Calcite Precipitation on Excavated Andesite Surfaces from the Archaeological Sites of Aigai and Assos (Turkey)

The conservation interventions of crusts or patinas formed on the surfaces of stone monuments should be evaluated within a comprehensive approach in archaeological excavations, taking into account their material characteristics. In this study, the mineralogical, chemical and microstructural characteristics of whitish crusts formed on the surfaces of buried and later excavated andesite surfaces at the archaeological sites of Aigai and Assos (Turkey) were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) analyses in order to establish a conservation approach at the archaeological sites. The whitish crusts formed on the excavated andesite surfaces are mainly composed of calcite with freshwater diatom species. Calcite is most likely formed by the alteration of plagioclase by carbon dioxide in the soil during the burial of the andesites. In the soil, CO₂ reacts with plagioclase to produce kaolinite and calcite which are precipitated on the andesite surfaces after excavation. The presence of freshwater diatom species in the whitish crusts may indicate that the andesite remains were buried in the waterlogged soil for many years and later excavated. Therefore, whitish crusts should not be cleaned from the andesite surfaces, as they are a sign of the burial history of the monuments and a protective layer against weathering.