NATIONAL PHD IN HERITAGE SCIENCE

Thesis title: Materie prime e tecniche costruttive: l’argilla cruda nell’edilizia della Magna Grecia (VII secolo a.C.–I secolo a.C.)

Unfired clay and earth-based materials (mud brick, rammed earth, and clay mortars/plasters) represent a widespread yet often underestimated component of the pre-Roman built environment of southern Italy. This research addresses the lack of systematic studies on structured unfired clay in Magna Graecia by investigating the procurement, production, and use of earthen building materials in Greek colonial and indigenous settlements, and by exploring their technological, economic, and social implications from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. The thesis adopts an integrated archaeological-architectural-archaeometric approach. A comparative corpus of sites is reconstructed through a critical review of published and archival documentation, combined with direct recording of accessible remains and the creation of detailed architectural and technological descriptions. Fieldwork includes systematic photographic documentation, photogrammetric recording, and georeferencing of structures, alongside a targeted sampling strategy for walls and construction materials. Metrological and statistical analyses of mud-brick formats are coupled with micro- and macro-scale material characterisation (including petrographic and microchemical investigations), with two late-archaic public case studies - Rhegion’s fortifications and the sanctuary building on the acropolis of Elea - providing high-resolution insight into production and building practices. Results show that earthen construction in Magna Graecia constitutes a codified and versatile technical repertoire employed across defensive, sacred, civic, domestic, and funerary contexts, fully embedded in a local architectural koiné that is reshaped according to resource availability, energy constraints, and socio-political trajectories. Brick metrology reveals recurrent dimensional ranges and modular patterns consistent with mould-based manufacture and repeatable tolerances, while variability between contexts reflects flexible procurement and (in large public works) the coordinated activity of multiple production units, as suggested for Rhegion. Archaeometric data highlight the selective use of local sediments and mineral tempers to control shrinkage and cracking, with limited intentional organic additives in the Rhegion-Elea samples, and document protective solutions such as stone basements and multi-layered plasters. By reconstructing the chaîne opératoire of earthen architecture, the thesis reframes unfired clay as a key proxy for craft specialisation, knowledge transfer between Greek and local communities, and broader processes of urban development, while underscoring the need for improved documentation and conservation of this highly degradable heritage.