Quarrying, circulation and use of stone during the Roman Age. A Database and GIS project about Regio X - Venetia et Histria. The case study of the Euganean trachyte (original) (raw)
Related papers
Geoarchaeology, 2018
Roman colonization of northern Italy during the late Republican Age brought about significant building activity in the newly acquired territories, involving the construction of new infrastructure that demanded large amounts of stone. Trachyte of the Euganean Hills was among the most commonly used materials for building roads, bridges, forum squares, and aqueducts. This paper addresses the recognition of the provenance quarry of Euganean trachyte used in Roman public infrastructure in northeastern Italy. Petrographic features and major-and trace-element composition of bulk rock and phenocrysts, analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS), were used as provenance tracers. The provenance determinations allow for exploring the commercial, political, and economic dynamics involving the supply of trachyte for public works, and the management of Roman quarries, which likely were in competition with each other and separately controlled by the most important nearby cities. Finally, broad insights into ancient trades in northern Italy and the main routes of stone distribution are discussed: most transport was done by ship, being more rapid and less costly, taking advantage of the Adriatic Sea, the Po River, and the many waterways close to the Euganean quarries.
Ismaelli_Scardozzi_Ancient Quarries and Building Sites_index.pdf
This volume presents the results of the Marmora Phrygiae Project, financed by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR – Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca) as part of the “Futuro in Ricerca” programme (FIRB 2012). In the period 2013-2016, following a multidisciplinary approach, the project sought to reconstruct the building stone procurement strategies adopted in the city of Hierapolis in Phrygia (Turkey), across a broad chronological time span from the Hellenistic epoch to the Byzantine period. Extensive knowledge of the territory surrounding the city and detailed research into its monuments provided the basis for a painstaking historical reconstruction. The volume describes the economic, social, technological and legal aspects of the use of marble and presents the results of the archaeometric investigations that were conducted in order to characterise the building stones, determine their provenance and assess the state of conservation of the monuments. In addition, the volume illustrates recent research conducted by teams of various nationalities into the marble quarrying districts and monumental complexes of the main settlements of south-western Asia Minor in the Imperial and Byzantine epochs.
This paper presents the research method applied to the Archaeological Map of Italy -Forma Italiae project, comprising to date the Ager Venusinus project (completed) and the Ager Lucerinus project (ongoing). The methodology of the project is based on the extensive and systematic survey of the entire selected district. The countryside is systematically searched by groups of students and researchers in different seasons, time of the day, weather and visibility conditions, and status of cultivation of the ground. The GPS georeferenced data are integrated in a GIS specifically realised. The results of the research projects relating to the territory of the Luceria's colony, in Apulia, starting from the area of the medieval site of Montecorvino, in the Daunian district is presented. So far the part of the vast territory of Lucera studied concerns the area North-East of the ancient Latin colony. Discussed here are studies conducted on the western area, towards the Daunian subappennine and in particular focused on the territory of the municipalities of Lucera, Pietramontecorvino, Motta Montecorvino, and Volturino. This area, in fact, is the object of research that includes the whole of the Fortore River valley. The data emerging from recent surveys show a large population over the time-span from prehistory to the High Middle Ages. The settlements of the Neolithic and Bronze ages, so far identified, are placed on vast plains; on the northern sector of the territory, it is possible to catch a glimpse of traces of a village characterised by the typical C shaped ditch, with huts located inside. A very interesting part of our project regards Dauni and Samnite settlements in the period preceding the arrival of the Romans and the Romanisation of the area. The most notable transformations in the ancient landscape were undoubtedly produced by the Roman intervention that gave birth to the new colony and the planning of the village centre, which consequently led to the reorganisation of a vast territory and the division of the rural area into a dense network of small properties assigned to the settlers.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences , 2024
This paper reports on the results of the analyses of 56 stone samples from Roman and pre-Roman artifacts from the ancient town of Atria, currently preserved at the National Archaeological Museum of Adria. The city is located in the eastern Veneto lowlands, close to the Po River delta, and far from the main rock outcrops of the region. The objective of this research is to determine the provenance of the stones used in ancient Atria and their trade networks. The analytical techniques adopted include polarized-light optical microscopy (PLM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and quantitative phase analysis by X-ray powder diffraction (QPA-XRPD). The results reveal a widespread use of imported stones from the central-western territories of Veneto, primarily comprising trachyte from the Euganean Hills and the soft limestone Vicenza Stone from the Berici Hills/eastern Lessini Mounts. Rosso Ammonitico, Maiolica (Biancone) and Scaglia Rossa limestones are also documented. From neighbouring regions, the imported stone types include Aurisina limestone from the Trieste Karst and Istrian Stone. Sandstone was uniquely recognized in G. Popillius's milestone. Moreover, advanced geochemical and mineralogical analyses performed on the Euganean trachytes allow tracking accurately the quarry sites, revealing an extensive exploitation of the main historical quarries of M. Oliveto, Monselice and M. Merlo, although some provenances from outcrops less systematically exploited were also detected. Notably, the use of rhyolite for manufacturing a pre-Roman gravestone provides new insights regarding the exploitation of Euganean stone resources before the Roman era.
This research has analysed the distribution of ceramic finds of archaic and classical age found during the survey of the territory of the ancient Greek colony Himera, located near Termini Imerese, (Palermo, Sicily), which has been the site of systematic excavations carried out by the University of Palermo since the Sixties. The study of about 1500 ceramic fragments, dated back to the 6 th -5 th century B.C., has allowed to develop an approach to the understanding of the role played by ceramics in the relations between different societies and cultures. Besides the most common analysis factors, such as their production and distribution, a major factor is the way the manufactures were used. From this wider perspective, a new methodology has been developed about information potential of functional analysis. The interpretation of data about the distribution of the finds was made by means of GIS methodologies, querying the alphanumerical database and relating the typological data to the geocartographic ones by means of intersite spatial analysis. Thus, each archaeological information about the finds can be analyzed with regard to the geo-morphological features and the obtained data can be processed with specific software applications, in order to suggest reconstruction models for the anthropic landscape, based on the relation between coeval sites and their distance from specific environment features -for example, distance from water sources, raw materials, road conditions etc.. The computer application used for data handling, presentation and analysis, becomes (eliminare) a tool aimed at the comprehension of settlement dynamics in the historical scenery . This study is the occasion to propose such an analysis system of cultural heritage as a new tool to promote it and to increase its value, applying a territorial context related methodology founded on scientific evidence.
A number of Euboean stone sources are briefly explored in this paper, such as limestone and sandstone quarries at Eretria and Karystos. Archaeological and inscriptional finds related to the local use of stones from the 5th to the 1st century BC are mentioned, together with appropriate examples, in an attempt to outline some pre-Roman uses of local quarries or of imported stones and to evaluate similarities and differences between the local market demands and consumption built upon basis of regional city-state connections and needs, versus the large-scale Roman Imperial quarrying expansion, trade systematization and Mediterranean market orientation. Keywords Euboea, quarries, sandstone
Coquelet C., Creemers G., Dreesen R. et Goemaere É. (éd.), Roman Ornamental Stones in North-Western Europe. Natural Resources, Manufacturing, Supply, Life and After-Life, actes du colloque de Tongres des 20-22 avril 2016, Namur, Agence Wallonne du Patrimoine, p. 199-210, 2018
An inventory of 2361 non-architectural stone sculptures discovered in the civitas Aeduorum, which are comprised in my PhD thesis, reveals the prosperity of stone-carving is this district. It also reveals specific concentrations : more than 80 % of the finds are coming from the north-eastern part of the civitas, whereas only very few discoveries were made in the southern part. On of the reasons is that stone-supply was passed of much easier in the north of the civitas, where sandstones of good quality could be found. Nearly 20 ancient quarries have also been identified there. With their study, alongside an analysis of the carving techniques and styles, it is now possible to have a better understanding of the stone operational chain in this area. Stone supply was mostly local, but some long distance imports have been recognized – Italian and Greek marbles mostly. Aeduan sculptors have developed a craftmanship where the material itself was no longer a constraint : they were able to work on limestone as well as sandstone and granite, adapting their techniques and their tools. Concerning the overall aeduan stonecraft, specificities have been put to light, such as a peculiar iconography, especially when it comes to tombstones – a peculiar type of tombstone was elaborated by sculptors of the civitas –, a neglect for portraits and a remarkable preference for small-scale divinities. Henceforth, we will discuss stone-craft in this civitas from a macroscopic perspective, at the scale of the civitas. This allows an analysis of the spatial distribution of the finds as well as new data regarding ancient techniques, iconography and style. A combination of those elements has led to the identification of 33 workshops and 50 sculptors with no workshop affiliation, all of those dated from the Ist century AD to the IVth century. Stone sculpture underwent a remarkable evolution during the Flavian dynasty. It reached its peak during the second half of the IInd century AD, followed by a decline during the IIIrd century. Studying the activity of the workshops has shown that within the civitas Aeduorum, stone-carving was not an urban phenomenon, and some high-skilled sculptors were active in several pagi, sanctuaries and small settlements. Links between the workshops have also been found. They reveal local traditions, like the use of specific tools, or iconographic habits which can be studied as identity markers. Some cases of competition between sculptors have been remarked, in the capital, Augustodunum, and also in the sanctuary of Sources de la Seine. Some workshops have known an important expansion, and some of their sculptors may have founded new officinae. Finally, it seems that the civitas Aeduorum was above all influenced by northern civitates – Lingones, Senones and even Treviri. Fewer exchanges and artistic relations have occurred with the other civitates.
Journal of Earth Science and Engineering, 2015
This paper presents the research method applied to the "Archaeological Map of Italy-Forma Italiae" project, comprising to date the Ager Venusinus project (completed) and the Ager Lucerinus project (ongoing). The idea of an Archaeological Map of Italy dates back to 1889 when by Royal degree the "Bureau for an Archeological Map of Italy" was created. Many decades later, with the advent of information technology and satellite observing systems (GPS) a "new era" of archaeological mapping began and the "Forma Italiae", thanks to these technological developments, began to develop the first Territorial Information System of archaeological matter in Italy. Between 1989 and 1992, studies and experiments were carried out on automatic systems for the acquisition, calculation and management of archaeological data relating to the Carta Archeologica d'Italia (Forma Italiae). Our project sought to put together many experiences, including some from the past, as part of a ministerial initiative resulting in the establishment of a committee; furthermore, it sought to extend the discussion that for many years concerned primarily academic institutions to the sectors dealing with protection and archeological prevention. Though it has been designed for prevention and p otection, it simultaneously serves as the basic instrument for understanding and enhancement of the cultural resources of the territory. In discussions about preventive archaeology and about the so-called "archaeological risk", it is very useful to create a databank of the known archaeological heritage. For this purpose, a computerized system for data management was used, composed of a GIS platform associated with an alphanumeric archive and designed soon to become a web GIS.