AN EPR AND ISOTOPIC STUDY OF THE MARBLES OF THE TRAJAN's ARCH AT ANCONA: AN EXAMPLE OF ALLEGED HYMETTIAN PROVENANCE*

Abstract

The provenance of 20 marble samples drawn from the Trajan's arch at Ancona, which is supposed to be made of Greek, Hymettian marble, has been established on the basis of the independent use of EPR and isotopic data. The results of the two methods are in good agreement and unequivocally indicate a Proconnesian provenance. Sixteen samples are assigned to this site, whereas two are classified as untypical Proconnesian samples and the remaining two are assigned an unlikely Parian provenance. No indication exists for a possible Hymettian origin of the marbles. A multi-method approach, which employs all of the experimental variables simultaneously, demonstrates that the 18 samples identified as Proconnesian belong to several different quarrying areas within the site. This result is taken as an indication that the Proconnesian quarries were run following a highly organized, semi-industrial production model. The origin of the Hymettian/Proconnesian misunderstanding and the possible misclassification of other Roman monuments in Italy are briefly commented on.

Provenance of the white and polychrome marbles used for the architecture and sculpture of roman Sentinum (Sassoferrato, Marche, Italy)

“…On the basis of their isotopic signature, samples SEN21, SEN22 and SEN23 could share a common quarrying district, but seem to be from a different extractive site at Proconessos with respect to that of samples SEN04, SEN19 and SEN20 (Figure 3b). The importance of Proconnesos is not surprising and has been observed at other nearby sites (e.g., Urvinum Mataurense, Ancona and Suasa) (Attanasio et al, 2003;Capedri et al, 2001;Taelman et al, 2019). The significance of Proconnesos as a marble source for central Adriatic Italy is further illustrated by an honorific inscription of the Flavian/Trajanic chronology for an unknown equestrian, representing an early import of this marble not only in the region but also in the wider Italian Peninsula.…”

Archaeometric Study of the White Marbles from “Madonna Della Febbre” Altar in San Domenico Church (Cosenza, Southern Italy)

“…However, generally, Hymettus marbles show a characteristic foliation [21] not observed in SD2 and SD4. Moreover, Hymettus is macroscopically different, being a bluish-grey marble [16] with characteristic greyish banding with a straight and parallel course, easily confused in the past with Proconnesian typology, as reported by [26] in the study of the Trajan's arch at Ancona (Italy). In addition, both SD2 and SD4 fell into the Carrara field in the Mn diagram.…”

Molecular Spectroscopy

“…ESR spectroscopy provides a useful technique for characterising stone and has been applied to the study of marble and limestone [Armiento et al, 1997;Attanasio et al, 2003;Cordischi et al, 1983;Lazzarini and Antonelli, 2003;Polikreti et al, 2004;Polikreti and Maniatis, 2002]. The ESR spectra of such stones have three regions that may be used to investigate the provenance: peaks due to Mn 2+ and Fe 3+ and the region near g = 2.0000 [Polikreti and Maniatis, 2002;Polikreti et al, 2004].…”