The deterioration of Circular Mausoleum, Roman Necropolis of Carmona, Spain.
The Circular Mausoleum tomb in the Roman Necropolis of Carmona was carved on a calcarenite sequence in an ancient quarry located in the town of Carmona, Southern Spain. This rock-cut tomb, representative of Roman burial practices, currently suffers from serious deterioration. A detailed survey over several years permitted the identification of the main tomb's pathologies and damaging processes, which include loss of material (scaling, flaking, granular disintegration), surface modifications (efflorescences, crusts and deposits) and extensive biological colonization. The results obtained in this study indicated that anthropogenic changes were largely responsible and enhanced the main alteration mechanisms observed in the Circular Mausoleum. Based on the deterioration diagnosis, effective corrective actions were proposed. This study shows that any conservative intervention in the interior of the tomb should be preceded by accurate in situ measurements and laboratory analyses to ascribe the source of the deterioration damages and thus designing effective treatments.
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
Juan C
JC
Cañaveras
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN-CSIC, Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; Geomnia Natural Resources SLNE, 28003 Madrid, Spain.
Angel
A
Fernandez-Cortes
Departamento de Paleontologia, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Javier
J
Elez
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN-CSIC, Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain; Geomnia Natural Resources SLNE, 28003 Madrid, Spain.
Soledad
S
Cuezva
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Avenida Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
Valme
V
Jurado
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Avenida Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
Ana Zelia
AZ
Miller
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Avenida Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, Spain.
Miguel A
MA
Rogerio-Candelera
Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alicante, 03080 Alicante, Spain.
David
D
Benavente
Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain.
Mariona
M
Hernandez-Marine
Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiologia, IRNAS-CSIC, Avenida Reina Mercedes 10, 41012 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: saiz@irnase.csic.es.
Cesareo
C
Saiz-Jimenez
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN-CSIC, Jose Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain.
Sergio
S
Sanchez-Moral
Anthropogenic changes; Biological colonization; Conservation intervention; Deterioration; Efflorescences; Roman tombs