%0 Journal Article
%T Geoarchaelogical Study of the Roman Pietra DellĄŻOglio Bridge at the Service of the Old Appian Way, Campania, Southern Italy
%A Ugo Chiocchini
%A Mariella De Piano
%A Mario Gaeta
%A Erminio Pagliuca
%A Nicola Polzone
%A Fiammetta Sarmento
%J Archaeological Discovery
%P 223-258
%@ 2331-1967
%D 2021
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/ad.2021.94012
%X The Pietra dellĄŻOglio bridge is the only Roman infrastructure that crosses the Ofanto River between Mirabella Eclano (<em>Aeclanum</em> in Campania) and Venosa (<em>Venusia</em> in Basilicata), just near the border between Campania and Basilicata. The bridge was built on a substrate consisting of the stable middle Miocene Cerreta-Bosco di Pietra Palomba Sandstone (ACP) and where the Ofanto River valley is narrower. The current state of the bridge shows that 18 architectural and structural elements are original, 12 were restored, 1 was modified, 4 were reconstructed, and 4 were added in the last century. The original architectural and structural elements (ASEs) are built by the technique of <em>opus quadratum</em> and <em>opus incertum</em> using the pebbles of the Ofanto River and ashlars of phytoclastic travertine and ACP Sandstone cemented by very hard mortar. The <em>opus incertum</em> technique and its use for many bridges in Italy and France suggest that the Pietra dellĄŻOglio bridge was built between the II and I century BC at the service of a very important public road. The present research is allowed to identify the Pietra dellĄŻOglio bridge with the <em>Pons Aufidi</em> related to the old Appian Way layout between Mirabella Eclano and Venosa and contributes to improving the knowledge of Roman bridge engineering, particularly in Campania.
%K Geoarchaeology
%K Pietra DellĄŻOglio Bridge
%K Old Appian Way
%K &lt
%K i&gt
%K Opus Incertum&lt
%K /i&gt
%K Campania
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=112184