An updated petrographic and isotopic reference database for white marbles used in antiquity

Abstract

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 in classical antiquity. On the basis of a complete scrutiny of the recent literature data published from 2002 to 2012, we propose here an upgrade and reorganization on a geographic base of the petrographic and isotopic databanks based on hundreds of analyses relative to the marbles from the major and some minor quarries active in Greek and Roman times. These new data allow to increase the statistical significance of the whole database and draw new global reference isotopic diagrams related to the maximum grain size (MGS) of the different marbles proving very useful to better determining the provenance of a given archaeological/historical marble objects

Calcite alabaster artifacts from Hierapolis in Phrygia, Turkey: Provenance determination using carbon and oxygen stable isotopes

“…Stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios, minero-petrographic study and strontium isotopes were used to characterize both calcite and gypsum alabasters (Antonelli, Lazzarini, Cancelliere, & Dessandier, 2010;Barbieri, Lilyquist, & Testa, 2002;Barbieri, Testa, Merola, Polychronakis, & Simitzis, 2002;Brilli et al, 2017;Çolak & Lazzarini, 2002;Herrmann, van den Hoek, & Tykot, 2012;Klemm & Klemm, 2008;Lazzarini, Visonà, Giamello, & Villa, 2012). These techniques are also among the most commonly adopted to characterize white and colored marbles and study the provenance of ancient artifacts (Attanasio et al, 2000;Matthews, Leese, Hughes, Herz, & Bowman, 1995;Moens et al, 1988); stable isotopes, in particular, have appeared to be promising ever since the first applications (Craig & Craig, 1972;Manfra, Masi, & Turi, 1975), although with the increasing data set it became almost impossible to differentiate marbles from various localities using this method alone (Antonelli & Lazzarini, 2015).…”

The Roman Ship 'punta Scifo d' and its Marble Cargo (Crotone, Italy)

“…Isotopic characterization has proved to be very useful in the identification of the marble of ancient artefacts. Its use is becoming more widespread owing to its outstanding sensitivity, the small quantity of material necessary for the analysis, and the availability of a rapidly growing database, often associated with other laboratory methodologies Attanasio et al 2006;Antonelli and Lazzarini 2015). This permits increasingly reliable comparisons, especially if the isotopic data are evaluated together with the minero-petrographic results from the same samples, as in the present study.…”

“…, ; Gorgoni et al . ; Antonelli and Lazzarini ), as well as other archaeometric studies of 'minor' marbles and Classical treatises on petrotectonics (Spry ), were taken into consideration. When necessary, a direct comparison with reference thin sections of marbles sampled in ancient quarries was made.…”

“…For the petrographic description, previous specific studies of the most important 'major' ancient marbles (Lazzarini et al 1980a(Lazzarini et al , 1980bGorgoni et al 2002;Antonelli and Lazzarini 2015), as well as other archaeometric studies of 'minor' marbles and Classical treatises on petrotectonics (Spry 1976), were taken into consideration. When necessary, a direct comparison with reference thin sections of marbles sampled in ancient quarries was made.…”

Craftsmanship and Identity in the Hellenistic Funerary Reliefs of Naples: An Archaeological and Archaeometric Analysis

“…Each sample was also used to yield powder for both the X‐ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and stable carbon and oxygen isotope (McCrea ) analyses with a PANalytical EMPYREAN (Cu–K α /Ni: 40 kV and 40 mA) diffractometer and a FINNIGAN Mat Delta E mass spectrometer, respectively. The results of the isotopic analysis were expressed in δ (‰) values, relative to the international PDB standard (Craig ), and compared through ad hoc isotope diagrams with the latest databank (Antonelli and Lazzarini ), which includes more than 1000 samples from the main quarries of the Mediterranean. The main petrographic features of marbles (structure; carbonate crystal boundaries; maximum grain size of the largest crystal of calcite/dolomite, expressed in millimetres—MGS; presence and relative quantity of accessory minerals: see Moens et al ; Antonelli and Lazzarini , with further bibliography) were also compared with the most recent published data (Germann et al ; Matthews et al ; Gorgoni et al ; Lazzarini and Antonelli ; Antonelli et al .…”