Archaeometric aspects of white and coloured marbles used in antiquity: the state of the art (original) (raw)
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An updated petrographic and isotopic reference database for white marbles used in antiquity
Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali
The identification of the quarry of provenance of ancient marble artefacts is, on the one hand, of the utmost interest to archaeologists and art historians, on the other hand, one of the most debated problems of petro-archaeometry. Scholars of different disciplines (geosciences, chemistry, physics) have been trying for more than a century such identification by means of a unique or multiple laboratory analysis without totally positive results in absence of non-destructive techniques. To date, the best probabilities of success are obtained by combining together at least two analytical methodologies and jointly processing all the data obtained. In particular, the detailed minero-petrographic examination of a thin section and the determination of the C and O stable isotopic ratios on the same sample is currently the most widely used and reliable combination. Such a combination takes advantage of the most updated existing databases for the main Mediterranean marbles very commonly used i...
The Isotopic Signature of Classical Marbles
Introduction; 1. The properties and geology of marbles: 1.1 - Definition and general properties of marbles; 1.2 - Methods and problems for determining the provenance of marbles; 1.3 - Stable isotope analysis in marble provenancing; 1.4 - The principles of stable isotopes analysis; 1.5 - The isotopic composition of marble protoliths; 1.6 - Metamorphism and its role in determining the isotopic composition of pure marbles; 1.7 - Brief outline of Eastern Mediterranean geology; 2. The database and the ancient quarries: 2.1 - General considerations; 2.2 - Structure of the database; Italian marble quarries: 2.3 - Carrara; 2.4 - Seravezza; Greek marble quarries: attica: 2.5 - Hymettos; 2.6 - Pentelicon; Greek marble quarries: peloponnesos: 2.7 - Doliana; 2.8 - Mani; Greek marble quarries: the islands: 2.9 - Naxos; 2.10 - Paros; 2.11 - Thasos; 2.12 - Tinos; Turkish marble quarries: western anatolia: 2.13 - Afyon (Docimium); 2.14 - Altinta?; 2.15 - Aphrodisias; 2.16 - Denizli; 2.17 - Hierapolis; 2.18 - Thiountas; Turkish marble quarries: aegean coast: 2.19 - Ephesos; 2.20 - Miletos; Turkish marble quarries: the islands: 2.21 - Proconnesos; 3. Data analysis: 3.1 - Introduction; 3.2 - Discrimination and classification; 3.3 - Discriminant analysis; 3.4 - Case study one: the marble of the Michelangelo' s David; 3.5 - Case study two: the provenance of Cyrene marbles; 3.6 - The marble classification problem; Appendix a: Experimental methods; Appendix b: Content of the data disk; Colour plates; Bibliographical abbreviations; Bibliography; Acknowledgements; Index; List of figures; List of colour plates.
Minerals, 2024
A selection of the most outstanding white marble sculptures from Tarraco has been archaeometrically studied to know more about the marble sources and their respective artistic workshops. All are imperial portraits of the 2nd century AD (Trajan, Hadrian, Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius) and a thoracata bust assigned to Hadrian, found on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona (MNAT). The well-established multimethod approach, combining petrography, cathodoluminescence, C and O isotopes and Sr and Mn trace element composition, has revealed the use of different very fine- to fine-grained marbles of the highest quality exploited in classical times. In contrast to what was thought until now, in which all the pieces had been assigned to Luni-Carrara, this present study identifies the use of two varieties of the recently discovered site of Göktepe near Aphrodisias and Paros-lychnites marbles, being Carrara, in minority. This study confirms the importance of strontium concentration and the contribution of cathodoluminescence to distinguish Göktepe from Carrara marble, while carbon and oxygen isotopes were crucial for the identification of Cycladic marble. Finally, in line with recent published interdisciplinary studies, the marble provenance forces us to rethink the discourse on the use of marble, its sculptural workshops and its distribution in this temporal context. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Archives of Control Sciences, 2016
In spite of the great leap forward experienced in our understanding of the use of marble and other ornamental stones in Roman Spain, provenance studies are still quite uncommon in some territories of the Iberian Peninsula. This was the case of the northwesternmost part (modern Galicia), where no significant work had been done until now. Within the framework of an interdisciplinary study, a significant number of objects studied did not match with the main well-known Classical marbles but seemed to have been produced with a local stone known as O Incio marble, which had never been yet archaeometrically analysed. Therefore, the quarries near the small village of O Incio were located and sampled, and a multi-method approach combining polarized-light microscopy, cathodoluminescence, X-ray powder diffraction and stable C and O isotope analysis as well as spectrophotometry was applied to characterize the different outcropping marble varieties as the first and basic step to correctly differentiate them from other Iberian and foreign marbles with similar macroscopic features. Résumé : De grandes avancées ont été réalisées récemment concernant l'emploi des marbres et des autres roches ornementales dans l'Espagne romaine. Cependant, certains territoires de la péninsule Ibérique ne font l'objet que de rares études de provenance. Ceci était le cas du nord-ouest (actuelle Galice), où aucun travail n'avait été mené jusqu'à présent. Dans le cadre d'une étude interdisciplinaire, un nombre important d'objets ne correspondaient pas avec les principaux marbres classiques, mais semblaient avoir été mis en oeuvre à partir d'un matériau local connu sous le nom de marbre d'O Incio qui n'avait jamais été objet d'une caractérisation archéométrique. Par conséquent, les carrières avoisinant le petit village d'O Incio ont été localisées et échantillonnées, et une approche multi-méthode combinant analyse pétrographique, cathodoluminescence, diffraction de rayons X, analyse des isotopes stables de C et O et spectrophotométrie a été appliquée afin de caractériser les différentes variétés de marbre. Cela constitue la première étape fondamentale pour les différencier d'autres marbres ibériques et étrangers macroscopiquement similaires.
In spite of the great leap forward experienced in our understanding of the use of marble and other ornamental stones in Roman Spain, provenance studies are still quite uncommon in some territories of the Iberian Peninsula. This was the case of the northwesternmost part (modern Galicia), where no significant work had been done until now. Within the framework of an interdisciplinary study, a significant number of objects studied did not match with the main well-known Classical marbles but seemed to have been produced with a local stone known as O Incio marble, which had never been yet archaeometrically analysed. Therefore, the quarries near the small village of O Incio were located and sampled, and a multi-method approach combining polarized-light microscopy, cathodoluminescence, X-ray powder diffraction and stable C and O isotope analysis as well as spectrophotometry was applied to characterize the different outcropping marble varieties as the first and basic step to correctly differentiate them from other Iberian and foreign marbles with similar macroscopic features. Résumé : De grandes avancées ont été réalisées récemment concernant l'emploi des marbres et des autres roches ornementales dans l'Espagne romaine. Cependant, certains territoires de la péninsule Ibérique ne font l'objet que de rares études de provenance. Ceci était le cas du nord-ouest (actuelle Galice), où aucun travail n'avait été mené jusqu'à présent. Dans le cadre d'une étude interdisciplinaire, un nombre important d'objets ne correspondaient pas avec les principaux marbres classiques, mais semblaient avoir été mis en oeuvre à partir d'un matériau local connu sous le nom de marbre d'O Incio qui n'avait jamais été objet d'une caractérisation archéométrique. Par conséquent, les carrières avoisinant le petit village d'O Incio ont été localisées et échantillonnées, et une approche multi-méthode combinant analyse pétrographique, cathodoluminescence, diffraction de rayons X, analyse des isotopes stables de C et O et spectrophotométrie a été appliquée afin de caractériser les différentes variétés de marbre. Cela constitue la première étape fondamentale pour les différencier d'autres marbres ibériques et étrangers macroscopiquement similaires.
Journal of Arcaeological Science, 2020
The provenance of marbles used for ancient statuary and architecture is of utmost importance for archaeologists, art historians and archaeometrists. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive characterisation of the white marble exploited in antiquity in G€ oktepe (Mugla Province, Turkey) to increase the reliability for identifying this marble in ancient artefacts. A campaign of interdisciplinary archaeological and geological fieldwork undertaken by the Marmora Asiatica project is based on a multi-method approach and on a representative set of samples used for the archaeometric analyses. Petrographic investigation showed that the G€ oktepe marble is more variable with regard to fabrics and grain size than previously suggested, whereas it is generally non-luminescent and dolomite-free. Stable C and O isotope and elemental analyses confirmed the results reported so far. We also report, for the first time for G€ oktepe white marble, the results of Sr isotope measurements, which in combination with elemental ratios, e.g. Sr/Mg and Mn/Sr, and δ 18 O values, greatly improve the discrimination among G€ oktepe, Carrara and other fine-grained white marbles. Applicability of these proxies was tested on artefacts from Hadrian's Villa, for which Carrara and Goktepe provenance had been proposed. The paper also reports new archaeological findings and results of estimates of stone extracted from the quarries, which allowed for a recontextualization of the significance of quarries at G€ oktepe. High-resolution topographic measurements, performed for the first time with the use of a 3-D laser scanner, combined with geological field study, allowed for precise calculation of the volume of the white variety extracted in antiquity. Estimates of 17000 m 3 is almost a half less than previously suggested. Moreover, a careful study of the existing literature showed that in some instances assignment of white marble artefacts to the G€ oktepe quarries may not be accurate. Verification of provenance for those problematic artefacts and a more reliable identification of G€ oktepe marbles in the future can be achieved by application of the set of analyses proposed in this work, which has a higher discrimination potential.
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Articles, 1988
In 94 marble samples from 4 quarry districts in Italy (Carrara) and Turkey (Proconnesus, Dokirneion, U~ak), minor and trace elements were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). The maximum size of the calcite grains (MGS) of the rocks was measured in thin section. For 16 elements considered in this work, the concentration ranges show important inter-district overlaps; this also applies to the maximum grain size. However, the application of cluster analysis, using selected attributes, allows one to discriminate every pair of districts; 90 samples are classified correctly in all classification dendrograms.