Marbles from Roman Hispania: stable isotope and cathodoluminescence characterization

Pure white marble has been considered a valuable ornamental and architectur al material since ancient times. Many scientific techniques have been used to create an extensive data base of "finger-prints" characterizing while ma rbles from the major classical quarries. However, determining the provenanc e of white marbles is a difficult task due to their similarity in physical and chemical parameters. Three techniques (petrography, cathodoluminescence acid stable C and O isotopes) have been used to characterize white marbles from the ancient quarries of the Iberian peninsula, Maximum grain size, te xture and isotopic composition can be used to identify the different quarri es. Each area is generally represented by several cathodomicrofacies, but q uantitative CL analysis is also helpful in distinguishing those quarries fo r which the data provided by other techniques are not sufficiently diagnost ic. The database and the discriminating criteria presented in this study ha ve been tentatively applied to some ancient sculptures from the National Mu seum Of Roman Art in Merida (Spain), (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rig hts reserved.