Old masonry is understood from the relationship between material, workmanship, degradation, and successive repairs, not from a single test.
Old masonry cannot be treated as a uniform material. It preserves differences in texture, overlapping repairs, and adaptations made in different periods. To design correctly, you first have to understand this historic composition.
The material tells only part of the story
At Sarmizegetusa, reading the masonry also meant understanding how exposure, vegetation, and water had changed the local behaviour of the ensemble.
Execution detail matters
The arrangement of blocks and the areas of completion directly influence what kind of strengthening is possible.
A correct reading allows minimal intervention
The goal is to identify exactly where intervention is needed and where it is better not to force anything.
