alabaster : an interdisciplinary workshop on the sources and uses … · 3 ‘alabaster’: an...
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Instituto di Norvegia in Roma Viale Trenta Aprile 33 00153 Roma Tel. +39 06 5939 1000/6/7 E-mail: [email protected] Sito web: http://www.hf.uio.no/dnir/
‘Alabaster’: an interdisciplinary
workshop on the sources and uses of
calcite-alabaster across archaeological
contexts
Organising Committee: Simon J. Barker & Simona Perna
Norwegian Institute in Rome 9-10 May 2019
The aim of this workshop is to look at the archaeological identification and use of alabaster, including its quarry sources, historical uses and symbolism from a comparative, interdisciplinary perspective. Characterized by a high visual impact and a deep semiotic value, alabaster was one of the most sought after decorative stones throughout antiquity; however, many aspects connected to its quarrying, scientific provenance and use remain unexplored. This contrasts with other decorative stones, especially white marble, where quarry sample databases and ever-developing techniques and methodologies for material characterization and provenance determination (Antonelli and Lazzarini 2015; Attanasio et al. 2006; Lazzarini 2004; Zöldföldi et al. 2008) have allowed marble artefacts to be provenanced with high reliability. While recent research has attempted to provide similar information for alabaster identification and provenance (Perna 2015; Perna and Barker 2017; Barker and Perna 2018; Barker et al. ASMOSIA XI; Barker and Perna ASMOSIA XI), the existing literature on the subject is still insufficient and scattered. As such, the quarrying, use and meaning of alabaster deserve an extensive study, akin to those already extended to other popular types of decorative stone.
The objective of this workshop is to bring together, for the first time, scholars from several disciplines to offer comprehensive insight into alabaster as an archaeological aretefact. This will include a discussion of past and current issues related to the study and identification of this ornamental stone. The workshop’s primary aim is to contribute to the scientific debate on the trade and use of decorative stones in antiquity by studying the production, distribution and consumption of alabaster in the Mediterranean. The focus will be on the Roman period, however, for the analysis to be as comprehensive as possible, the workshop will include discussions of both earlier (Bronze Age, Hellenistic) and later periods (Late Antiquity, early Christian, Medieval, Renaissance). Geographically, the workshop will focus on the uses of this stone across the Mediterranean (Egypt, Asia Minor, Near East, Europe) to understand and analyse patterns of quarrying, trade, use and meaning both diachronically and cross-culturally from a wider comparative perspective.
The importance of alabaster for Roman society, combined with its durability, provenancing potential, and chronological resolution – alabaster objects, such as
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pavements and urns, are generally well-dated – make it a very promising subject of research for archaeologists and historians. The outcome and publication of this workshop is expected to be a much needed and thorough study of this important stone that gathers together all available evidence. It will provide the first systematic and interdisciplinary examination of alabaster and is therefore set to become a point of reference for comparative analyses and a practical tool for future research on this decorative stone. Practical Information The Norwegian Institute in Rome is pleased to announce that the workshop will take place from Thursday 9th May until Friday 10th May. The full programme follows below. The workshop is free but we kindly ask people to register at the following email: [email protected] by May 1st. The conference will take place in Norwegian Institute in Rome, which is located on gianicolo hill on Viale Trenta Aprile 33. The Institute is located within a 5-10 minute walk of both the 44 and 75 bus routes. The Norwegian Institute and workshop organising committee looks forward to welcoming you this coming May. For any questions, please contact: [email protected]
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‘Alabaster’: an interdisciplinary workshop on the sources
and uses of calcite-alabaster across archaeological contexts
Norwegian Institute in Rome
9-10 May 2019
Organising Committee: Simon J. Barker & Simona Perna
DAY 1: THURSDAY 9TH MAY
9:00-10:00 REGISTRATION
10:00-10:30
INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKSHOP Organising Committee and Christopher Prescott, Director of the Norwegian Institute in Rome
10:30 -11:00
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CALCITE ALABASTERS USED IN ANTIQUITY AS DECORATIVE
STONES Lorenzo Lazzarini, Università Iuav di Venezia
This paper will present an introduction to the varieties of decorative stone (termed alabaster) that
were used in Antiquity. The origin of the term alabaster is probably connected to Alabastrites, the
old name of the Central Egyptian region (the area from Assiut to Minia) where the well-known
calcite alabaster called lapis alabastrites or alabastrum melleum by the Romans, was quarried from
Late Neolithic times to the present. In Antiquity this term clearly referred to an almost pure calcite
(calcium carbonate)-rock. It was only in modern times that the term “alabaster” was also used (only,
or especially by Anglo-Saxon mineralogists and petrographers), to identify gypsum (by-hydrated
calcium sulphate), whose transparent or translucid variety was known to Romans as lapis
specularis. The confusion, sometimes still current, affects the classification of alabasters which is
further complicated by the fact that calcite alabasters are, and should be, correctly classified
geologically as travertines. It should however be taken into consideration that all the most beautiful
and famous polychromed travertines used in Antiquity were named alabasters by the Roman stone-
cutters of the Renaissance and Baroque, and that their names, often specifying colour and texture
(e.g. a ciliegino, cinerino, cotognino, fiorito, ghiaccione, listato, marino, a pecorella, a tartaruga,
etc.), are the oldest known traditional names that should still be used. The sedimentary genesis of
travertines may be connected to the precipitation of calcite from cold groundwater saturated with
meteoric CO2 (meteogenetic travertines), or from the thermally-generated degassing of the same gas
in hot ground-waters present in correspondence with tectonic or volcanic activity (thermogenetic
travertines). Both travertines may be bedded and/or banded according to their depositional
environment: the first are the most common subaerial travertine, normally forming mounds; the
second form inside vertical or sub-vertical lithoclases tectonically opened in the former travertines,
typically in fissure-ridges. Examples of bedded travertines are alabastro cotognino (Central Egypt),
alabastro di Jano di Montaione and di Castelnuovo dell’Abate (Tuscany); examples of banded
travertines are alabastro fiorito/listato from Hierapolis (Turkey) and Diebel Oust (Tunisia). The
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genesis and characteristics of other lesser known Italian alabasters from Campania (Gesualdo-
Villamaina, and Fontegreca on the Matese Mountains, all in the Avellino province) and Sicily
(Monte Pellegrino near Palermo) used in post-antique monuments will also be discussed.
11:00-11:30 COFFEE BREAK
11:30-12:00
ALABASTRO DEL CIRCEO AND OTHER ITALIAN ALABASTERS Matthias Bruno, Independent Researcher, Rome
The most famous quarries of Italy are without any doubt those of the Apuan Alps, an immense
marble district in which the white Luna marble was quarried and, in much smaller quantities, also
the gray bardiglio variety. Within the Italian peninsula many other ancient quarries produced
various polychrome stones, such as the granites from the islands of Sardinia, Elba and Giglio and
Nicotera in Calabria. Variegated polychrome marbles like the Breccia rossa Apenninica, the
Breccia rosata di Roselle, that from Serrravezza, the Cottanello, the pietra paesina, the litomarga
verde or the lapis niger came from central Italy. Added to these are the alabasters extracted in
Tuscany and Latium. This paper will look at these Italian sources and the alabasters that they
produce. Volterra alabaster is attested since the Etruscan age, especially for small funerary urns,
while the use of the Montaione alabaster, which can be identified as a kind of alabastro listato, is
not really attested in Roman Antiquity. From Latium, however, an area that has produced different
alabaster qualities is that of the Circeo promontory. Here, several small quarries have produced
small amounts of alabaster of different qualities since Roman times. In the locality "La Batteria",
the quarry produced a light-colored alabaster, sometimes similar to ice and therefore called also
"alabaster a ghiaccione". This alabaster, whose quarries were reopened in the sixteenth century, was
most likely used in Roman times, as testified by some evidences from the Vesuvian cities. Other
different varieties were quarried in other locations of the promontory, among which, one near S.
Felice Circeo, a so-called “tartarugato” alabaster variety was extracted.
12:00-12:30
ALABASTER IN ANCIENT ALGERIA (NUMIDIA AND MAURETANIA) John J. Herrmann, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Annewies Vandenhoek, Harvard
University/Harvard Semitic Museum
Algeria is endowed with many sources of alabaster or onyx marble, and two of them have become
rather famous. Alabaster a pecorella, which comes from Bouhanifia in western Algeria, is well
known for its use in Roman times, especially in Italy. Aïn Tekbalet, also in western Algeria,
produces an onyx marble that was popularized in France in the 19th century by the sculptor Charles
Cordier. Other onyx marble sources quarried by Enamarbre, the Algerian state marble company, are
at Aïn Smara and Mt. Mahouna in the eastern part of the country. Analysis of stable isotopes of
carbon and oxygen has produced distinct and coherent characterizations for each of these stones
(i.e., reasonably compact isotopic fields). A campaign of artefact sampling has made it likely that
all these sources were used in Antiquity. Signs of pre-industrial extraction are rare in the quarries,
but isotopically and visually some Roman artefacts seem to be made of these stones. The evidence,
however, is somewhat ambiguous for Aïn Tekbalet. Mahouna was the most heavily used of the
Algerian alabasters, but less for its decorative qualities than as a normal construction material in its
region. Recent expansion of the oxygen-carbon database for alabasters in the Mediterranean basin
(Brilli et al., Archaeometry 2017) makes it possible to establish the presence of imported alabasters
in Algeria. Alabastro a pecorella seems to have been the only Algerian alabaster to have been
exported to the northern shores of the Mediterranean, but some other Algerian alabasters may have
been exported to Tunisia, the Roman province of Proconsularis. Even with the improvements in our
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knowledge of ancient alabasters, however, it is not yet possible to assign all ancient artefacts in
Algeria made of this material to their original sources.
12:30-1:00
ALABASTERS OF JEBEL TEBAGA, JEBEL OUST AND JEBEL ROUASS IN TUNISIA: FROM
THEIR EXTRACTION TO THEIR USES IN ANTIQUITY Ameur Younes, University of Tunis
Alabaster was much appreciated throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, such as in Egypt
where it was used from the Pharaonic period. During Roman times, the use of alabaster became
more widespread for decorating public monuments and luxurious private constructions, particularly
in towns located close to the quarries. Geo-archaeological analysis distinguishes between two
varieties of alabasters: calcite alabaster and gypsum alabaster. Calcite alabaster was well known in
Africa Proconsularis. Today, several Roman quarries have been found in the southern and northern
Tunisian mountains (jebel Tebaga, jebel Oust and jebel Rouass), and most of these were previously
unknown. Indeed, only the Roman quarry producing calcite alabaster located in jebel Oust is well-
known, whereas those located in jebel Rouass and jebel Tebaga have not been published. The
Roman quarries of calcite alabaster in these three sites are characterized by their small sizes. They
were exploited in the open air, and the preserved cutting marks of the extracted blocks left on the
quarry faces allow us to determine the extraction technique, together with the sizes of the cut
blocks. The extracted blocks were shaped into columns, cornices and slabs, which were used for
decorating the public monuments and luxurious houses of the Roman towns of Meninx, Gigthi,
Ziqua, Thuburbo Maius, Uthina, Carthago, etc. Microscopic analyses (petrographic, mineralogical
and chemical) have been undertaken on alabaster samples taken from the quarries of jebel Oust and
jebel Tebaga, together with archaeological samples from the aforementioned Roman towns. The
results of the analyses allowed us to make a database of this material used by the Romans to
decorate and embellish both their aedifici publici and their domus.
1:00-2:00 LUNCH (SPEAKERS ONLY)
2:00-2:30
THE TEOMIM CAVE: AN ANCIENT QUARRY OF CALCITE ALABASTER ON THE WESTERN
SLOPES OF THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF ISRAEL Boaz Zissu, Bar-Ilan University, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Uri Davidovich, Ayala Albeck, The
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Amos Frumkin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Te’omim Cave is a hypogene karst cave located on the western slopes of the Jerusalem Hills.
During the last decade, the cave was explored by our team on behalf of the Department of Land of
Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and the Cave Research Unit at the Hebrew
University. An extensive archaeological assemblage from various periods was found and studied. It
is worth noting outstanding finds from two periods: (1) Three hoards of gold, silver and bronze
coins, were discovered in the inner section of the cave which served as a refuge cave during the Bar
Kokhba War (132-136 AD); (2) A rich assemblage of Late Antique oil-lamps concealed as part of a
pagan ritual, were discovered in narrow fissures beside and underneath the main, large hall of the
Te’omim Cave. An impressive quarry was identified in the lowest part of the main, large hall. Field
examinations involving drilling revealed that the quarry was used in Antiquity as a source of calcite
speleothems ('alabaster'). Following the quarrying, additional flowstone was further deposited on
top of the surface of the quarry. A new approach for dating ancient quarries was applied to shed
new light on the problem of calcite-alabaster provenance in the Southern Levant. Until now, calcite-
alabaster artifacts from this region were commonly attributed to Egyptian sources. This raw
material was used for the production of luxury vessels as well as high-class architectural elements
and furniture. We show for the first time that calcite-alabaster was quarried in the southern Levant
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from flowstone, which is deposited in karstic caves under free air conditions. During our study, an
additional flowstone quarry was discovered, in the ‘Abud Cave, located also on the western slopes
of the Central Highlands of Israel. Both quarries produced together over 200 m3 of raw material. A
broken column left in the quarry at ‘Abud Cave indicates that large calcite-alabaster artifacts were
produced inside the cave. Following extraction of blocks, additional flowstone was deposited on top
of the quarried surface by continuous sheet flow of water. We use this deposit to date the quarrying
period. The first abandoned parts of the Te’omim quarry are dated by U-Th to the Middle Bronze
Age (first half of the 2nd millennium BC). This dating is corroborated by archaeological finds
within Te’omim Cave, as well as by the wide distribution of calcite-alabaster artifacts in south
Levantine sites during this period. Provenance study shows differences between the Israeli and the
Egyptian alabaster, reflected in the composition of the materials and their crystalline structure. ICP
analysis showed that the distribution of concentrations of the magnesium, strontium, phosphorus
and titanium elements differ between the Israeli and Egyptian samples; Egyptian samples contain
significantly higher concentrations of magnesium and strontium compared to the Israeli alabaster,
while their phosphorus and titanium concentrations are lower.
2:30-3:00
TRAVERTINE (ORIENTAL ALABASTER) FROM EGYPT: ITS GEOLOGY, AND ITS ANCIENT
SOURCES AND USES James Harrell, University of Toledo
Travertine (‘oriental alabaster’) was widely used in Egypt from the late fourth millennium BC until
the end of the Roman period, about AD 400. It was employed mainly for small objects such as
statuettes and shawabty figures, canopic and unguent jars, vases of many forms, bowls and dishes,
offering tables, and paving stones. Larger objects were also occasionally carved from travertine
including life-size and colossal statues, sarcophagi, embalming beds, and shrines. This rock is the
alabastrites of the Romans and alabastro cotognino of Italian marmorari. It was obtained in Egypt
from ten known ancient quarries. Egyptian travertine is a form of calcite that occurs as cavern and
fissure fillings within limestone. It was deposited from hydrothermal solutions spawned by rifting
and associated volcanism in the Red Sea. The rock is typically banded white and yellowish brown
with the latter color resulting from the activation of color centers by natural radioactivity (from
uranium) within the calcite, and these color centers are deactivated by the ultraviolet component of
sunlight. Such sun-bleaching reduces originally brown calcite to white.
3:00-3:30
AN OVERVIEW ON ALABASTER QUARRIES OF SOUTH-WESTERN PHRYGIA (TURKEY):
CHARACTERISTICS OF EXTRACTION AREAS AND EXPLOITATION Giuseppe Scardozzi, CNR-IBAM, National Research Council of Italy - Institute for Archaeological
and Monumental Heritage, Lecce
This paper offers an overview on the ancient alabaster quarries of south-western Phrygia, located
along the northern sector of the Denizli basin (ancient Lykos valley). These quarries are grouped in
three main areas: two are close respectively to the ancient cities of Hierapolis and Tripolis, which
widely exploited them for the supplying of their building sites; the third is close to the modern
village of Gölemezli (about 13 km north-west of Hierapolis and 6.5 km south-east of Tripolis) and
it was probably exploited by the both cities. The paper is especially focused on the Hierapolis and
Gölemezli quarries, which were systematically studied in last years by the Italian Archaeological
Mission at Hierapolis with the aim to document the extraction sites, and the exploitation techniques
and strategies. At a short distance (not more than 3 km) away from Hierapolis, 21 quarries were
identified, grouped in three districts named Çukurbağ-Öküzini, Karakaya-Yarıkkaya-Hanife and
Yokuşyol-Çallı, located respectively west, north-west and north of the city. In the Gölemezli area,
four quarries were documented, but they are mostly destroyed by the resumption of extraction
activities in the last decade. These quarries generally consist of narrow (2-10 m), deep (5-20 m),
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and long (a few dozen metres, in some cases more than 100 m) vertical‐sided trenches, dug for a
selective extraction of alabaster included in nearly vertical fissures of travertine‐elongated mounds,
commonly defined fissure-ridges. The extracted stone is both coloured (alabastro listato and fiorito
varieties) and white (ghiaccione), and it is identified with the “Hierapolis marble” mentioned by
Roman and Byzantine literary sources, widely exported in the Province of Asia, but also in
Constantinople and Rome, where it arrived from the Augustan age as attested by Strabo. Moreover,
the Hierapolis and Gölemezli quarries were systematically sampled and archaeometrically
characterized using carbon and oxygen stable isotopes and XRD analyses in order to identify the
provenance of the Hierapolitan artefacts made of this stone and with the aim of discriminating the
alabaster of Hierapolis from the various calcite alabasters extracted in Antiquity in the
Mediterranean basin.
3:30-4:00 COFFEE BREAK
4:00-4:30:
CALCAREOUS ALABASTER FROM THE MARIB PROVINCE/YEMEN – MINING, USAGE AND
OCCURRENCES BY THE SABAEAN CULTURE Christian Weiß, University Erlangen, Dr. Iris Gerlach, German Archaeological Institute
Calcareous alabaster from the Marib region in Northern Yemen was used by the Sabaean culture (c.
1000 BC to 100 AD) as ornamental and jewelry stone. The stones analyzed in this work, were
found in excavations in several places in Marib, Sirwah and Tanim in Yemen and in Yeha in
Ethiopia. Typical finds of the stones are statues, incense burners, altar plates, wall covers or
benches. Quarries can be located on two sites in the Marib/Sirwah region. One is placed in the
North of Sirwah at Al-Machdara where the rocks were obtained in large underground mining
systems. A second area is placed close to the ancient city of Marib were the rocks were mined in
small surface quarries. Petrological analysis was carried out on samples from both quarry areas and
from archaeological material. Microscopic analyses classify several microfacies types of the
alabaster and show that two of them were preferred as ornamental stone. One microfacies is a
homogenous, light stone without layering which was used for statues and filigree works. The
second microfacies is a yellow to brown colored fine layered type that can be found as ornamental
stone on buildings. Geochemical and isotope data allow the allocation of the archaeological
material to the quarry sites. Finds from Yeha suggest an export of the stones to East Africa in the
first Millennium B.C., where the alabaster was used as an ornamental stone, for example, as altar
plates.
4:30-5:00
ANCIENT BANDED TRAVERTINE QUARRIES IN THE LYCUS VALLEY: MINERO-
PETROGRAPHIC, GEOCHEMICAL AND MULTI-ISOTOPIC CHARACTERIZATIONS
Tamer Koralay & Nergis İmre, Pamukkale University
The Lycus Valley in Western Anatolia is one of the archaeological sites that have hosted many
civilizations due to its historical and geographical features, geopolitical location and favourable
climatic conditions. The banded travertine type was commonly used as building stone for antique
settlements in the Lycus Valley. White, yellow, brown, red and reddish burgundy colored bands
ranging in thickness from a few mm up to cm are specific characteristic of banded travertines,
extracted from the ancient quarries at Çukurbağ, Hierapolis, Develi-Akköy, Gölemezli and Tripolis
and are called “Alabastro fiorito”, “Alabastro listato” and “Alabastro rossa”. The banded travertine
samples in the Lycus Valley have similar mineral compositions and mainly consist of carbonate
minerals (needle or column-shaped calcite, minor amounts of dolomite, aragonite) and Ca-Fe-oxide,
micro-sparite, micrite. Calcite is present in the form of needle-shaped crystals ranging between 116-
979 µm for Çukurbağ; 160-1720 µm for Hierapolis; 258-2370 µm for Develi-Akköy; 465-3000 µm
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for Gölemezli and 100-1270 µm for Tripolis quarries. Generally, the crystal sizes of the banded
travertines increase from the quarries in the SE to the quarries in the NW. They show colloform
(balloon structure), radial dendritic and micritic laminated texture. These results are also supported
by XRD and CRS studies. The Lycus Valley travertines which are geochemically similar to
thermogenic banded travertines, indicate depletions between 10-1000, 5-100000 and 10-10000
compared to the Continental Crust (CC), North American Shale Composition (NASC) and Average
Phanerozoic Limestones (APL), respectively. In CC, NASC and APL normalized diagrams, banded
travertine samples show clear anomalies in Al, Ca, Fe, Ti, Cr, Ni, Ba, Rb, Sr, Zn, Pb, Ce, La and Nd
elements respective to other elements. The remarkably high Sr contents of the banded travertines
are between 618.9-6920 ppm for Çukurbağ, 616-8585 ppm for Hierapolis, 1669-8375 ppm for
Develi-Akköy, 592-1269 ppm for Gölemezli and 1116-9509 ppm for Tripolis samples. δ13CV-
PDB and δ18OV-PDB values of Lycus valley travertines range between (5.41-6.68‰), ((-16.05)-(-
12.09)‰) in Çukurbağ; (5.09-5.63‰), ((-14.85)-(-9.18) ‰) in Hierapolis; (4.69-5.16‰), ((-14.98)-
(-11.62) ‰) in Develi-Akköy; (4.21-4.51‰), ((-15.29)-(-13.76) ‰) in Gölemezli and (2.99-
3.99‰), ((-15.93)-(-13.01) ‰) in Tripolis respectively. The geologic ages of banded travertines
from the Çukurbağ, Hierapolis, Develi-Akköy, Gölemezli and Tripolis quarries varies between
24.11±0.13-91.1±1.4 ka, 55.10±0.22-158.3±4.8 ka, 55.59±0.23-74.92±0.32 ka, 303.0±20-408.0±15
ka and 2.09±59-351.01±8.12 ka, respectively.
5:00-5:30
ANCIENT ALABASTER, NEW PROVENANCE METHODS AND QUARRY DATA Simon Barker, Norwegian Institute in Rome, Simona Perna, Instituto Catalán de Arqueología
Clásica (ICAC), Igor M. Villa, Università di Milano Bicocca, Institut für Geologie, Bern.
Alabaster, geologically labelled onyx marble, calcitic alabaster or travertine, was one of the most
valued ornamental stones in the Roman period. The study of its use, however, remains problematic
due to two interrelated issues: the incomplete knowledge of all alabaster sources alongside the
shortage of specific studies on their archaeometric characterization and the fact that only few
samples have been analysed and provenanced. While much work has been done over the last
decade, including numerous papers presented at ASMOSIA (Barbieri et al. 2002; Bruno 2002;
Çolak, Lazzarini 2002; Lazzarini et al. 2012; Herrmann Jr. et al. 2012; Scardozzi 2012; Barker et
al. 2018), the establishment of a reliable methodology for provenancing and the collection of
detailed quarry data sets are still needed. The on-going project, 'Alabaster:' Quarrying and Trade in
the Roman World, seeks to contribute to the discussion by building quarry datasets and promoting
novel scientific methods for provenancing alabaster artefacts. For example, previous testing of
Egyptian, North African, Turkish, Cretan and Italian alabasters (Antonelli et al. 2010; Barbieri et al.
2002a, 2002b; Çolak, Lazzarini 2002; Lazzarini et al. 2006; 2012; Brilli 2017 et al.) highlighted the
importance of strontium-isotope analysis as a method for provenancing calcite-alabaster/travertine.
The present authors propose a new methodology based on a quadruple discriminator combining Sr
and Pb data, Ba/Mg/Sr element concentration ratios, and oxygen isotope data. The augmentation of
quarry datasets to include Pb isotope data as an additional discriminating tool is expected to refine
our ability to identify candidate quarries. This paper reports the results of minero-petrographic and
isotopic analyses carried out at the Institut für Geologie at the Universität Bern on a total of 14
quarry samples from four quarries obtained from several sources (J. Harrell: Egypt; J. Herrmann Jr.:
North Africa; G. Scardozzi: Hierapolis / Golemezli, Turkey) in addition to those collected by the
authors (Italy). The results show that the subsamples were heterogeneous, both isotopically and
chemically (one contained practically no lead). In fact, the scale of the heterogeneity (0.5 cm)
confirms that the genetic mechanism that creates alabaster out of calcareous sediments is spatially
very irregular and very unpredictable. The analysis suggests that samples from quarries are always
likely to present heterogeneous results, and thus overlaps between different quarries will be likely.
Mapping out the isotopic and compositional fields of each quarry therefore will require dozens of
analyses, rather than a few. Analyzing an artefact will also require multiple subsamples, as the
possibility of cm-scale heterogeneities requires establishing a separate field for each artefact.
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5:30-6:0030-11:00
FLUID ANALYSIS AND ICP-MS ANALYSIS FOR DETERMINING ALABASTER PROVENANCE Walter Prochaska, Montanuniversität Leoben, Simon Barker, Norwegian Institute in Rome, Simona
Perna, Instituto Catalán de Arqueología Clásica (ICAC),
6:00-7:00 DRINKS RECEPTION
DAY 2: FRIDAY 10TH MAY
9:30-10:00
USES AND SYMBOLISM OF ALABASTER FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE RENAISSANCE Simon Barker, Norwegian Institute in Rome, Simona Perna, Instituto Catalán de Arqueología
Clásica (ICAC)
Recent studies have highlighted that ancient societies across the Mediterranean valued calcite
(Oriental) alabaster for its colour, origins and properties. The aesthetic perceptions evoked by
alabaster’s natural hues and colour, further enhanced by polishing, favoured its popularity as a
decorative stone both in real and painted forms particularly in Roman architecture. The continued
appreciation for this material is further testified by consisting patterns of use and re-use, such as
salvaged panels, tiles and columns, in domestic contexts and churches from the Late Antiquity
through to Renaissance. However, the historical uses of alabaster suggest that its consumption went
beyond aesthetics and that it had a strong underlying symbolic message. Alabaster seems to have
possessed an aura of “sacredness” which made it particularly apt for ritual contexts and cultic
paraphernalia. “Magical” ritual powers were conferred upon it, particularly those of rebirth and
purity, and these appear to have been transferred onto artefacts made from it. The cross-cultural
importance and value of calcite alabaster, particularly in ritual contexts, is made apparent by the so-
called “Cana wedding jars”, ancient vases salvaged, re-carved and worshipped as sacred relics by
Christian rulers in the Early Christian period. The allusion to ‘alabaster’ containers in the Gospels
(Matthew 26:7-10; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37) connected to episodes from Jesus’ life may have further
invigorated the symbolism of this stone in Christian imagery. The use and re-use of alabaster,
particularly in Early Christian contexts, must be also understood in these terms. The paper presents
an overview of the use of this stone from Roman times through to the Renaissance. It will examine
the use of the alabaster, real and painted, at various sites across the Mediterranean with an emphasis
on Italian examples from the Vesuvian area and Rome. Attention will also be given to the symbolic
associations of alabaster overtime.
10:00-10:30
ALABASTER VESSELS IN THE BRONZE AGE MEDITERRANEAN: AN EXAMPLE OF
INTERNATIONAL AND RECIPROCAL INFLUENCES Hélène Bouillon, Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV)
Alabaster was used with predilection to produce luxury vessels from the beginning of the Bronze
Age. The sources of alabaster stones were diverse, and their different natures did not seem to be
perceived as important to their users. The rare tools discovered and traces of drilling help
researchers to reconstruct the manufacturing processes also attested by iconography. Archaeology
tends to indicate that the drilling techniques were similar from Mesopotamia to Egypt when dealing
with calcite-alabaster. During the second millennium BC, trade and diplomacy expanded in the
Near East and Mediterranean areas. Furthermore, long distance exchanges and migration flows are
better attested by texts from the Middle Bronze onwards. These phenomena lead to a conspicuous
and well-studied cosmopolitism in the decorative arts. Among other types of luxury goods that
circulated around the Mediterranean Sea, alabaster vessels are cited within administrative and
10
diplomatic archives: from the Palace of Mari during the reign of Zimri-Lim to the Amarna letters.
New forms of vases spread over the Eastern Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age. Reciprocal
influences and transculturation created certain typologies and functions that were shared from Iran
to the Aegean and from Syria to Nubia, most of them still considered as Egyptian. However, a
detailed observation of the techniques and use of material indicate geographical and cultural
differences and show that the Egyptian stone vessel industry, although better attested, was not the
only one, nor everyone’s model.
10:30-11:00
THE ALABASTER INDUSTRY FROM THE IRON AGE TO THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD IN THE
NEAR EAST: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE CONTEXT OF THE LARGE EMPIRES Andrea Squitieri, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Alabaster vessels were very popular in both the Eastern Mediterranean and the Near East during the
Bronze Age (c. 3000 – 1200 BC), when they were gift-exchanged among royal houses, traded as
luxury objects, used in royal tombs, palaces, rich graves, and temples. Little research, however, has
been devoted to alabaster vessels in the Near East during the subsequent periods, that is the Iron
Age through the Hellenistic period (c. 1200 – 30 BC). This paper deals with the overall changes in
shape repertoire, raw material sources and manufacturing techniques characterising the alabaster
industry during these later periods, which, I will argue, point to a slow but steady shift in the
vessels’ economic and social values. These changes can be connected to the establishment of large
and long-lived empires in the Near East, that radically altered the fragmented political landscape
characteristic of the Bronze Age. These changes, however, also brought about the gradual
diminishing in the Near East of the alabaster vessel industry’s output during the Hellenistic period
due, as I will argue, to the increasing and competing spread of glass containers.
11:00-11:30 COFFEE BREAK
11:30-12:00
ALABASTER VASES FROM CYPRUS Eustathios Raptou, Department of Antiquities of Cyprus
Alabaster vessels have been found in Cyprus ever since prehistoric times, but it is in the Late
Bronze Age that their number increases significantly, coming from several places on the island,
where they are related to the trading of the luxury goods of those times, such as ivory, faience,
precious stones, etcetera. They continue to appear in the Geometric period and, less frequently, in
later times, i.e. the Archaic and Classical periods. The study of alabaster vessels in Cyprus has so
far shown an Egyptian origin, or Egyptian artistic influence, arriving on the island either as a result
of direct trade with Egypt or via other countries, possibly the Levant, with which Cyprus had close
relations. Alabaster vessels have been found in the large cosmopolitan cities of the Late Bronze Age
and Geometric periods, Enkomi, Kition, Hala Sultan Tekke as well as Pyla-Kokkinokremos,
Palaipaphos and other places. The majority of these items were deposited in tombs as prestige
objects, demonstrating the wealth and power of their owners, who were members of the aristocracy.
Alabasters are less frequent in settlements, evidently found in the residences of the local elite,
where they would have been decorative rather than utilitarian. In recent excavations at Palaipaphos,
several new specimens have been unearthed amongst the rich funerary material discovered in the
necropoleis of Plakes and Skales. Additionally, a great number of fragments from large vessels of
various shapes have been unearthed in the settlement, on the slopes below Marcello hill. Vessels of
this kind would have been highly appreciated amongst the local population and for this reason it is
possible that they were imitated in local stone, especially soft gypsum. Objects found in tombs are
often complete and therefore can be better analysed and appreciated for their artistic value, thus
providing us with important information. On the other hand, finds from settlements provide a wider
11
range of shapes that can further contribute to our knowledge of the objects. Vessels of this category
often bear engraved decoration, rarely painted. In the following paper we present mainly new finds
from our recent excavations in the western part of the island, integrating the vessels in their broader
chronological and cultural context.
12:00-12:30
ALABASTER IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE. THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE Alfred M. Hirt, University of Liverpool
Starting with papyri from Roman Egypt documenting the release of convicts from the alabaster
quarries, the paper examines the documentary evidence for alabaster and its exploitation during the
Roman Principate. Its aim is, firstly, to provide a survey of epigraphic and papyrological evidence
and, secondly, to set the exploitation of alabaster in the wider context of the involvement of local
and imperial authorities in quarrying.
12:30-1:00
EVIDENCE FOR USE AND TRADE IN EGYPTIAN ALABASTER IN THE ROMAN PERIOD Patrizio Pensabene, Università degli Studi "La Sapienza" di Roma
Since the early Augustan Age there is evidence of a wide diffusion of alabaster both in public and
private contexts. Among the public buildings we could mention the theatres, where only for the
most important like the theatre of Marcellus in Rome, we can speak of an imperial commission. In
the case of other theatres, such as Cadiz, Nocera and Ferento, the reference is to private
commissions, both in connection with the imperial house and with the local elites. On the other
hand, the private uses were for the funerary urns in alabaster, which for their cost were more
accessible than the porphyry ones used by the imperial family or rich members of the senatorial
order. The mention of alabaster in the Edict of Diocletian, at a relatively low price, shows the
continuity of use of this stone, although we must ask ourselves if it alludes also to the micro-Asiatic
alabaster and not just the Egyptian one.
1:00-2:00 LUNCH (SPEAKERS ONLY)
2:00-2:30
ALABASTER AT LEPTIS MAGNA, TRIPOLITANIA (LIBYA) Matthias Bruno, Fulvia Bianchi, Independent Researchers, Rome
Leptis Magna, one of the most well-known cities of ancient Tripolitania, allows us to obtain a
comprehensive overview of the use of white and polychrome marbles in an important provincial
city of the Roman Empire. Even if the first “marble witnesses” could be referred to in the early
Augustan age, as well testified by some floor revetments discovered in the cella of the so called
Liber Pater Temple at the Forum Vetus, the “marmorization” process started quite late in the
second quarter of the second century AD, with the building project of the large Hadrianic Baths,
and then growing during the Antonine period and reaching its peak at the end of the second century
AD when the huge Severan Complex was built along the Wadi Lebda. Polychrome and white
marbles were largely imported from Greece as well as from Asia Minor, while Egyptian coloured
stones were rarer. In this wide Leptician marble panorama, alabaster qualities are attested in a very
specific way. Revetment slabs are scattered all over the archaeological site, but many of them, in
alabastro cotognino as well as alabastro fiorito, are visible, for example, not only in the marble
stacks of the Severan Complex but also in its revetment preparation layers. Only one building, the
so called schola along the Decumanus Maximus near the Arch of Septimius Severus, testifies to a
unique and homogeneous alabaster decoration still visible in place. On the other side alabaster was
used also in private context as attested by some pavements of private villas of the mid-imperial
period of the suburb of the Tripolitanian city. Column shafts are very rare, both in Asiatic alabastro
12
fiorito and a lighter Egyptian onyx variety, the latter one perhaps pertinent to the Severan Temple of
the Gens Septimia. Interesting is also the use of a beautifully yellow alabastro cotognino variety for
cinerary urns in some funerary contexts.
2:30-3:00
ALABASTER MERCHANDISE AND ITS GLASS EMULATIONS IN ANTIQUITY Miguel Cisneros Cunchillos, Universidad de Cantabria, Esperanza Ortiz, Zaragoza, Juan Ángel Paz,
Museum of Zaragoza
The objective is to analyse merchandise, which reflects two aspects of one single phenomenon: the
replication of objects made of costly and highly appreciated raw materials using cheaper ones for
wider commercialisation within the framework of joint research on Roman glass and precious and
ornamental stones, paying particular attention to the transfer of stone colours and decoration
patterns onto glass. This emulation phenomenon, known as skeuomorphism, may be traced back to
any historical period and encompasses a wide range of raw materials. One of the most prevalent and
best-known instances in Antiquity were alabastra whose name derives from the material they were
originally made of: alabaster. They were replicated in metal, ceramic and glass in terms of shape
and use. These similarities point to the existence of models well known to artisans. In the case of
glass, instances go back to circa 1500 B.C. in Mesopotamia and Egypt with both plain and
patterned instances, the latter being the most recurrent and varied. Both kinds coexist and diverge
from other hard stones, such as agates, that may be isolated for characterization. This is the only
model, which evolved uninterruptedly and shows a major development in Antiquity in terms of
shapes, textures, colours and patterns. An analysis into the reasons for this imitating process reveals
various economic aspects—greater convenience to create a model using cheaper raw material—and
technological implications such as the creation of colours and patterns not always readily available
in natural form as well as the imitation of stylish colours and models. Our aim is to isolate models
in the category of alabaster items in order to establish markers concerning other similar stones as
well as to analyse how they were emulated in glass. This investigation work is part of the project
Ficta Vitro Lapis: Glass imitations of stones in Roman Hispania (HAR2015-64142-P)
(MINECO/FEDER, UE).
3:00-3:30
ENGLISH ALABASTERS IN CONTEXT: SYMBOLIC MEANINGS, MATERIAL QUALITIES,
AESTHETICS Zuleika Murat, Università degli Studi di Padova
English alabasters played a seminal role in the artistic development of late medieval and early
modern Europe. Quarried and worked in England as early as the twelfth century, alabaster began to
be exported on a large scale from the fourteenth century, with carvings sold all over Europe. By
exploring the various meanings attributed to English alabaster in the past, and with specific respect
to Italian centres, which once held or still hold alabaster works, this paper recovers a sense of the
place that the stone once enjoyed in the general hierarchy of materials. Adopting a combined
approach, which is based around not only the works of art themselves but also written texts that
make reference to alabaster, I aim to demonstrate how the choice of alabaster as a material by artists
and patrons, along with the reception of alabaster works by their audiences, were influenced not
only by aesthetic, technical and economic factors but also by more complex cultural dynamics.
Moreover, a comparison with qualities attributed to English alabaster and those ascribed to other
types of alabaster (and to other stones as well), will provide an innovative area of analysis, allowing
me to recover the full range of meanings that alabaster once enjoyed.
3:30-4:00 COFFEE BREAK
13
4:00-5:00
ALABASTER CARVING DEMONSTRATION Federico Pruneti and Simone Ferti, Alabastraio, scultore, ornatista, Volterra, Italy
5:00-5:30
CONFERENCE CONCLUSION Organising Committee
8:00 CONFERENCE DINNER (SPEAKERS ONLY)
14
Fulvia Bianchi Independent Researcher Rome
Juan Ángel Paz Museum of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
Hélène Bouillon Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV) Histoire de l'art
et Archéologie Orient et Méditerranée Department
Patrizio Pensabene Università di Roma “Sapienza
Scienze dell’antichità Facoltà di lettere e filosofia
Matthias Bruno Independent Researcher Rome
Walter Prochaska Department Applied Geosciences and Geophysics,
Montanuniversität Leoben
Miguel Cisneros Cunchillos Universidad de Cantabria, Ciencias Históricas Department,
Faculty Member.
Esperanza Ortiz Archaeologist, Zaragoza, Spain.
Iris Gerlach Head of the Sanaa Branch
German Archaeological Institute
Orient Department
Eustathios Raptou Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, Department Member
James A. Harrell Emeritus Professor of Geology
Department of Environmental Sciences (MS 604)
Giuseppe Scardozzi CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
IBAM - Istituto per i Beni Archeologici e Monumentali
Responsabile Unita' Organizzativa di Supporto
John J. Hermann Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Art of the Ancient World
Department, Emeritus.
Andrea Squitieri Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship
History Department
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich
Alfred M. Hirt University of Liverpool, Archaeology, Classics and
Egyptology Department, Faculty Member
Annewies Vandenhoek Harvard University
Harvard Semitic Museum
Tamer Koralay Pamukkale University Faculty of Engineering Department of
Geological Engineering, 20162 Denizli, TURKIYE
[email protected]; [email protected]
Igor Villa Institute of Geological Sciences, Universität Bern, and Centro
Universitario Datazioni e Archeometria, Università di Milano
Bicocca
Nergis İmre Pamukkale University Archaeology Institute, Conservation
and Restoration of Cultural Assets Master’s Degree
Programme, Denizli, TURKIYE
Christian Weiß Geological Survey and Consulting
Frauenholzstr. 2-4
90419 Nürnberg
Germany
Lorenzo Lazzarini Emerito
Laboratorio di Analisi dei Materiali Antichi Università IUAV
di Venezia
Ameur Younes University of Tunis, Department of History, Faculty Member.
Zuleika Murat Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali: archeologia, storiadell’arte,
del cinema e della musica (Università degli Studi di Padova)
Boaz Zissu Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 52900, ISRAEL