La mappatura chimica dei contesti di produzione dell’allume

The Colline Metallifere district, where the site of Allumiera di Monteleo is located, has been a place of multidisciplinary research developed by the Departments of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy and History and Cultural Heritage of the University of Siena. In this area archaeological, chemical and geological proxies have provided very significant data for the reconstruction of the historical and productive landscape (mining and metallurgical in particular). In this paper we will discuss the concentration of some chemical elements (i.e. Al and K) emerged during the multidisciplinary investigations, which can be considered diagnostic of ancient activities related to alum extraction and processing. The detailed intra-situ physico-chemical study conducted on the Monteleo productive complex has also allowed to functionally characterize the areas inside the site on the basis of elemental analysis of the soil. Finally, chemical comparison between alum samples taken from the Colline Metallifere and the Tolfa areas, represents a first step in planning an extensive mapping of the deposits at national level, with the aim of determining the supply basins of the various production sites.