THE “SMALL THERMAL BATHS”OF NORA: STATEOF CONSERVATION

AND RESTORATIONON WALLSTRUCTURES

Paola Meloni1,2, Anna Maria Colavitti , Gianfranco Carcangiu , Francesco Secchi , Marta Cappai3 4 5 2,3,

Ombretta Cocco1,2, Georgia Toreno1,2

1 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Chimica e dei Materiali (DIMCM), Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Via

Marengo, 2 - 09123 Cagliari, Italy paola.meloni@dimcm.unica.it, ombretta.cocco@unica.it,

georgia.toreno@gmail.com;

2 Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Laboratorio Colle di Bonaria, Via Ravenna snc - 09125, Cagliari, Italy,

paola.meloni@dimcm.unica.it,marta.cappai@unica.it,ombretta.cocco@unica.it,georgia.toreno@gmail.com;

3 Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale e Architettura (DICAAR) Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Piazza

d’Armi-09123Cagliari,Italy,amcolavt@unica.it,marta.cappai@unica.it;

4 IGAG–CNR - Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, UOS di Cagliari, Piazza d’Armi - 09123 Cagliari,

Italy,gcarcan@unica.it;

5 Dipartimento di Scienze della Natura e del Territorio, Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Piandanna 4, 07100

Sassari,Italy,secchig@uniss.it.

ABSTRACT

The discovery of an archaeological site has always evoked cultural and scientific interests. Unfortunately,

after a period of study, the attention paid to good often tends to decrease, underestimating the interactions

between the material and the new surrounding environment, totally different from that in which the good

were placed before. This variation cause new balances that inevitably create modifications into the materials

making them susceptible to decay. This aspect, together with a planned preventative maintenance, is

generally neglected until an emergency restoration becomes necessary to guarantee good’s survival. The

following papersets outthecase studyoftheso-called “Small Thermal Baths”, athermal structure located in

the Roman archaeological site of Nora, on the southern coast of Sardinia. In this case, the real essence of the

structure is threatened by the intrinsic vulnerability of the building materials and by the action of the agents

of decay. The disaggregation of stones is certainly one of the aspects that make it very difficult to preserve.

Although its location is undoubtedly an added value from the historical, cultural and environmental point of

view, this fact puts the materials in exposure classes particularly severe. The diagnostic tests performed

showed that the restoration works carried out in 2010 have produced satisfactory results. This paper analyzes

thedataobtainedfromthestructure’smonitoringbeforeandaftertherestoration.

Key-words:archaeologicalsite,saltcrystallization, mortars,sandstone,maintenance.