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Radiocarbon Dating of Mortar from the Aqueduct in Skopje

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2019

Andreja Sironić Open the ORCID record for Andreja Sironić [Opens in a new window] ,
Damir Borković ,
Jadranka Barešić Open the ORCID record for Jadranka Barešić [Opens in a new window] ,
Ines Krajcar Bronić Open the ORCID record for Ines Krajcar Bronić [Opens in a new window] ,
Alexander Cherkinsky Open the ORCID record for Alexander Cherkinsky [Opens in a new window] ,
Ljiljana Kitanovska ,
Vjekoslav Štrukil Open the ORCID record for Vjekoslav Štrukil [Opens in a new window]  and
Lidija Robeva Čukovska Open the ORCID record for Lidija Robeva Čukovska [Opens in a new window]
Andreja Sironić*
Affiliation:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c 54, Zagreb, Croatia
Damir Borković
Affiliation:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c 54, Zagreb, Croatia
Jadranka Barešić
Affiliation:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c 54, Zagreb, Croatia
Ines Krajcar Bronić
Affiliation:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c 54, Zagreb, Croatia
Alexander Cherkinsky
Affiliation:
Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
Ljiljana Kitanovska
Affiliation:
National Institution Conservation Centre, Skopje, R Macedonia
Vjekoslav Štrukil
Affiliation:
Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička c 54, Zagreb, Croatia
Lidija Robeva Čukovska
Affiliation:
NI National Conservation Centre – Central Chemical Laboratory, Skopje, R. North Macedonia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

The Aqueduct is one of the city landmarks of Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia. It was part of a water-supply system, with a total original length of about 10 km, while its surface remains are about 385 m long. The age of the Aqueduct is not known—several hypotheses place it to periods between the 6th and 16th centuries. Six mortar samples from different positions of the eastern façade were taken for radiocarbon (14C) dating. In order to extract only the carbon associated to the time of building, three strategies for sample preparation were used: (1) mechanical separation of lime lumps formed during mortar hardening (2) selection on the basis of particle size and the ability to suspend in water induced by ultrasonic shock, and (3) collection of two gas CO2 fractions produced from the same bulk in reaction with acid. Characterization of fractions was performed by isotopic carbon composition and FTIR-ATR analyses. The most plausible results were obtained from lime lump fractions that were dated in the timeframe of 15th to 17th century.

Keywords

AMSAqueduct in Skopjemortarradiocarbon dating
Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 5: Radiocarbon 2018 Conference Proceedings Trondheim, Norway, June 17–22, 2018 Part 1 of 2 , October 2019 , pp. 1239 - 1251
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 23rd International Radiocarbon Conference, Trondheim, Norway, 17–22 June, 2018

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