Among their many talents, the ancient Romans were pioneers in the art of concrete making and construction. The quality of Roman concrete used to build their aqueducts, tombs, bath houses, piers, amphitheaters, and homes was so good that many of these structures still stand today, defying the expected ravages of time.
Scientists seeking to unlock the secrets of the Roman concrete masters have now experienced a breakthrough , as a result of an analysis completed on a large cylindrical tomb that was built to house the remains of a first-century BC noblewoman named Caecilia Metella.
Working with funding provided by the United States Department of Energy, University of Utah geophysicist Marie Jackson teamed up with Linda Seymour and Admir Masic from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nobumichi Tamura from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to carry out an in-depth study of the materials and methods used to construct Caecilia Metella’s tomb . They were interested in learning more about the rock used to make the Roman concrete, and especially about the mortar that was used to bind the concrete blocks together.
