Enriching the knowledge of Ostia Antica painted fragments: a multi-methodological approach

This paper presents the study of selected painted fragments from different contexts of Ostia Antica city,dating between 2nd century BCE and the end of the 1st century CE. The aim is to identify the raw materialsused and to understand the execution techniques through a non-invasive protocol including techniquesbased either on multiband imaging (Visible-VIS, Ultraviolet induced Luminescence - UVL andVisible Induced Luminescence - VIL) and single spot analyses (Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy-FORS and portable X-Ray Fluorescence spectrometry - XRF). The most representative and interesting fragmentswere sampled for further studies with laboratory techniques such as optical microscopy (OM) andelectron microscopy (SEM), Fourier Transform Infrared and micro-Raman Spectroscopies (FT-IR andlRaman).The extensive use of non-invasive techniques, even working on fragments, is proved to be the mostrobust and effective approach enabling the analysis of a high number of areas, dramatically increasingthe statistical meaning of the collected data. The elaboration of such a huge number of data allows highlightingdifferences and similarities, thus achieving a more realistic overview of the materials compositionand addressing the sampling to the more significant and complex areas.