PROVENANCE AND AUTHENTICITY OF ROMAN SCULPTURES BY PETROGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES

Forensic petrographic methods-such as microscopy, X-ray diffraction an d thin section examination-applied to materials of archaeological inte rest-provided reliable answers to questions related to their provenanc e. It could be demonstrated that the patina on a Roman marble statue h ad been faked and that the generic history of earthy incrustations on the sculptures and on a fragment of marble from an illegal excavation site was the same, therefore indicating a common provenance. Moreover, the same techniques proved that a terracotta fragment found in the be lts of an excavator was from the same area as the illegal excavation s ite.