Tecniche e materiali dell'architettura palmirena: il caso dell'Edificio con Peristilio del Quartiere Sud- Ovest (Pal.M.A.I.S. 2008-2010)

A new archaeological project started in Palmyra (Syria) in 2007 with the creation of an Italian-Syrian joint mission (PAL.M.A.I.S.), formed by the Università degli Studi of Milan and by the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Damascus. The research concerns an area which has not so far been investigated systematically, the South-West quarter, situated between the Hellenistic city to the South and the Roman Imperial Age quarter to the North. A stratigraphic excavation began in 2008 on the most monumental structure of the South-West quarter, the so-called Peristyle Building, near the southern tract of Diocletian’s Wall. The study of the building techniques, including raw materials, walls typology, architectural elements and their reuse, has been crucial to understand the chronology of the Peristyle Building and its evolution through the centuries, from the Severan age up to the Umayyad period.