THE CHNET RESEARCHERS AT WORK FOR DISCOVERING THE MISTERY OF POLYCHROMY OF MORGANTINA ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS

The “Morgantina a Colori” diagnostic campaign was recently concluded. The project, selected for the call of the Italian node of E-RIHS (European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science), is part of a wider project carried on by Serena Raffiotta, independent researcher studying Morgantina, with the collaboration of “Polo Regionale di Piazza Armerina, Aidone ed Enna per i siti culturali. Parchi archeologici della Villa del Casale e di Morgantina” and of the Centro Regionale Progettazione e Restauro del Dipartimento Regionale Beni Culturali e Identità Siciliana.
The campaign, supported by MIUR, was carried out by the two CHNet units of Catania. The goal was the characterization, from an elemental and compositional points of view, of the coloured painted surfaces of some important finds saved in Museo Archeologico di Aidone (EN) and coming from the Morgantina site.
The finds involved in the analysis were the female goddess stone statue, an anthemion and the half-bodies representing Persefone in polychrome terracotta. The finds, dated from VI to III centuries BC, are an important evidence of colour utilization in the antique sculpture and coroplastic.
The CHNet researchers acquired data using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy, contributing to the identification of the colour palette with which the finds were painted.