Sourcing Building Stones in the Ancient Mediterranean: A Review of 25 Years of Provenance Research at the Wiener Laboratory

Summary

From its very inception, the Wiener Laboratory at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens has fostered and supported the integration of geological techniques and methodologies into archaeological research programs in the eastern Mediterranean Basin. One such area of focus includes provenance studies of rocks used in architectural and sculptural programs spanning from the prehistoric to Late Antiquity. By tracing the source quarries of ancient artifacts and features, archaeologists gain insights into the economics of trade of a valuable resource; changing aesthetic values; and the identification of modern forgeries, ancient copies and disassociated fragments. This summary paper will review just some of the archaeological contributions of rock provenance research sponsored by the Wiener Lab including a study of calcarenite quarries exploited in the Late Bronze Age of Minoan Crete, a study of oolitic limestone quarries within the archaeological complex of ancient Corinth, and a study that identifies the source quarries used to extract marble for the Parthenon and other monuments atop the Athenian acropolis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21877