Reply to Comments on the paper “Petrography and Mineralogy of the white marble and black stone of Göktepe (Muğla, Turkey) used in antiquity: New data for provenance determination” by M. Brilli, M.P. Lapuente Mercadal, F. Giustini and H. Royo Plumed (JAS Reports 2018, 19, 625–642)

Raman spectroscopy as a tool for provenancing black limestones (bigi morati) used in antiquity

“…Preliminary studies carried out on all of these lithotypes evidenced that a complete characterization and provenance discrimination can be addressed by integrating different laboratory methods, namely, optical microscopy, carbon and oxygen isotope composition and EPR spectroscopy. [ 10,11 ] In particular, isotopic analysis on carbonates demonstrated to be quite effective for discriminating North‐African and Greek sources, as well as the Italian Palombino quarrying area, even if with some overlaps and uncertainties in this latter case (Figure 4); nevertheless, the efficacy of the method was not verified for Göktepe black limestones, for which data appear highly scattered (see Figure 4).…”

“…Unlike white marbles, for which an extensive literature provides minero‐petrographic and isotopic criteria for provenance determination, [ 9 ] the availability of reference data on black limestones from ancient quarries is still is not exhaustive, even if significantly improved by recent researches. A first attempt of a multidisciplinary database is provided by a complete petrographic, isotopic and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) study on black limestones from some of the geographic locations mentioned above [ 10 ] ; another dataset has more recently addressed with a research on neri antichi from the Göktepe area, in Turkey, [ 11 ] whereas a new one is in progress by some of the authors (F.A., L.L. and D.W.R.…”

“…[10] Finally, as for the Microasiatic neri antichi recently discovered in Göktepe (Turkey), their characterization appears particularly challenging; in fact, these outcrops experienced a gradual transition between a partially recrystallized limestone and an almost totally recrystallized carbonate rock, so that the discrimination between highly diagenized and very low-grade metamorphic lithotypes is not easy to address. Up to recent studies, [11] they are interpreted as sedimentary impure limestones without mark of ductile deformation or dynamic recrystallization, ranging from dismicrites to sparstones, characterized by the occurrence of rudists (with larger calcite crystals) and organic/carbonaceous/graphitized matter dispersed in carbonate mass (Figure 3g-h); two different varieties can be distinguished: an highly diagenized limestone (Lithotype 1) and a neomorphic crystalline carbonate rock (Lithotype 2) in which the original texture was almost totally obliterated.…”

“…Preliminary studies carried out on all of these lithotypes evidenced that a complete characterization and provenance discrimination can be addressed by integrating different laboratory methods, namely, optical microscopy, carbon and oxygen isotope composition and EPR spectroscopy. [10,11] In particular, isotopic analysis on carbonates demonstrated to be quite effective for discriminating North-African and Greek sources, as well as the Italian Palombino quarrying area, even if with some F I G U R E 3 Microphotographs of thin sections of the nero antico from the different source areas here considered: (a) Tolfa/Palombino black limestone, (b) Lapis Niger (sample LN2 from Fornaseri et al [1] ), (c) Djebel Azeiza, (d) Thala, (e) Ain el Ksir, (f) Chios and (g and h) Goktepe (g: Lithotype 1 passing to Lithotype 2 and h: Lithotype 1 with rudists). All photomicrographs are crossed polarized light, except for pictures (d and e) that are plane polarized light.…”

Estudio arqueométrico del soporte marmóreo de una escultura de Livia hallada en la ciudad romana de Asido (Medina Sidonia, Cádiz)

“…El Sr ha mostrado tener un alto potencial discriminatorio en diferentes materiales de mármol (Cramer et al 2010: 143-160). No obstante, estudios arqueométricos previos sobre mármoles antiguos ponen de manifiesto que la huella digital única, ya sea mediante petrografía o análisis geoquímico, no es posible (Moens et al 1988: 243-250) y además la técnica empleada puede aportar resultados variables (Brilli et al 2020), de ahí que este método propuesto en este trabajo para el caso de estudios arqueométricos sobre piezas arqueológicas de provincia Baetica resulte de interés para el avance en la investigación arqueológica de este sector del sur de Hispania.…”