Teoderico fuori Ravenna: il contributo dell’archeometria nella caratterizzazione dei materiali decorativi provenienti dall’area archeologica della villa di Teoderico a Galeata

Villa di Teoderico in Galeata (FC) is a multi-layered site due to 17 centuries of occupation, from 6th century BC to 11th/12th century AD. The most interesting results of the archaeometric investigations concern the Roman age, when a large villa were built, and the late antiquity, when the Ostrogothic king Theoderic decided to build in this area his palatium (early sixth century AD), a pavilions villa with long corridors and wide open spaces. A big octagonal room and neighbouring areas, paved with mosaics, belonged to the most prestigious pavilion of the Villa, were recently investigated. In particular, the polygonal room was covered by a dome and decorated inside with wall mosaics, as proved by the discovery of a large number of glass mosaic tesserae in the collapse layers. The investigation was performed on Roman wall paintings fragments and on several glass mosaic tesserae and glass sectilia fragments belonging to Palazzo di Teoderico by using a multi-technique approach that included micro-Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), UV-visible-NIR diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry with optic fibres (FORS) and optical stereo-microscopy. This analytical approach allo wed the identification of all components, collecting molecular, elemental, microscopic, morphological and chromatic data. The characterization of samples supplied archaeological, historical and technological information. The production techniques and the rich materials employed suggests the importance of the site in different periods.