CHARACTERIZATION AND PROVENANCE OF BUILDING MATERIALS FROM THE ROMAN PIER AT SAN CATALDO (LECCE, SOUTHERN APULIA, ITALY): A LITHOSTRATIGRAPHICAL AND MICROPALEONTHOLOGICAL APPROACH

Abstract

This study deals with the characterization of building materials used in a monumental
pier of Roman age, located at San Cataldo, the main coastal harbour of the Roman town
of Lupiae, modern Lecce (Southern Italy).
In the manufacture of the outer curtains three different lithologies have been recog-
nized, all comprised in Pietra Leccese Formation, which crops out in a broad geograph-
ical area of Salento Peninsula. Microfossils recovered from limestone blocks are used to
suggest a provenance for the source-rock. Microfossils include planktonic foraminifera
characteristic of the upper Miocene (Tortonian-Messinian) foraminiferal MMi11 (Neoglo-
boquadrina acostaensis Biozone) and MMi13 (Globorotalia miotumida Biozone) biozones. The
analysed lithic materials show biostratigraphical characteristics very similar to some
samples from Acaya-Strudà zone (some 10 km South-West from the ancient harbour):
comparative analysis has been performed, supporting a clear identification of the geolog-
ical origin of limestone blocks. In hydraulic concrete different lithic materials have been
used and mixed with a strong mortar. Macroscopic field observation clearly define that
limestone clasts, variable in size, derive from the Pliocene Uggiano la Chiesa Formation,
that widely crops out locally at San Cataldo; granular fractions of mortar probably derive
from beaches and/or sandy dunes, available in the surrounding area, as well.