Archaeometry of marbles and stones

1-Application to specific archaeological questions - Use of marble
B. Adembri, S. Di Tondo, F. Fantini, Architecture with concave and convex rhythms and its decoration in Hadrian age: the Maritime Theatre and the Southern pavilion of Piazza d' Oro in Hadrian' s Villa.
J. Andreu Pintado, H. Royo Plumed, P. Lapuente, M. Brilli, Imported marbles found in three Roman cities of the territory of Cinco Villas (Zaragoza), north of Hispania Citerior.
F. Bianchi, M. Bruno, S. Pike, Pentelic marble in the Severan Complex in Leptis Magna (Tripolitania, Libya).
C. Previato, N. Mareso, Marbles from the Domus of Bestie ferite' and from the Domus of Tito Macro' in Aquileia (UD), Italy.
M. Bruno, F. Bianchi, The limestone quarries of Wadi Gadatza in the territory of Leptis Magna.
M. Bruno, C. Gorgoni, P. Pallante, Provenance and distribution of white marbles in the arches of Titus and Septimius Severus in Rome.
F. Cavari, F. Droghini, M. Giamello, C. Mascione, A. Scala, The imitation of coloured marbles in a first style wall painting from the Etruscan-Roman town of Populonia (LI - Italy).
M. Chidiroglu, Small Euboean quarries. The local community markets.
J. Collins-Clinton, Lumachella at Cosa: late Republican?
S. Costa, F. Marri, Ancientmarbles.org: an open community for sharing knowledge about ancient marble from different approaches.
M. Cruz Villalón, The use of marble in Lusitania betwen Rome and Islam.
M. David, S. Succi, M. Turci, Marmora Ostiensa. New results from the Ostia marina project.
M. De Angelis d' Ossat, S. Violante, M. Gomez Serito, A column shaft in verde rana ondato' from the archaeological excavations in Palazzo Altemps .
A. De Stefano, The exploitation of coralline breccia of the Gargano in the Roman and late antique periods.
M. De Nuccio, Gigantism and marble sculptures: the Pie' di marmo in Campo Marzio.
G. Di Stefano, G. Ventura, Ships lapidariae and the wreck, with marmor numidicum, discovered in Camarina : hypotesis of route.
Fellague Djamila, Savay-Guerraz Hugues, Masino Filippo, Sobrà Giorgio, The use of marble in the roman architecture of Lugdunum (lyon, france).
Ana Garrido, Aureli Àlvarez, Ana Doménech, Anna Gutiérrez, Isabel Rodà, Hernando Royo, Marmora And Other Stones In The Architectural Decoration Of Early Imperial Barcino (Barcelona, Spain)
Maria Teresa Giannotta, Giovanni Quarta, Arcangelo Alessio, Antonio Pennetta, Provenance Of The Roman Marble Sarcophagi Of The San Pietro In Bevagna Wreck.
Pia Kastenmeier, Giuseppina Balassone. Maria Boni, Giovanni di Maio, Michael Joachimski, Provenance, Distribution And Trade Of The Local Building Materials In The Sarno River Plain (Campania) From The 6th Century Bc To Ad 79.
T. Lappi, White And Coloured Marble On Pantelleria
P. Lapuente, H. Royo, J.A. Cuchi, J. Justes, M. Preite-Martinez, Local Stones And Marbles Found In The Territory Of Alto Aragon (Hispania), In Roman Times.
Z. Mari, The marbles from the Villa of Trajan at Arcinazzo Romano (Roma)
F. Masino, The introduction of marble in the cavea of the Theatre of Hierapolis: building process and patronage.
Igor Mihajlovi, Igor Miholjek, Shipwrecks With Sarcophagi In The Eastern Adriatic.
S. Nava, The marble decoration of the peristyle building in the sw quarter of palmyra (Pal.M.A.I.S. Mission).
T. Nogales-Basarrate, P. Lapuente, H. Royo, M. Preite-Martinez, Stone Materials In Lusitania Reflecting The Process Of Romanization.
Salvador Ordóñez, Ruth Taylor, Oliva Rodríguez, Esther Ontiveros, Sergio García-Dils, José Beltrán, José Carlos Saquete, A uotorumnuncupatio from colonia Augusta Firma. An analytical approach.

Between 2010 and 2015, the Royal Palace of Palermo was the subject of several scientific investigations, with diagnostic, archaeometric and archaeological purposes. Among the different outcomes, these surveys allowed us to acquire new data on stratigraphy of the subsoil in this area. In particular, recent observations and geological surveys allowed us to identify a heretofore unknown litho-stratigraphic unit attributable to the Middle Pleistocene of marine polymictic para-conglomerates and well-cemented calcarenites, which indeed constitutes the geological substratum of rock (paleo-soil) on which the Royal Palace is founded. The same material was quarried in situ and employed in the Hellenistic period (3 rd century BC) for the strengthening of the defensive walls of the Punic era (5 th century BC).

Gortyn was an important Cretan town from the late
Archaic to the Hellenistic period and then became one of the
provincial capitals of the Roman Empire. It controlled the
whole of Crete and Cyrenaica and was a flourishing centre
of trade and agricultural products in the first centuries of our
era. In more than 100 years, many portions of the Greek and
Roman town were unearthed under the supervision of the
Italian Archaeological School of Athens and a considerable
number of stone artefacts found, many of them made of
imported marble since the local variety was grey and of poor
quality. Statuary and other prestigious marble sculpted artefacts
found in Gortyn were sampled and subjected to
archaeometric examination (by way of optical microscopy in
thin section, powder X-Ray diffraction and mass spectometry
for the determination of the C and O isotopic ratio) in order to
identify the quarries they came from. The results obtained
from the analysis of several dozen white marble objects have
indicated the use of a quite wide variety of species including
Parian (from Lakkoi), Pentelic, Thasian (dolomitic and calcitic)
and (occasionally) Proconnesian marbles. The first three,
especially Pentelic, were used for most of the statuary.

The intensive and ongoing task of study and characterization of the marbles of Almadén de la Plata (Seville) has been undertaken in recent years, shedding light on the Roman exploitation of these quarries and the wide distribution of their products. In parallel, important progress is also being made in the study of the urban configuration of the Augustan colony of Astigi (modern Écija, province of Seville) where recent archaeological excavations have provided a large volume of information regarding its most representative public buildings. Several buildings of the forum have yielded a copious collection of architectural elements and inscriptions, whose morphological, typological and stylistic studies are now joined by petrographic analyses. The latter have enabled the confirmation of the massive use of Almadén de la Plata marble, in its different chromatic varieties, yet in a city which appears to have spared no expense on other stones of foreign origin. The main aim of this contribution is the assessment of the historical significance of this pattern of marble use in thepublic buildings of the city of Astigi.

The recent excavations in Écija (Seville, Spain), ancient colonia Augusta Firma, have yielded an exceptional assemblage of sculptures and inscriptions. Among these pieces there is a moulded plaque worked in a fine-grained white marble that bears a ceremonial text, a uotorum nuncupatio. It is a very old ritual formula that was usually inscribed on perishable materials and only rarely onstone. The analytical approach to the inscription makes it possible to clarify the origin of the material, adding new information about the historical context of the piece. The major and trace element analysis results have shown that the stone is a white calcitic marble, and suggest the hypothesis of the stone coming from the Luni-Carrara marble area.

Granitoid rocks were among the stone materials most frequently used for columns and pillars during the Roman period. When employed in Rome and the Mediterranean provinces, they were mainly quarried in Egypt, in Asia Minor and in Italy. Some of these rocks show very similar macroscopic features, so it is often very difficult to tell them apart with the naked eye. This is the case with the 'Granito del Foro' (or Marmor Claudianum), from the Gebel Fatireh, in the Eastern Desert, and the 'Granito di Nicotera' (Calabria), both exploited from the first century AD onwards. Both feature medium grain size and a white-greyish colour with black patches. In order to obtain a certain microscopic and geochemical discrimination of these rocks, and to provide the first known petrographic classification of the 'Granito di Nicotera', a comprehensive mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical investigation was performed on several samples from the quarry. The results were compared with the corresponding data known for Marmor Claudianum in the literature. Good discrimination between the granites is possible, mainly on the basis of modal mineralogy and geochemical characteristics. The 'Granito del Foro' contains hornblende, while the 'Granito di Nicotera' contains muscovite, and has a distinctive peraluminous index and trace element abundances.

Non-destructive X-ray diffraction has been successfully applied for mineralogical investigation of polished stone implements in several cases. Vertical θ-θ goniometer and parallel beam geometry (with Göbel mirror) are basic instrument requirements for such studies. Rock-forming mineral species can be easily identified, also distinguishing between end-members of compositional series. As a recent development, several members of the amphibole group were successfully identified with this technique. Clear distinction between glaucophane (rock-forming Na-amphibole), actinolite (rock-forming Ca-amphibole) and other amphiboles were tested and successfully confirmed by SEM+EDS analysis. Kivonat A csiszolt kőeszközök ásványtani vizsgálatában már többször sikeresen alkalmaztuk a roncsolás-mentes röntgen diffrakciós vizsgálatot. Az eljáráshoz műszeres követelmény a függőleges goniométer és párhuzamos nyaláb geometria (Göbel tükör) megléte. A módszer könnyen alkalmazható a kőzetalkotó ásványok azonosítására, legtöbbször a kémiai összetételbeli sorok végtagjainak azonosítására is. Legújabb eredményeink az amfibol csoport néhány tagjának a megkülönböztetési lehetőségét tárta fel ezzel a módszerrel. Egyértelműen sikerült azonosítani a glaukofánt (kőzetalkotó Na-amfibol), aktinolitot (kőzetalkotó Ca-amfibol) és ezektől különböző amfibolokat,valamint az eredményeket sikeresen alátámasztani SEM+EDS vizsgálatokkal.

La campagna di scavo del 2011 presso la villa di Aiano-Torraccia di Chiusi (Siena) ha portato alla luce più di 200 frammenti marmorei: un quarto del totale dei frammenti rinvenuti dal 2005 ad oggi. Si tratta in minima parte di porzioni di lastre o listelli o soglie e per una grandissima maggioranza di schegge di marmo bianco a grana fine (circa centocinquanta), spesso con tracce di scalpello e tutte riferibili alla medesima area di scavo, posta nella porzione nord-est del sito (Vano V). Si possono in particolare riconoscere due accumuli di queste schegge, uno più a nord formato da schegge di dimensioni medio-grandi, all’interno di uno strato interpretato come scarico di materiali per l’abbondante presenza anche di frammenti di vetro e pasta vitrea, ed un altro ben più ricco nella porzione sud-ovest dell’area, formato da schegge molto più piccole. L’ipotesi è che, in particolare nell’ultimo caso, si possa trattare di una zona di “sistematica distruzione” della decorazione litica della villa.
Infatti, nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca condotte durante l’estate scorsa, è stata individuata una grande sala (Vano U), non ancora definita in lunghezza (al momento oltre 20 metri) e larga 8 metri, caratterizzata da tre pilastri al centro e da una grande apertura sul lato est: in questo contesto è stato riconosciuto un vero e proprio cantiere volto allo stoccaggio, con successiva frantumazione, di lacerti musivi provenienti dalle pavimentazioni  a mosaico della villa. Un vero e proprio cantiere di smontaggio ritrovato in buono stato di conservazione ed utile a comprendere le attività di reimpiego dei materiali della villa tardoantica.
Parallelamente all’attività di scavo, sono proseguite le analisi archeometriche sui materiali lapidei pertinenti alla villa, che si sono concentrate in particolare sui marmi bianchi allo scopo di identificare le aree di provenienza, e sui materiali ritenuti locali onde definire le aree di approvvigionamento di cava. Sono state utilizzate tecniche analitiche quali diffrattometria a raggi X, analisi microstrutturali condotte in sezione sottile petrografica, analisi isotopiche.

Анотація. Встановлюється походження сировини кам'яних стел доби енеоліту-бро-нзи (IV – II тис. до н. е.) з Полтавського краєзнавчого музею імені Василя Кричев-ського. Досліджено п'ять статуй, серед яких найвідоміша кам'яна стела музею, що датується зазначеним періодом, – так званий Федорівський ідол, знайдений на те-риторії Карлівського району, дві стели з Кобеляцького та одна статуя з Кременчу-цького району Полтавської області. Походження однієї стели докладно не відоме. За результатами вивчення зразків гірських порід установлено, що сировиною Федорівського ідола є кварцовий пісковик, що містить уламки кременю і вулканічної по-роди, а також має поровий глинисто-кременистий цемент. Матеріал решти стел визначено як плагіограніт. Один зразок є окварцований, решта представлена біотитовим плагіогранітом. За результатами порівняння сировини досліджених стел зі шліфами гірських порід із Середнього Подніпров'я і Донбасу, сировиною інших пам'яток, що датуються тим самим часом, а також за літературними даними встановлено, що гранітні стели, найвірогідніше, мають місцеве походження, а саме з району м. Кременчук, де за доби енеоліту-бронзи розроблялися аналогічні породи. Сировина Федорівського ідола виявилася привіз-ною і, найвірогідніше, була видобута на території центрального Донбасу, де існують відслонення аналогічних пісковиків. Важливий факт – те, що гірська порода, з якої виготовлено Федорівський ідол, відповідає сировині відомого Керносівського ідола, який датується тим самим часом і був знайдений на території Дніпропетровської області. Ключові слова: археологічна петрографія, кам'яні стели, доба енеоліту-бронзи, Полтава Astract. The purpose of the article was to define the material provenance of stone stelae dated to the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age (4 th – 2 nd millennia BCE) from Poltava Museum of Local Lore named after Vasyl Krichevsky. Moreover, the aim was to ascertain possible areas of stone mining. The research was performed using mineralogical and petrographic methods. The study of rocks was carried out in thin sections using a polarizing microscope. To obtain more accurate data about clayey cement of sandstone, an XRD analysis of extracted and precipitated cement material was conducted. The provenance of the stone materials was established by comparison of determined petrographic features of rocks with characteristics of similar rocks from outcrops and modern mining sites, as well as data from geological survey reports and the petrographic literature. A comparison with thin sections of stone stelae dated to the same epoch from Dnipropetrovsk National Historical Museum named after D. I. Yavornytskyi and Horishni Plavni Museum of Local History was also performed. There were five statues studied, among which three were found in the southwest of Poltava Oblast (Kobeliaky and Kremenchuk Raion), one in the southeast of the Oblast (Karlivka Raion) and one with unknown place of finding. Petrographic research established that the statues from the southwest of Poltava Oblast, as well as the stele with unknown origin, were made from plagiogranite (biotite trondhjemite). The statue from the southeast of Poltava Oblast, the so-called Fedorivskyi Idol, was produced from sandstone (quartz arenite with argillaceous and siliceous cement). The granites have very similar petrographic features and could have originated from the same area. The area in the southwest of Poltava Oblast, the Dnieper River valley in the vicinity of the city Kremenchuk, belongs to the zone of the Ukrainian Shield, where similar Precambrian plagiogranites are exposed. The material of the studied statues is also similar to the granites of stone stelae from Horishni Plavni museum that were discovered in the same area.