Mitja Guštin, Neža Čebron Lipovec, Katarina Šmid, Sara Biolchi, Božidar Premrl, Andrej Preložnik, Filip Bubalo, Radoslav Dodig, Branko Orbanić, Fabiana Pieri, Silvije Pranjić, Aleksandra Torbica, Ivo Vojnović, Tea Zubin Ferri
The work within the Work package 4: Platy limestone as cultural heritage was aimed to assemble three main documents:Cultural heritage and limestone – general overview (Supplement 3.I),Cross-border issues in conservation and restoration of platy limestone (Supplement 3.II), and Conservation Guidelines for Platy Limestone in Architectural Cultural Heritage (Supplement 3.III). All partners were encouraged to use the same methodology and to follow the instructions of the responsible beneficiary.
All of the documents related to the work in Work Package 4 were sent to the partner institutions at the beginning of project. Based on a common methodology each was charged with finding experts to carry out research according to the goals and expectations of the project. The research on the historical use of platy limestone was carried out by (in alphabetical order): Filip Bubalo from DUNEA d.o.o., Regionalna Razvojna Agencija Dubrovačko-Neretvanske županije DUNEA llc (Regional Development Agency Dubrovnik Neretva County, Croatia); Radoslav Dodig from Javna ustanova Razvojna agencija Županije Zapadnohercegovske – HERAG (Development Agency of West Herzegovina County – HERAG, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Silvije Pranjić from Razvojna agencija Zadarske Županije (Zadar County Development Agency, Croatia); Branko Orbanič, Tea Zubin for Istarska razvojna agencija d.o.o. (Istrian Development Agency Ltd. - IDA, Croatia); Fabiana Pieri for Department of Mathematics and Geosciences of University of Trieste, Italy, Božidar Premrl for Institute of Mediterranean Heritage of University of Koper, Ivo Vojnović from Javna ustanova RERA S.D. za koordinaciju i razvoj Splitsko-dalmatinske županije (Public Institution RERA S.D. for coordination and development of Split-Dalmatia County, Croatia) and Aleksandra Torbica for Comune di San Dorligo della Valle/Občina Dolina (Municipality of San Dorligo della Valle, Italy).
For the Supplement 3.I a guideline document prepared by Neža Čebron Lipovec was distributed to all partners: “Structure of research for "RoofOfRock": (platy) limestone as cultural heritage”. These helpful documents consisted of precise guidelines as well as some description sheets divided into inventory sheets for all documented objects and specific for the selected showcase sites/objects (Annex 3.3).
For Activity 4.1, which is the basic and most extensive task in the entire work package 4, the methodology consists of various tasks that all contribute to the results of Supplements 3.I, 3.II and 3.III.
The first task of Activity 4.1 includes the inventorying of historical objects
The first task of Activity 4.1 - Platy limestone as cultural heritage includes the inventorying of historical objects: which roofs were covered with stone slates; which comprised research of historical sources (historical documents, archive notes, materials etc.), and scientific literature (architectural, ethnological, historical, archaeological) per region in a wider context (types of stone, architectural typology, crafts), followed by a comparative analysis of the collected data.
The second task was the inventorying of existing vernacular and representative stone architectures based on pre-existing inventories and combined with fieldwork analysis. During this process, specialists in each working area completed a common description sheet for each object provided by the responsible beneficiary that included core information about the building: name, location, type, ownership, short description and use, heritage status and evidence, as well as any data on the presence of platy limestone, its conservation and possible site of extraction.
Within the project 26 historic architectural structures were selected for in-depth documentation (Map 3.1). Case studies were carefully considered so that examples would be as informative, illustrative and meaningful as possible. Criteria for selection were:
In order to thoroughly investigate the selected buildings, the data collected through office work and fieldwork was summarized and entered in the description sheets prepared specifically for this purpose. Included with the data from the basic description sheet (see above) was also information about the cadastral community and the parcel number, coordinates, and a specific description of the distinctive parts of the object from an architectural and geological point of view. Later a regional geologist provided extensive documentation including various maps, architectural drawings (Fig. 3.4), and photographs of the present state as well as existing historical illustrations. This documentation is an integral part of Supplement 3.I (see Supplement 3.I, Annex 3.I.3; Map 3.1).
The methodology for activity 4.2 - Limestone quarries as cultural landscape heritage consisted mainly of literature and historic source research per region. In some cases an inspection of sites also followed, which was particularly useful in documenting smaller quarries and delves. In the frame of this activity a glossary of terms related to the work in terms of extraction of stone, stone masonry and architectural elements (see Supplement 3.I, Annex 3.I.2) was also systematically assembled.
For Activity 4.3 – Cross-border issues in conservation and restoration of platy limestone the basic methodology is based on scientific analyses. A total of 60 samples of small stone fragments roughly 1x1x1 cm had to be collected from the limestone roof plates of the selected showcase objects. They were analysed by the Istarska razvojna agencija d.o.o. (Istrian Development Agency Ltd. - IDA, Croatia) laboratory in Pula in order to determine the state of preservation of the stone, as well as the physical properties of the stone from various sources (see Annex 3.2).
Activity 4.4 – Shared guidelines for conservation and restoration of platy limestone consisted of a combination of existing project work in order to get an overview of the documented architectural object in the researched area, and an overview of the existing conservation issues and practices of heritage offices and expert architectural historians. The assembled information was studied by external experts in order to propose a condensed set of guidelines comprehensible to both experts and laymen alike.
Activity 4.5 – Geo-mapping of Adriatic heritage in limestone
For the selected representative objects and showcase objects we collected geographical coordinates and forwarded them to geologists who in turn provided the corresponding maps.
