Engineering Properties of The Natural Building Blocks Used At The Karincali Byzantium Church (Kirşehir, Turkey) (original) (raw)

2022, ORTA ANADOLU ARKEOLOJİ, ANTROPOLOJİ ve SANAT TARİHİ ARAŞTIRMALARI

Throughout the history of humanity, natural stones have been used in many areas ranging from construction of tools (axes, spears, grinding stones etc.), architecture (homes, castles, temples etc.), arts (decorative stones, mosaics, statues etc.). Hence, even though natural stones fall into the category of geologists, they are also included in the study areas of archeologists, art historians and restorators. The identification of natural stones and source rock is important to conduct proper restoration activities at archeological sites. The deterioration of the stones used in historical structures under atmospheric conditions is possible only possible through the identification of the engineering and mineralogical-petrographic characteristics of the stone. The identification of the type of the natural stone prior to restoration is as important as the identification of the main source from where the stone is obtained. The main subject of the present study was identifying the main source and engineering properties (porosity, hardness, compressive strength and resistance to surface abrasion) of the natural stones used at the Byzantium church located at the Karıncalı Village of Kırşehir province. Three groups of stones (marble, banded marble and schist) have been used in the church. The locations of the source rocks were first identified in the present study. It was determined that the marbles have been acquired from the white colored marbles that are part of the Bozçaldağ Formation located about 3 km southwest of Karıncalı Village and that the banded marbles have been obtained from the banded marbles that are part of the Bozçaldağ Formation located about 200 m northwest of the church. While the schists have been acquired from the schist levels of the Kervansaraydağ Formation on which the foundation of the church has been dug. The changes due to mine production conditions and atmospheric deterioration can be observed clearly when the correlation of the engineering properties of the samples acquired from the structure and the source rock was examined. KEYWORDS: Byzantium, Church, Restoration, Natural Stone, Physical and Mechanical Properties, Anatolia.