Panel 4.3 – From the quarry to the monument. The process behind the process: Design and Organization of the work in ancient architecture


Organiser/Chair:

  • Adalberto Ottati (Pablo de Olavide University, Seville)
  • Maria Serena Vinci (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne)

External Discussant:

  • Milagros Navarro Caballero (CNRS)

Panel abstract

The project and the organizational aspects of the work represent the first fundamental steps to reach a good final product within the economical and constructive complex system of a building's setting up. It deals with processes hardly decipherable and that we can understand only after an accurate observation and analysis. The skilled workers are a crucial element, guarding the technical knowledge and expertise about extractive and constructive working processes that guarantee the successful work-out of the "cantiere di costruzione". Within this context, the discussion will focus on two main topics: - Quarry marks or notae lapicidinarum - Carving lines in architecture and on artifacts The complexity of the extraction processes and of the storage, trade, control and accounting procedures determined the need of a sort of tracking code: quarry marks consequently generated a sort of code to track the materials from the extraction point to their final placement. At the same time, the carving lines represent guidelines useful to the building planning and positioning of stone and marble elements. In this way, marks and carving lines stand as two aspects of the three-dimensional materialization of the project and organization processes within the building activities. In this context, the skilled workers use systems to communicate and transmit their knowledge: these systems are actually difficult to interpret, but they had to be clear and easily accessible to them. This session focuses on a wide range of subjects covering different chronological ranges and geographical areas. The goal is to set up a debate deepen our knowledge of the construction systems and to identify differences in working and transmission procedures of technical expertise by skilled manpower. It would be of the most interest to outline the system of connections existing among the workshops. Indeed, in any age, there must have been a sort of network linking the quarry to the monument in a bilateral way. Finally, to analyze and trace the production process of ancient architecture to the notae lapicidinarum and carving guidelines will allow to reach original and innovative considerations on workshop's networking employed in the extraction and constructive activities.

 

Paper abstracts

1. Adalberto Ottati (Pablo de Olavide University, Seville) / Maria Serena Vinci (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne)

Carving instructions, quarry and construction marks for stone artifacts production in Roman world
Recently a field of research, aimed to study stone/marble artifacts production not only for their function as final product, but also for examining the elements for their making process, is getting a space.
Within this kind of approach, incised preparatory lines and mark-guidelines observed on several stone artifacts, are fundamental. Too often these incisions have been relegated as “marks of making”, underestimating their meaning: they are significant clue for study and really understand technology and know-how of the ateliers in the working process of marble objects.
This contribution aims to propose an overview of different characteristics of the making process by observing, above all, architectural marble elements, proceeding from different archaeological contexts, in order to highlight the potential of this field of research for investigating the transfer of knowledge in ancient world from the foreman to skilled specialist manpower.
This study is part of a research project aimed to study the transfer of ideas and knowledge for technology in ancient world, possibly identifying regional influence or local traditions.

"From the Quarry to the Monument. The Process behind the Process: Design and Organization of the Work in Ancient Architecture. Introduzione" (Fulltext)

 

2. Begoña Soler Huertas (Universidad de Murcia)

Signum lapidarium: Classification and meaning in the roman period
Mason’s marks are among the most intensely studied topics within the field of ‘archaeology of construction’. A large diversity of such marks have been identified to date, on an equally diverse typology of masonry work, which suggests that these marks followed a coded language which included all stages of construction, including the transportation, commercialisation and erection of the masonry blocks.
Glyptography distinguishes between personal signatures, either individual or collective, and practical signs, including quarrying marks and others connected with the positioning and assembling of the block in the final construction. Evidence concerning the organisation of quarry work in the Mediterranean region, as well as evidence pertaining to supply and redistribution centres, suggest that some of these marks refer to the quarrying stage, and would be executed within the source areas, while others were related to quality control and commercialisation, and would be inscribed further down the line.
This contribution aims to examine a selection of incised and painted marks on stone, including alphabetic and numerical signs, lineal marks and ideograms. Although the coded language employed is hard to interpret, the global analysis of these marks and their respective archaeological contexts (exploitation areas, harbour warehouses and construction sites) suggests that these marks were used in a wide variety of situations.

"Signum lapidarium. Clasificación y Significado en Época Romana" (Fulltext)

 

3. Marco Tentori Montalto

From the quarry to the inscription in the Greek world
A considerable part of the material coming from the quarries became monuments bearing inscriptions. In particular some typologies of manufacts, e.g. stelae, arae, milestones, were created in the sculptor’s workshop. But can we distinguish between miner, sculptor, and stonecutter? What do their ancient names actually indicate? And, for instance, who engraved the guidelines? The studies on this issue (in particular: G. Susini, Il lapicida romano. Introduzione all’epigrafia latina, Bologna 1966) show how hard it is in many cases to distinguish between lapicida, lapicidinarius, quadratarius, scalptor, and sculptor. However, Greek sources, above all the epigraphical ones, prove insightful for this issue, as I recently remarked (M. Tentori Montalto, Il lapicida greco, Epigraphica 76, 2014, pp. 17-46). Therefore, I would like to discuss the most representative ones, such as payment’s registrations (IG VII, 3073 and IG XI, 2, 161) and sculptors’ signatures ( IG I3 680, 763, 788, 1218, 1344), with the aim of distinguishing different type of works which implies a different skill set. How do these sources contribute to our knowledge of the passage from the quarry to the inscription? This paper aims at displaying a chronological continuity or discontinuity in the process of the production of inscriptions in the Greek world, underlying similarity or difference throughout the centuries and possible correspondence with the Latin sources.

"Vom Steinbruch zur Inschrift in der griechischen Welt" (Fulltext)

 

4. Alberto Dalla Rosa (Université Bordeaux Montaigne)

Supplying grain to imperial quarries: how to approach different sources and contexts?
The exceptional documentation available for the imperial quarries of Mons Claudianus in Egypt allows for a detailed insight into the practices and the problems linked to the supply of provisions for the workforce of this large imperial exploitation. Other contexts are far less documented, but that does not imply that we cannot reconstruct at least some of the aspects of the supply organization. Recent studies have shown that epigraphic or archaeological data can reveal how the grain needs of workers employed on large extraction sites had a profound impact on the exploitation of arable land in a more or less large region. The purpose of this paper is therefore to compare the documentation coming from the regions surrounding different imperial quarries (Dokimeion, Simitthus, Mons Claudianus and others) in order to show how the combination of different kinds of sources can help us to reconstruct some general traits of the grain supply and to understand the adaptations needed for the different local contexts. A particular attention will be devoted to the evidence concerning the development of private and imperial estates in these regions. The geographical extension and the nature of the competences of imperial freedmen procurators managing the quarries will also be scrutinized in oder to better determine the role of these officials in the organization of the supplies.

"Supplying Imperial Quarries: a Comparison between Mons Claudianus and Dokimeion" (Fulltext)

 

5. Gianfranco Paci

Materiale da costruzione e marchi di cava nelle città romane dell'area medioadriatica
L’uso di materiali lapidei è condizionato, in quest’area, dalle caratteristiche geologiche, che evidenziano da un lato l’assenza di marmi, dall’altro la disponibilità di arenaria e di una certa varietà di rocce calcaree.
L’uso del marmo è da ricondurre ad importazioni. Il marmo lunense è documentato a Potentia già dalla prima età augustea ed è possibile seguire l’uso di questo materiale nel corso dell’età imperiale. Esso è tuttavia ben presto affiancato da marmi, bianchi e colorati, provenienti dalle varie parti del Mediterraneo. Si conosce anche l’uso, episodico, del marmo rosso da Verona.
Resta difficile, al presente, conoscere l’entità dei flussi di approvvigionamento e soprattutto i rapporti quantitativi, nel tempo, tra mamo lunense e marmi d’importazione. Ciò dipende dal fatto che, salvo eccezioni (come quelle su Urbs Salvia e Forum Sempronii), manca una indagine di carattere generale sulle singole città antiche del territorio riguardanti l’uso dei materiali lapidei in edilizia ed in particolare dei marmi; così come è finora mancata una ricerca volta all’individuazione della cave antiche.
Marchi di cava su marmo sono fin qui documentati solo su statue: a Potentia, Auximum e Fanum Fortunae. Marchi di cava su materiali calcarei si conoscono solo in costruzioni di età repubblicana: Auximum e Ancona. Un caso a parte è costituito dalle iscrizioni della cava sotterranea scoperta qualche tempo fa sul Monte Conero (Ancona).

"Materiali da Costruzione, Marchi ed Iscrizioni di Cava nelle Città Romane dell’Area Medio-Adriatica" (Fulltext)

 

6. Maria Serena Vinci (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne)

Notae lapicidinarum from a limestone quarry: preliminary considerations on quarry labels and their function in building process of early public architecture at Tarraco (Hispania Citerior)
The notae lapicidinarum marked on the architectural or stone elements it’s largely attested for the roman period. However, signs, letters or inscriptions represent a difficult subject to approach in relation to their interpretation which is largely cryptic and inaccessible.
In early imperial age, Tarraco (modern Tarragona, Spain), capital city of the largest Roman province in the Western Mediterranean, experienced an intense building activity that totally modified its architecture and urbanism. This intense construction activity is testified by the impressive architectural remains of the Provincial Forum, but also by the exceptionally well-preserved evidences of stone supply, such as the large quarry of El Mèdol.
A remarkable collection of quarry marks are preserved on a large number of blocks proceeding from the provincial monument, but above all from the site of the limestone quarry: the majority are carved labels and a small group are painted marks (red paint or ), which only rarely are preserved, especially on building materials.
This contribution aims to approach the study of an important group of notae lapicidinarum, related to the construction of the major monument of the Citerior capital city, in order to better understand the organisation of the building industry for the construction of a public architectural complex, which process starts in the quarry site, extracting materials, and is completed placing the materials in the construction site.

"Alcune Considerazioni sui signa lapicidinarum dalla Cava Romana di El Mèdol (Tarraco, Hispania Citerior). Some Remarks on signa lapicidinarum from the Roman Quarry El Mèdol (Tarraco, Hispania Citerior)" (Fulltext)

 

7. Navarro Caballero (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne) / Angeles Magallón Botaya and Paula Uribe (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Marcas epigráficas en la Presa Romana del Muel (Zaragoza)
La Presa Romana de Muel (Zaragoza) es uno de los monumentos hidráulicos romanos más relevantes de Hispania. Situada a 30 km de Caesaraugusta y destinada a almacenar agua para abastecer a la colonia y territorios agrícolas cercanos a la misma, ofrece datos significativos para comprender el proceso de organización y explotación del territorio de Caesaraugusta. Se trata de una presa de gravedad sin escalones. Mide 10,35 m de altura máxima y 7/8 m de anchura en el coronamiento y 11,54 m en su zona inferior de anchura. Respecto a su longitud, se estima que pudo alcanzar los 100 m. Construida en época augustea, la presa quedó prácticamente fuera de servicio a finales del siglo III p.C. debido a los aportes de los aluviones del río Huerva que la colmataron rápidamente y han facilitado su excelente conservación.

Mención especial merece el conjunto de marcas epigráficas, del que nunca conoceremos su número, al estar situadas en lugares inaccesibles e invisibles dentro del muro de la presa. Constituyen un unicum por su variedad y datos que ofrecen para el estudio y conocimiento de la explotación de las canteras y de la construcción de la presa. Junto a la presa se encuentra la cantera de la que se extrajo la piedra empleada en su construcción, lo que ha permitido analizar el proceso de extracción de la piedra y la secuencia de la realización de la misma. El conjunto de presa, embalse y cantera romanos de Muel conforman un conjunto único en Hispania.

"Notae lapicidinarum en la presa romana de Muel (Zaragoza)" (Fulltext)

 

8. Arleta Kowalewska and Michael Eisenberg (University of Haifa)

Masons' Marks of Antiochia Hippos and Roman Syria-Palaestina
Masons’ marks are a well-attested phenomenon among Classical-periods sites; however, often they are not fully documented and researched. The lack of a comprehensible database impedes interpretation of these marks and the possibility of their further use as archaeological evidence, which the paper strives to relive to an extent.
The first part of the paper presents results of a survey conducted at Antiochia Hippos (Sussita) of the Decapolis. The survey yielded identification of almost 400 marks engraved in stones in the quarry for accounts and indication of assembly order. The second part introduces additional masons’ marks documented on local building stone in various Roman period sites of Syria-Palaestina, from rural sites of the chora of Hippos, through other cities of the Decapolis, to Herodian and Nabatean constructions.
The gathered material gives insight not only as to the function of the marks, consequently indicating how the construction process of different structures was organized, but also as to a relative and absolute dating of the constructions that the marks appear on, and in some cases the ethnicity of the local stonemasons. The study of masons’ marks of Syria-Palaestina reveals some curious trends connected to their dating and geographical distribution, such as the particularly numerous occurrences on the first and second century C.E.–dated basalt monumental architecture that indicate a certain work organisation of local basalt craftsmen at the time.

"Masons’ Marks of Antiochia Hippos and Roman Syria-Palaestina" (Fulltext)

 

9. Javier Atienza Fuente (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

Marcas y Trazados de replanteo, puesta en obra y elaboración de elementos constructivos pétreos en la arquitectura pública de Valeria (Cuenca, España)
La monumentalización arquitectónica que tiene lugar en la ciudad hispanorromana de Valeria (Cuenca, España) en torno al cambio de era afectó a gran parte de la ciudad.
El desarrollo del proceso constructivo se realizó cuidando los aspectos técnicos de cada una de las fases: desde la extracción de los bloques pétreos, el diseño y la labra de los elementos arquitectónicos, para finalizar con su puesta en obra.
Las excavaciones arqueológicas han exhumado el área forense de la ciudad, donde se concentraban los edificios más importantes.
La mayoría de estos edificios se encuentran prácticamente arrasados. No obstante, muchas de las estructuras conservadas y de los elementos arquitectónicos recuperados presentan en sus superficies marcas, trazos y líneas, así como agujeros u oquedades labradas que arrojan una valiosa información sobre la organización y el desarrollo de los procesos constructivos que allí tuvieron lugar.
Encontramos marcas y líneas incisas para el exacto posicionamiento de los bloques pétreos, que denotan una cuidada y estudiada planificación técnica del proyecto de edificación; trazos grabados en los bloques pétreos que sirvieron para resolver problemas geométricos y, también, para tener una referencia precisa a la hora de esculpir y elaborar basas y capiteles; y, finalmente, una gran variedad de huecos labrados a propósito en los elementos arquitectónicos que sirvieron tanto para la puesta en obra de los mismos, como para su fijación definitiva tras su puesta en obra.

"Marcas y Trazados de Replanteo, Puesta en obra y Elaboración de Elementos Contructivos Pétreos en la Arquitectura Pública de Valeria (Cuenca, España)" (Fulltext)