The aim of the project is to explore the urban development of the Latin town of Signia, from its early foundation through to its hypothesized decline in the mid-Imperial period and re-emergence in the late antique and medieval periods.

The Segni Project was established in 2011 with the aim of exploring the urban development of the Latin town of +Italic Signia -Italic , from its early foundation through to its later influence in the medieval period. The first season of excavation in 2012 focused upon the area around the temple of Juno Moneta (San Pietro) and the two previously unexplored sites of Prato Felici (also known as Orto di Cunto) and Piazza Santa Maria (Ceccarelli et al. , 2013; Cifarelli , 2013; Ceccarelli , 2014). The 2013 excavation season focused upon the latter two of these sites.

The frontier between Gubbio (ancient Umbria) and Perugia (ancient Etruria), in the northeast part of the modern region of Umbria, was founded in the late sixth century bc. The frontier endured in different forms, most notably in the late antique and medieval periods, as well as fleetingly in 1944, and is fossilized today in the local government boundaries. Archaeological, documentary and philological evidence are brought together to investigate different scales of time that vary from millennia to single days in the representation of a frontier that captured a watershed of geological origins. The foundation of the frontier appears to have been a product of the active agency of the Etruscans, who projected new settlements across the Tiber in the course of the sixth century bc, protected at the outer limit of their territory by the naturally defended farmstead of Col di Marzo. The immediate environs of the ancient abbey of Montelabate have been studied intensively by targeted, systematic and geophysical survey in conjunction with excavation, work that is still in progress. An overview of the development of the frontier is presented here, employing the data currently available. La frontiera tra Gubbio (antica Umbria) e Perugia (antica Etruria), nella parte nordorientale della moderna Umbria, è stata fondata nel tardo VI secolo a.C. La frontiera resistette in forme diverse, più significativamente nei periodi tardo-antico e medievale, altrettanto fugacemente nel 1944, ed è fossilizzata oggi nei locali confini amministrativi. L'evidenza archeologica, documentaria e filologica sono messe insieme per analizzare differenti scale di periodo che variano da millenni ai singoli giorni nella rappresentazione di una frontiera che catturava uno spartiacque di origini geologiche. La fondazione della frontiera appare essere stata il risultato di una mediazione attiva degli Etruschi, che proiettavano nuovi insediamenti attraverso il Tevere nel corso del VI secolo a.C., protetti verso i limiti più esterni del loro territorio dalla fattoria naturalmente difesa di Col di Marzo. Gli immediati dintorni dell'antica abbazia di Montelabate sono stati studiati intensivamente da una ricognizione mirata, sistematica e geofisica, unitamente ad uno scavo, tuttora in corso. Qui viene presentato uno sguardo sullo sviluppo della frontiera, includendo i dati attualmente disponibili.