Panel 4.5 – Roman and Late Antique industries


Organiser/Chair:

  • Eckhard Deschler-Erb (Universität zu Köln)

Paper abstracts

1. Dagmara Wielgosz-Rondolino (University of Warsaw)

Marmora Asiatica. Polish studies on marble quarries in Asia Minor
Three years ago Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw has launched an interdisciplinary project, “Marmora Asiatica. Towards archaeopetrology in Poland,” financed by the National Science Centre of the Republic of Poland and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey. The main objective of the project is to document the archaeological settings as well as topography and geology of the most important ancient marble quarries in Asia Minor. Another goal is to develop an extensive database of petrographic and geochemical properties of white and grey marbles.
An international mission carried out three research seasons of fieldwork: the first, in 2014, focused on the quarries of İscehisar (ancient Dokimeion) and Göktepe, the second, in 2015, on the quarries of Altıntaş and Aphrodisias, and the third one (2016) on the ancient quarries of Prokonnesos (Marmara Island).
The major aim of the surveys was to locate and record ancient quarries as well as to collect marble samples to provide mineralogical, petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the marbles for the database.
Mapping was carried out with a total station and GPS-equipment, although the most important and useful for this kind of documentation was a three-dimensional scanner. This allowed for estimate the volume of stone extracted and make a three-dimensional model of the best-preserved quarries.

"Marmora Asiatica. Polish Studies on Marbles from Asia Minor" (Fulltext)

 

2. Younes Ameur (University of Tunis)

Marble stones of Jbel Tebaga of Medenine (Tunisia) and their uses in Roman Buildings
Jbel Tebaga of Medenine is located in the South-east part of Tunisia, about 25 km West-North-West of the town of Medenine. During the surveys several ancient open air quarries of onyx and grey marble limestone were discovered. Traces of block extraction and cutting marks are well preserved on the cut-rock faces of these quarries. According to the petrographic and chemical analyses the blocks extracted from these quarries were used to build and decorate the buildings of both Roman cities of Jecktis and Meninx.
This paper deals with onyx and marble limestone quarries, and their extraction techniques. Then we will demonstrate through petro-chemical analyses how extracted blocks were employed in buildings of the two neighbouring Roman cities.

"Roman Marble Stone Quarries in Jbel Saïkha and Jbel Essouïnia (Toujane – Tunisia): From Extraction to Uses" (Fulltext)

 

3. Zdravko Dimitrov (National Institute of Archaeology/Museum, Sofia)

The Travelling Stonemasons in Roman Thrace – new evidences about the distribution of marble, about the spread of architectural traditions and sculptural models in the Principate
Dozens of years ago prominent scholars like M. Squarchiapino, J. Toynbee, J. Ward-Perkins and Y. Mladenova studied in depth the transfer of architectural patterns and sculptural models in the Roman Empire on the basis of the distribution patterns of marble. The ideas and stone carving methods were spread by the travelling groups of stonemasons, mainly from Anatolia.
Masters from Aphrodisias, Nicomedia, Ephesus and Pergamon were commissioned to produce various works in different areas of the Roman world - Italy, Hellas, North Africa. There is a wealth of information about this process from Roman Thrace.
Nowadays we can trace this phenomenal distribution not only of stone works, but of architectural patterns, ideas and methods of work, by further studying and analysing the numerous new finds unearthed during archaeological excavations in Bulgaria.
The workmanship of the Anatolian masters in Thrace can be perceived in the Roman colonies of Ratiaria and Oescus, in the Thracian cities of Odessos, Tomis, Marcianopolis, Abritus, Augusta Traiana and Philippopolis, and especially in the Roman villas in Southern Bulgaria - Kasnakovo and Armira.
The recently found architectural and sculptural details substantiate the thesis of the remarkable skills of the travelling Anatolian master-masons carrying out special commissions. This was an essential sector of the Roman economy during the Principate, which was facilitated by the intensive distribution of stone materials – marble and limestone.

"Travelling Stone Masons in Roman Thrace – New Evidence for the Distribution of Marble, Architectural Traditions and Sculptural Models during the Principate" (Fulltext)

 

4. Khaled Al-Bashaireh and Abdul-Qader Al-Housan (Yarmouk University)

Marble trade in Jordan during the Byzantine period: Hayyan Al-Mushrif, a case study
This research investigates the source of marble elements uncovered in situ at the Middle Church of Hayyan al-Mushrif archaeological site, northeast Jordan based on physical, mineralogical-petrographic and geochemical analyses using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and mass spectrometry. The church was remodeled and a rectangular sanctuary was added during the Byzantine period. This sanctuary was bordered with a marble chancel screen. Analytical results were compared with the main reference databases of known Mediterranean marble quarries exploited in antiquity. Proconnesus-1 from Saraylar (Maramara, Turkey) is the most likely primary source for marble trade during the Byzantine period, while Proconnesus-2 from Ҫamlik (Marmara, Turkey) is a minor source. It is likely that the low cost, availability of ecclesiastical products of standard sizes, large labor forces and advanced transportation methods were the principal reasons for the success of Proconnesus (or Marmara) in supplying ecclesiastical marble for the construction of new churches arising from the spread of Christianity during the Byzantine period.