The protection of our cultural and environmental heritage, in addition to being a commitment owed to future generations, is key to the economic development of both Sardinia and the country. The integrated and innovative use of various non-invasive diagnostic technologies (e.g., photogrammetric, remote sensing, terrestrial laser scanning, and acoustic techniques), combined with mineralogical and petrographic techniques for the characterization of the stone materials used to create cultural heritage assets, enables the diagnosis of the “state of health” of monuments and associated structures, the rational planning of restoration interventions, and their monitoring over time. Generally speaking, each diagnostic technique developed for the study of stone materials guarantees the possibility of success in meeting the requirements of the artifact under study, particularly: non-invasiveness and non-destructiveness of the work, rapid and precise measurements that do not interfere with the construction materials, and the ability to identify alterations and degradation of materials without requiring sampling. Mineralogical-petrographic techniques to aid the interpretation of non-invasive diagnostic data are applied to thin sections obtained from samples taken from the quarries where the monuments’ construction materials originate, in compliance with the guidelines set by the National Research Council (CNR).
During the activity, videos relating to investigations carried out on Cagliari’s monuments will be shown and some of the instrumentation useful for diagnostic analyses of cultural heritage will be presented.