ELOQUENCE OF MARBLE IN ANTIQUITY
Friday 3 October 2025, Prague
Charles University, Small Conference Room ("Malá Aula"), KAROLINUM, 1st floor
Ovocný trh 560/5, Prague 1, Czech Republic
The colloquium was supported by the Czech Science Foundation grant No. 23-06403S.
The one-day international colloquium "Eloquence of Marble in Antiquity" invites leading scholars and emerging researchers to explore the complex role of marble and other stones in Antiquity.
From quarries to building sites, from artistic expression to economic networks, marble played a significant role in shaping cultural and socio-economic contexts.
This colloquium will provide a platform to discuss recent developments in archaeometric approaches to the provenance of white marble and other stones, trade routes, networks and exchanges between the eastern and western parts of the ancient world, and last but not least, sculptural forms, architectural elements, ornatus basilicae, iconography, and the reuse of marble artefacts in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages.
The colloquium will also present and discuss the results of the current international project (University of Prague, University of Bologna and University of Stuttgart) focusing on the archaeometric study of marble artefacts in the UNESCO basilicas in Ravenna and in Istria.
By encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue, the event hopes to deepen our understanding of the enduring role of marble in the ancient and medieval Mediterranean.
Conference topics:
- Use of marble and other stones in Antiquity
- Architectural elements and ornatus basilicae in Late Antiquity (western and eastern Mediterranean)
- Iconography
- Epigraphy
- Sarcophagi: production, trade networks, material studies
- Quarries, trade and distribution networks in late antique Mediterranean
- Provenance determination of marble in Antiquity: archaeometric approach
- Non-invasive methods in the provenance determination
- The phenomenom of spolia. The reuse of marble from Antiquity to the Middle Ages