Resumen de Costruire ingegnosamente riutilizzando materiali poveri. L’impiego di conchiglie a fini edilizi ad Aquileia tra età repubblicana e tarda antichità.
In this paper, we take into exam six different contexts in Roman Aquileia in which considerable amounts of shells, originally collected for different purposes (dietary consumption or purple dye production), were re-used as raw material in building activities, either inserted in mortars or used as floor foundation. Shells as building material have useful properties, which are here analyzed. Themes such as technological transmission among cultures are discussed through the examination of other attestations of these practices in the ancient Mediterranean.
