Thesis title: A Proposed Reproduction of the Chaîne Opératoire of Imperial Roman Stone Tesserae Manufacturing
This research aims at demonstrating the efficacy of a mixed-methodological approach to study the production technique of ancient Roman tesserae in marble. The mixed-methodological approach is based in photogrammetry, experimental archaeology (material culture analysis and reconstruction, chaîne opératoire), modern anthropological studies of traditional craftsmen, and historical, artistic, and literary research. The way that marble was processed into relatively uniform prismatic tiles is not discussed explicitly in existing primary sources, and to date no systematic research has taken place regarding this topic as a means of confirming or denying the techniques of traditional craftsmen who have adopted various techniques as being “authentic.”