Ricerc@Sapienza

METHODS:

In this paper, the behaviour of an idealised excavation carried out in a clay sensitive to destructuration is studied through a series of finite-element analyses, employing an advanced bounding surface model developed for structured clays. Several cases are examined, in order to investigate the influence of factors including the velocity of destructuration, the damage produced by the wall construction to the soil-wall contact, the width-to-height ratio of the excavation. The case of a soil deposit insensitive to microstructural damage is also studied for comparison.

This paper deals with the excavation of the trench carried out at Istakhr in 2012, to the west of the site of the mosque. The results of the excavation, compared with Herzfeld’s archaeological tests dating to 1932, provided new insights into the arrangement of the buildings in the area and, more generally, the planning of this sector of the city during the early Islamic period.

This paper deals with the matrix of the excavation carried out in 2012 at Istakhr, west of the site of the mosque. The results of the archaeological campaign, already published, are integrated here with the matrix in order to highlight stratigraphic unit relationships and clarify the succession of the phases.