Opus africanum e tecniche a telaio litico in Etruria e Campania (VII a.C.-VI d.C.)

The expression “Opus africanum” has been used since at least the 1950s to indicate, without further distinctions, a group of techniques characterised by a framework of vertical piers made of stone blocks. Partly because of its definition, opus africanum is traditionally assumed to be of Phoenician or Punic origin. In particular, according to most of the previous studies, it was adopted in the Punic regions, from whence it was transmitted to the western Mediterranean and principally to Sardinia, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily, Campania and Etruria. During the Roman imperial age it spread mostly across North Africa. In the first part of this new study of opus africanum, starting from an analysis of the constructive and static characteristics of the piers, the technique is subdivided into 5 different types. The reasons for the use and diffusion of the various types are then examined in the territories of Campania and Etruria, where some of the most representative examples of the technique are found. In the conclusion, we examine how the use of opus africanum in the different territories should be explained not only in relationship to its cultural roots, but also taking into account its static characteristics, as well as the economic and social contexts where it was used