THERMAL-ANALYSIS (TA) OF LIME-BASED AND GYPSUM-BASED MEDIEVAL MORTARS

Thermal analysis was used to investigate the composition of mortars taken from the cathedrals of Chartres, Soissons, Bourges, Paris, and Laon. In addition, mortars from structures pre-dating the thirteenth-century cathedral of Chartres were obtained from the Rue S. Fulbert archaeological site, opposite the cathedral. The literature widely reports that historical masonry is constructed with lime mortar. The present study shows that gypsum mortars were used in France at the cathedrals of Chartres and Bourges in the early thirteenth century.