Conoscenza per la sicurezza strutturale e sismica: il contributo dell’Archeologia dell’architettura

The confrontation between structural safety and the Building archaeology occurs in Italy after the publication of specific guidelines for the cultural heritage seismic prevention. For the first time, the role of archaeological tools in clarifying the transformations sequences and in their potential to affect the interpretative model quality is emphasised. Later guidelines became law. This is considered a sign of the Building archaeology added value, which has long been recognised in the scientific field and preparatory to Restoration, but until this document has been almost absent in the field of vulnerability assessment and the “Path of Knowledge” aimed at seismic prevention activities. The stratigraphic analysis contribution for structural safety can today be oriented mainly on three macro sets. The first concerns the search for construction discontinuities in their extension and in the relationship between the individual constituent parts, determining the degree of consistency and quality of the connections (structural constraints). The second concerns the masonry study to verify the materials quality, the internal connection together with the conservation state. These aspects are essential in defining the mechanical parameters of masonry. A third field of research is inherent to the chronological attribution to damage and decay phenomena. The periodisation of these phenomena help to reconstruct the building mechanical history. The three aspects outlined are interconnected and form part of a possible methodological path with a transdisciplinary character as suggested by international standards. The contribution reflects on the role of archaeology in structural and seismic knowledge, on its application within an integrated methodology that can, even at the quick level, assume an active role in the evaluation of past and future structural behaviour in order to orientate choices in the design phase.