Material condition and deterioration assessment program for a 3rd century roman temple

Antioch ad Cragum is an ancient Roman city on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Erdogmus and a team of archaeologists have been studying the collapsed, ruinous temple of the city since 2005 with the ultimate goal of reconstructing it partially as a historic site. The Temple of Antioch is designated as a Corinthian order, pro-style, platform temple based on the blocks found and studied. The super structure is dry stack masonry, while the foundation is mortared rubble masonry. Samples from mortar in the foundation walls and base were collected for laboratory analysis and findings on this were published previously. During the fieldwork season of 2011, with the consultations of Freedland, detailed assessments on the condition and deterioration of the temple's marble blocks were started. Following were among the detected deterioration causes: lichen (white, black, and orange species), algae, moss, alveolization, white residue, minor surface cracks, and major structural cracks. Furthermore, a novel, nondestructive, quantitative block assessment tool is being developed. The paper presents: methods used to identify the types and extent of damage on the marble blocks; the development of a damage identification booklet, block assessment forms, and block database specific to the project; and some experiments conducted to assess the materials and the deterioration mechanism. The project's conservation efforts are still in its early stages, therefore, future plans are also presented.