Nagyharsány villa is one of the finest Roman villa came to light in the Hungarian territory. The villa had been built during the I century AD and it had been continuously used till the V century AD. The first archaeological surveys and excavations have been started in 1959 by László Papp and prosecuted then by Ferenc Fülep in the 1960’s and 1980’s. Restoring interventions on wall’s remains have been executed during 1980’s using local building stones and modern mortar. A new research project started in 2006, with a purpose of preservation in situ, while previous aerial photographs helped to provide an estimation of the true dimensions and disposition of different annexed units. No petrographic investigations were carried out.

The present research takes place in the frame of the last project, mainly focusing on petrographic studies. The aim of the present research is to identify the origin of the materials used to built the villa and provide conservation guidelines, starting from a detailed petrographic description of the materials.

Three different sampling have been performed from the villa during last months, collecting a total of 44 samples including close quarries and rich decorative elements as mosaic tesserae and mural paintings. Petrographic and mineralogical investigations have been already conducted on some of those samples, also supported by X ray diffraction analysis. Possible comparisons with Italian Roman sites will enrich the study.

Specific results and further investigations will be presented and discussed.