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Characterization and Provenance Analysis of Ancient Stone Materials: Insights from...
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Characterization and Provenance Analysis of Ancient Stone Materials: Insights from Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2024 | Viewed by 3844

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Pilar Lapuente

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Petrology and Geochemistry, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR), C/Pedro Cerbuna, 12, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
2. Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, Plaça d’en Rovellat, s/n, 43003 Tarragona, Spain
Interests: archaeometry; petrology; geochemistry; geomaterials; marbles; provenance studies; stone decay and conservation; stone heritage; pottery and ceramic technology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since prehistoric times, humans have known how to select stones depending on their quality to be used as a tool, part of a building or noble decorative or artistic element, or even for their special symbolic value. There is no doubt that the stone identification used in archaeological pieces, in art and cultural heritage, provides valuable information which helps us to understand the way of life of ancient communities. Provenance studies facilitate geographical and chronological evidence of human activities and are of considerable value in elucidating economic and social exchange mechanisms. On the other hand, better understanding of the resources exploited in ancient quarries offers prized information with special potential application in damaged architectural stoneworks. This is why, in recent years, the scientific community has been paying significant attention to the application of different analytical techniques to identify discrimination traces or fingerprints of raw materials. Recent developments and studies of stone characterization and provenance are invited to this Special Edition of Minerals. This is extended not only to marbles of the Greco-Roman world, but also to any stone resource ranging from prehistoric to recent past periods.

Dr. Pilar Lapuente
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • cultural heritage
  • analytical techniques
  • archaeometry
  • natural and ornamental stone
  • lithic materials
  • marble artefacts
  • ancient quarries
  • provenance studies

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 6546 KiB  
Article
A Multianalytical Approach to Identifying the White Marbles Used in Roman Imperial Sculptures from Tarraco (Hispania)
by M. Pilar Lapuente Mercadal, Montserrat Clavería and Isabel Rodà
Minerals 2024, 14(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14010019 - 22 Dec 2023
Viewed by 891
Abstract
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) [...] Read more.
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. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Provenance Analysis of Ancient Stone Materials: Insights from Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry)
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16 pages, 11343 KiB  
Article
Trading Marble for Steel: Early Roman Import of Carrara Marble into the Alps—The Example of the Magdalensberg Trading Post in Noricum
by Walter Prochaska
Minerals 2023, 13(8), 1036; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13081036 - 02 Aug 2023
Viewed by 883
Abstract
The annexation of the Noricum Kingdom by the Roman Empire in 16 BC brought an increase in the trading relations between the empire and its northern neighbours. A first hub for these relations was the emporium on the Magdalensberg in Noricum Mediterraneum (today [...] Read more.
The annexation of the Noricum Kingdom by the Roman Empire in 16 BC brought an increase in the trading relations between the empire and its northern neighbours. A first hub for these relations was the emporium on the Magdalensberg in Noricum Mediterraneum (today southern Carinthia/Austria). During the last decades, archaeological investigations of this settlement in a remote mountainous area revealed, inter alia, different kinds of marble decoration and architecture. Provenance analyses using a combination of different methods, including isotope analysis, trace element analysis and the analysis of inclusion fluids, show that the marbles used on the Magdalensberg are of different origins. Widely used were medium- to coarse-grained Alpine marbles from Roman quarries of the region of Gummern. Prominently used for plates, tiles, profiles, etc. were several types of fine-grained marbles of different origins. One group definitely originated from the quarries of Carrara (Carrara white and Carrara Bardiglio), testifying to the trading relations with northern Italy after the integration of Noricum into the Roman Empire. A database for the Carrara Bardiglio marble is presented and discussed. For the use of these data by further investigators, the numerical data are given as online material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Provenance Analysis of Ancient Stone Materials: Insights from Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry)
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21 pages, 8318 KiB  
Article
The Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Composition of the Marble Inscriptions of Aléria, Corsica
by Mauro Brilli, Francesca Giustini and Marco Gozzi
Minerals 2023, 13(4), 580; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13040580 - 20 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1203
Abstract
Aléria was the main city of the island of Corsica in ancient times. Archaeological excavations in the area where ancient Aléria once stood began between the 1950s and 1960s and brought to light numerous inscriptions mainly carved on slabs of white marble; they [...] Read more.
Aléria was the main city of the island of Corsica in ancient times. Archaeological excavations in the area where ancient Aléria once stood began between the 1950s and 1960s and brought to light numerous inscriptions mainly carved on slabs of white marble; they constitute an important source of knowledge of the city’s institutions, urban topography, society, and economy. The provenance of the marbles, on which the inscriptions were carved, can add important information about the history of the city. A first visual examination of the slabs or slab fragments allows us to state that Carrara is probably the provenance of most of the marbles used. Practical reasons lead us to believe that the provenance of these marbles can be traced back to two main quarry areas: Carrara, or somewhere in Corsica. The determination of the stable isotope composition of these marbles could solve this problem. Carrara marble, in fact, has a narrow range of isotopic variability, with values typical of marine carbonates, that allows for a strong characterization. The petrographic method of investigation was used, as a second step, on a reduced number of marble inscriptions to evaluate the effectiveness of the isotopic characterization of Carrara. The results of the analysis confirmed that most of the gray and white marbles studied have Carrara as their quarrying area; they also revealed that in Corsica the presence of ancient local marble quarries is uncertain, even in Roman times. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Characterization and Provenance Analysis of Ancient Stone Materials: Insights from Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1) Ana Luísa Rodrigues et al: "Provenance and circulation issues of pre-historic schist architectural materials through a micro and non-destructive approach"


2) Martinez et al: "Multiproxy petrological analysis for provenance determination of a granitic stone anchor in the Western Mediterranean"

3)  Akos et al: "Characterization and Provenance of the Stone Material of a Medieval Ruin from Hungary: Two Thousand Years of History of Stone Use"

4) Pilar Lapuente and Nogales: "Statuary qualities of white and black Göktepe marble identified in the Hispanic Valdetorres de Jarama marble collection"

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