An unprecedented finding in the San Felice Canal, located in the northern Venetian Lagoon, has unveiled the presence of a material used as an additive in Roman calcestruzzo: pulvis puteolana, a volcanic ash from the Phlegraean Fields near Naples.
This discovery, documented by an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Padua, the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, was published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE. The research sheds light on advanced Roman construction techniques and the commercial dynamics of the Mediterranean.
The subject of study is a 1st-century CE Roman hydraulic structure, considered a precursor to the “Venetian wells,” designed to capture and store fresh water. The Venetian-style well is a hydraulic structure used since Roman times in the Upper Adriatic territories for the collection and storage of fresh water, which we have been able to document and study underwater, thanks also to innovative photogrammetric technologies, add Carlo Beltrame and Elisa Costa, a professor and a researcher from the Department of Humanities at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and authors of the underwater studies conducted under a permit from the Ministry of Culture, with the oversight of the Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio of the Municipality of Venice and the Lagoon.
Today, this structure remains submerged more than three meters deep in the lagoon. Through advanced analysis of mortar samples extracted from the structure, researchers identified traces of the famous volcanic ash from Pozzuoli, praised by Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder for its exceptional properties.
The pulvis puteolana, known in the Roman world as a revolutionary material, enabled lime and aggregate mixtures to solidify in anaerobic conditions, even underwater. This ingredient gave Roman calcestruzzo exceptional durability against atmospheric agents and the harsh conditions of the underwater environment. This material, a precursor to modern cement, was discovered millennia before Portland cement and was key to the construction of ports and other maritime infrastructure in antiquity.
The multidisciplinary team used advanced chemical and geological analysis techniques to trace the origin of the pulvis puteolana. Using tools such as laser ablation coupled with mass spectrometry, they identified the unique composition of the mortar’s microscopic components. By comparing this data with a database of over 1,000 geological samples, scientists confirmed the material’s volcanic and Campanian origin.
Additionally, innovative photogrammetric technologies and 3D modeling were employed to document the submerged structure, allowing for the digital preservation of this archaeological evidence and the study of its relationship with the lagoon environment.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the study is the demonstration that the Venetian Lagoon, far from being an isolated periphery in the Roman world, functioned as a key node in a complex pan-Mediterranean trade network. This discovery reveals previously unknown routes of cultural and economic exchange, evidencing the flow of materials and technical knowledge between distant regions.
The research highlights, with increasing attention and established awareness, the absolute centrality and indispensable necessity of the exact sciences in rigorously understanding and reconstructing the complex economic, commercial, and social dynamics of the ancient world, conclude Jacopo Bonetto and Gilberto Artioli, professors from the Departments of Cultural Heritage and Geosciences at the University of Padua.
While emphasizing the close connection between northern Italy and the most advanced Roman engineering knowledge, the study ultimately underscores the great originality with which the ancestors of the Venetians adapted high-level Vitruvian construction techniques to the environmental and architectural needs of the lagoon, in its delicate balance between water and land.
SOURCES
Università degli Studi di Padova
Dilaria S, Ricci G, Secco M, Beltrame C, Costa E, Giovanardi T, et al. (2024) Vitruvian binders in Venice: First evidence of Phlegraean pozzolans in an underwater Roman construction in the Venice Lagoon. PLoS ONE 19(11): e0313917. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0313917
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