Ambiguous evidence: earthquakes and ancient building techniques in an alpine example (4th-7th centuries)

Abstract

Building techniques from the Roman Age using earth, stone and wood are frequently found in North Italy in town centres and in high-class residential buildings, as in smaller centres or n~ravl illages. In Italy, a study of building techniques has begun only very recently and little is known about the response of these techniques to seismic events. This paper deals with a fortified alpine settlement, located in a highly seismic area, whose buildings were constructed with the Roman techniques and may in two subsequent stages have been destroyed by earthquakes. The archaeological evidence is, however, ambiguous: we have no knowledge of the state of repair of the buildings at the time of collapse, and the stratigraphy has been upset by subsequent reworking for the purpose of recovering the building materials.