Page 47 - Osor v fokusu znanosti

The Influence of the Marine Environment
on Mortar Degradation in Archaeological
2025
Remains: A Case Study of the Island of Cres

Andreja Sironić and Nives Doneus
November
Invited Lecture

Abstract The Croatian coastline contains a variety of archaeological re-
mains, including traces of past settlements. Physical evidence for the con- 4–5
struction dates of buildings from Roman times onwards can be found in
their stonework mortars, which can be dated using the radiocarbon method. Koper,
However, the application of radiocarbon dating faces various constraints
•
and challenges, including the effects of the Mediterranean climate. Mortar
in these regions is degraded by factors such as mechanical damage from
strong winds, high humidity, exposure to water, and the presence of sea Spotlight
salt. Sea salt crystallises, drawing in more water and damaging the mortar
structure, while also promoting calcite recrystallisation. A two-year Croatian-
Austrian project was conducted to investigate this process in more detail,
focusing on archaeological remains on the island of Cres, primarily in and Scientific
around Osor. The current project results show that the influence of sea salt
on the dating of historical mortars is less significant than expected. Rather,
the use of marine sediments in mortar production has a considerable impact the
on their 14C dating. in

Keywords Osor, historical mortar, radiocarbon dating, influence of sea salt, Osor
marine sediments

© 2025 Author(s) 47