Provenance study of raw materials used for lime making at Prague Castle during Medieval times

0505884 - ÚTAM 2020 RIV FR eng C - Conference Paper (international conference)
Kozlovcev, Petr - Válek, Jan - Skružná, Olga
Provenance study of raw materials used for lime making at Prague Castle during Medieval times.
5th Historic Mortars Conference. Proceedings of the 5th Historic Mortars Conference. Paris: RILEM Publications, 2019 - (Álvarez, J.; Fernández, J.; Navarro, Í.; Durán, A.; Sirera, R.), s. 424-438. RILEM Proceedings, PRO 130. ISBN 978-2-35158-221-3.
[Historic mortars conference /5./. Pamplona (ES), 19.06.2019-21.06.2019]
R&D Projects: GA MK(CZ) DG16P02H012
Keywords : lime * limestone * Prague Castle
OECD category: Materials engineering
https://www.rilem.net/publication/publication/494

A number of historic mortars sampled from archaeological finds at Prague Castle area were compared in order to study the provenance of raw materials used for lime production in the Middle Ages. These mortar samples contained a considerable amount of lime particles that could have been related to the original raw material. It was possible to identify some of these particles as relicts of several limestone members from the Prague surroundings. Historic mortar samples were processed by several analytical techniques. Polarized light microscopy (PLM) and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) were used to determine petrographic characteristic and mineralogical composition of the present particles. It was possible to analyse these particles in more detail by SEM-EDS and to semi-quantitatively characterise their chemical composition. Based on these results, it was possible to compare collected limestone samples from historic localities and currently active quarries near Prague. The fragments of limestone material in the studied historic mortars originated mostly from the Prague Basin, Palaeozoic geological unit located close Prague agglomeration. This sedimentary basin composed various types of limestone, most of them of an industrial and constructional importance. The most represented limestone particles were possible to classify as Pridoli, Radotin, Slivenec, Dvorce-Prokop and Zlichov limestone. Moreover, the degree of hydraulic properties of historic binders was comparable with the selected limestone members from the Prague Basin (e.g. Dvorce-Prokop or Zlichov limestone).
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0297774