BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

Notes on Elements of Architectural Culture in the Eastern European Provinces of the Roman Empire (Thracia, Moesia, Macedonia, Dalmatia, Pannonia), with Particular Reference to Inland Sites

Professor Emeritus, Università degli studi "La Sapienza" di Roma

This contribution revisits the works of Barsanti and Dimitrov on architectural decoration in Bulgaria, expanding the discussion to include Serbia, Croatia, and Albania, as well as parts of Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, and Bosnia—territories corresponding to the ancient Illyricum. We aim to address in a more articulated manner the issue of marble imports from Proconnesus beginning in the 2nd century AD, and from Constantinople, especially during the reigns of Anastasius and Justinian (late 5th to early 6th century). We also reconsider the mobility of workshops from Asia Minor and Constantinople, alongside the operations and organization of local ateliers. Closely linked to these themes is the question of the origin of materials, specifically whether they involve imported or locally sourced marbles, or high-quality limestones and other stones.

From this perspective, we analyze capitals from Romuliana, Sirmium, and Justiniana Prima, as well as from Christian basilicas in Parthicopolis, with reference, where appropriate, to capitals from Philippopolis, Serdica, Timacum Minus, and other sites.

The objective is to highlight the distinction between the production of architectural elements in the inland centers of the eastern European provinces of the Roman Empire and those from coastal cities or locations near waterways, such as the fortress-cities along the Danube.

Marble in private house peristyles between East and West in the Roman Empire

Paolo BARRESI

Università degli Studi di Enna "Kore"

Aim of this paper is to show how marble has been used in private peristyles during the Roman Empire, basically examining examples of the luxury houses known as "Hanghäuser", or Terrace Houses, in Roman Ephesus. In several cases, basins, fountains, drain channels and water pipes, are associated to marble paving and walling of peristyles of this large house block. Similar pattern can be seen in houses of Roman Greece, Italy and Africa, with examples as like as the roman house at Kos. Marble columns are a main element of luxury peristyles, and I will try to distinguish preferences of marble types and of revetments, and column orders as well.

Provenance analysis of ancient white marble today - critical review and case study of the use of marble in ancient metropolises

Walter PROCHASKA

Austrian Archaeological Institute | Austrian Academy of Sciences

"Multi-method-approach" has now been for many years the buzzword in marble prove-nance analysis. Nevertheless a true combination of the results of different analytical methods is rarely applied in the sense of the combined simultaneous use of a large num-ber of analytically obtained numerical variables. It is demonstrated here that the combina-tion of data from isotope analysis, chemical data, and data from the chemical analysis of inclusion fluids of an artefact and of course in combination with a corresponding database enhances substantially the accuracy of marble provenance analysis. It is explicitly pointed out that the unchallenged collection of data of the chemical composition of marbles from different sources (and different analytical procedures) most probably implies severe dif-ferences in their comparability. An example of an Ephesian sarcophagus in Rome shows that by multivariate discriminant analysis even the corresponding quarry can be traced. Exemplarily presented is the nearly perfect discrimination of the most important fine-grained marbles and furthermore the possibility of the intra-site discrimination of the three Carrara districts and the assignment of two portrait heads to the Carrara Torano quarries.

Ad silicem extendit manum suam. Unknown fragments of marble furnishings at the National Museum of Ravenna

Museo Nazionale di Ravenna

During the 20th century, and especially in the first 30 years of the century, the Superintendency carried out many restorations in the religious buildings of Ravenna. During that works, which often involved investigations of the subsoil or the dismantling of sections of masonry, fragments of marble furnishings from the late ancient and early medieval centuries were recovered. It happens that these fragments have never been made known to the scientific community. This intervention aims to make known these materials, sometimes represented by small fragments, currently preserved at the National Museum.

Viae Marmorum: late ancient exchange of Ravenna in the evidence of marble and pottery

(1) Institute of Classical Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague

(2) Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, University of Bologna

The paper examines the provenance of white marble artefacts and architectural elements from Late Antique Ravenna (Italy), shedding light on the material culture of the city as a sedes imperii of the Western Roman Empire after 402 AD. Using a multidisciplinary approach – integrating archaeological, geochemical, petrographic and statistical analyses – the study offers new insights into the origin and distribution of marble artefacts within the wider Late Antique Mediterranean koiné.

Preliminary results of the Czech-Italian scientific collaboration show that many key objects of the 5th and 6th centuries, including sarcophagi and architectural decorations, originated mainly from the island of Marmara (Proconnesos), but also from other ancient quarries. These findings challenge previous assumptions and suggest that Ravenna´s access to Constantinople and other Mediterranean centres via its port at Classe played a crucial role in sustaining the city´s rapid building activity and demand for prestigious materials. These findings underline the city´s central role as a hub for the distribution of luxury materials, responding to the surge in building activity that followed its designation as imperial capital.

The study highlights Ravenna´s centrality in Late Antique Mediterranean artistic and commercial networks, enriching the understanding of interregional exchange networks and their impact on material culture during a transformative period from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages.

Chosen marble fragments from the archaeological sites in Ravenna and Classe were analysed by mineralogical-petrographic (polarising, CL and electron microscopy; powder X-ray diffraction) and geochemical (C-O stable isotope analysis, ICP-MS) methods. The multimethod approach, based on the combination of petrographic criteria including quantitative evaluation (maximum grain size, fabric, mineralogical composition, characteristics of cathodomicrofacies) with C and O isotope data and trace element contents, was used to determine the provenance of marble fragments. The ICP-MS and stable C and O isotope data were processed by discriminant analysis in order to compare the artefacts studied with the database of the main Mediterranean marble localities in Antiquity.

A State-of-the-Art Multi-Analytical Approach to White Marble Provenance Analysis

Aneta KUCHAŘOVÁ

Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Mineral Resources, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague

This article outlines the evolution of white marble provenance techniques, from early visual inspection to advanced scientific methods. To date, no non-destructive technique can determine the provenance of most white marbles. Modern approaches combine mineralogical-petrographic and geochemical analyses, depending on the size and nature of the archaeological sample. Key methods include optical and electron microscopy, cathodoluminescence, stable isotope analysis, and trace element analysis. Advanced spectroscopic techniques such as electron paramagnetic resonance and Raman spectroscopy have proven to be valuable complementary tools. However, a reliable determination of provenance still depends on comprehensive reference databases, which remain incomplete.

More is more: strategies for the selection and distribution of polychrome marbles in the decorative programs of Late Antique monuments

Andrea PARIBENI

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, University of Urbino

In the ornamental syntax of religious and secular buildings, the quality of the materials employed plays a peculiar role in enhancing the monument's status, and this is truer for marble than for any other material: either ready-made or taken as spolia from ancient structures, marble items are never haphazardly set, since their selection and disposition, dictated by the intrinsic value of the lithotypes, follows well-defined compositional rules. In this paper, among the monuments that will be briefly examined as case studies, particular attention will be paid to Hagia Sophia, as its skillful and thoughtful assembly of polychrome marbles used for entablatures, door jambs, and the wall revetment, revealed both by the monument's inspection and the 19th century drawings made during Fossati's restoration, provides an eloquent example of the deep expertise of the marmorarii directed by Justinian's mechanopoioi.

Science-Based Restoration through White Marble Provenance Studies in Building Conservation

Vasiliki ANEVLAVI (1) – Walter PROCHASKA (2)

(1) National Archaeological Institute with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia

(2) Austrian Archaeological Institute | Austrian Academy of Sciences

The accurate restoration of historical buildings is fundamental to preserving our tangible cultural heritage, yet restoration based on insufficient evidence or stylistic assumptions can result in irreversible interventions that compromise the integrity of the monument. White marble provenance studies provide a critical scientific foundation for restoration practices by determining the geological and geochemical origin of construction materials, enabling the use of appropriate and compatible substitutes for repairs. Archaeometric methods, such as petrography, stable isotope analysis, and trace element profiling, are indispensable tools that facilitate material identification and matching, ensuring structural continuity and visual coherence while supporting historical accuracy. This approach reduces the risk of incompatible or misleading restorations and enhances the authenticity and reliability of conservation work. A compelling example of the importance of such methodologies is found in the case of the Domitian Temple in Ephesos, where a mid-20th-century anastylosis was carried out with limited scientific oversight. Recent investigations have revealed substantial inconsistencies between architectural fragments and their presumed original context, raising critical questions about the accuracy of the reconstruction and prompting a full reassessment of the monument's composition. Recent investigations have revealed substantial inconsistencies between architectural fragments and their presumed original context, raising critical questions about the accuracy of the reconstruction and prompting a full reassessment of the monument's composition. This case highlights how reliance on stylistic inference alone can lead to long-term interpretive and structural issues, underscoring the necessity of integrating archaeological, architectural, and material science approaches into restoration protocols. By anchoring conservation decisions in rigorous scientific analysis, provenance studies ensure more accurate, transparent, and sustainable heritage interventions

Marble furniture from the church of S. Agnes in Istria

Gaetano BENČIĆ

Zavičajni muzej Poreštine - Museo del territorio parentino, Poreč

The archaeological remains of the church of Saint Agnes at Anžići are located in the hinterland of Parentium. The church, excavated by A. Šonje, was built around the mid-6th century. Its plan reproduces the layout of the episcopal palace of the 6th century within the Euphrasian complex at Poreč, suggesting a high-level patronage closely connected to the parentine church.

The site is particularly noteworthy for the recovery of a substantial number of marble fragments belonging to the presbyterial enclosure, comparable to the liturgical furnishings of the Euphrasian basilica, though on a reduced scale and adapted to a smaller building. It is the only known example of a Justinianic church excavated outside an urban context, on the margins of the territory under the ancient colony of Parentium, that has yielded such a significant assemblage of marble fragments.

This evidence opens the way for a discussion on the diffusion of high-quality, worked marble in Istria following the Justinianic reconquest. This wave of imports followed the earlier and substantial influx of marble that had adorned both public and private buildings during the 1st century. The limited reuse of marble from ancient structures in the 6th century, as compared to the reliance on imported material, seems to indicate a lack of available local marble. It may be assumed, at least for Poreč, that the marble revetments of public buildings had already been stripped in the 5th century and transported outside Istria.

By contrast, the marble imported during the great wave of church construction between the 540s and 560s remained part of the Istrian landscape for centuries, in some cases being stripped and reused throughout the Middle Ages.

Marble decoration from the Late Roman proconsul's palace in Savaria

Anita POLGÁR-NYERGES (1) – Judit ZÖLDFÖLDI(2)

(1) Budapest History Museum, Aquincum Museum

(2) Universität Stuttgart

The systematic research and excavation of the ruins of the Roman Savaria (the provincial capital of Pannonia Prima) began in 1938 and the "Járdányi Paulovics István ruins garden" was opened in 1943 at the area of the west side of the Roman city. Archaeologist István Járdányi Paulovics found the first ruins of the Late Roman proconsul's palace in Savaria during the excavations of the ruins garden. The most important finding was the ruins of the palace's imperial guest-hall (aula palatina), which was decorated with mosaic floor and wall paintings and the wall footing were covered with marble slabs.

The studied fragments of marble used to decorate the guest-hall can be found in the collection of the Savaria Museum (Szombathely). The processing of the fragments has been carried out on the basis of the inventorying and identifications of the fragment (original location, function). The finds show a varied picture, with fragments of different shapes and colours. We were able to separate fragments of large slabs, small and coloured framing fragments, and fragments of profiled door and window frames. On many fragments we could observe traces of processing, decoration (chisel marks) and fixing (hole pressures and the traces of the iron claps). The aim of the research was to identify the possible provenance of the raw materials and to compare the results with those of previous investigations conducted in Savaria (e.g. Iseum) and Pannonia (e.g. Aquincum, Iovia). The research have been provided valuable data and additional information for on the study of Roman marble quarrying, working and transport. Some of the white marbles came from the eastern Alps in the direction of Noricum. There is also a large presence of white and polychrome marbles from the Mediterranean region.

To determine the exact sources of the raw materials, in addition to non-destructive in situ measurements (MGS /Maximum Grain Size/, Raman spectroscopy, XRF /X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy/), thin section petrographic and stable isotope analyses were carried out.

Recognition and origin of the stones used for Venetian wellheads in the early Middle Ages

Martina SECCI

Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia

Wellheads represent a historical and artistic heritage characteristic of the city of Venice. Over the centuries, from the early Middle Ages to the 19th century, they have been an important part of urban ornamentation. Functionally, these stone structures supported the underground system for collecting and purifying rainwater, typical of the lagoon center — known as "pozzo alla veneziana" or well-cistern system — and facilitated water retrieval practices. Furthermore, they are often creations of remarkable value, both for the materials used and for their relief decorations, which reflect the stylistic tastes of their time.

Focusing on the earliest wellheads used in Venice, the method of production and the specific type of marble or limestone used for individual pieces prove to be particularly significant. At the beginning of the lagoon settlement, it is well documented that most of the stones used came from ancient Roman cities in the hinterland. This is especially evident in the cases of reuse, where objects were repurposed for wellheads solely for functional reasons, such as capitals or column drums that were only hollowed out internally. The same direct origin is confirmed for the so-called "semi-reuses," which were partially redecorated with paleo-Christian motifs, while in some places, traces of their original architectural function remain visible. A slightly different issue concerns well curbs fully decorated according to early medieval tastes, which raise questions about the origin of the stone blocks used for carving and, consequently, about the possible post-Roman reopening of some major stone quarries.

As part of the PRIN project "Food and S.T.O.N.E.S.", isotope analyses were conducted on a small but well-selected group of early medieval Venetian wellheads, confirming some initial hypotheses while introducing new perspectives. With the awareness that most products of that era were made of Proconnesian marble (especially direct reuses) or Aurisina stone, the results primarily aimed to explore the potential medieval exploitation of the Friulian quarry for this late limestone. Although the issue could not be completely resolved, the composition of these pieces allowed for a distinction between different extraction points for Aurisina stone. Additionally, the study of the samples identified another artifact made of Proconnesian marble, previously unrecognized as such, and a well curb made of Brač stone — long known in Venice but never before associated with this type of product.

A relief decorated block with a Macedonian panoply in Venice: petrological analysis versus iconography and style

Eugenio POLITO

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi Roma Tre

An interesting limestone block, preserved in the cloister of S. Apollonia in Venice, shows a relief panoply. This is composed of a domed shield without a rim, decorated with the typical astral motif associated with the Argead monarchy, and a long spear, identifiable with a typical Macedonian weapon, the sarissa, to which are added two less typical, but entirely compatible elements: a greave and a sword with a balteus hanging from a nail. Given its provenance from the foundations of the floor of St. Mark's, which are rich in spoil that likely came to Venice as ships' ballast, and given the peculiar iconography, which has no counterpart in the Italian peninsula, the writer proposed elsewhere to attribute the carved block to a funerary monument of Macedonian or Illyrian area, where plausible comparisons can be found. More recently, scientific analyses conducted on the piece have found that the limestone is compatible with that from the Aurisina quarries in Istria, suppliers for centuries to numerous Roman centres in Venetia et Histria. Based on this result, some scholars have proposed as certain that the block belongs to a Roman monument in the Venetian area, suggesting in particular Altinum. The total absence of plausible comparisons in the indicated area and the indisputable iconographic and stylistic compatibility with examples from areas of more direct Macedonian influence lead the writer to reiterate a Hellenistic dating and a provenance from the central-southern part of the Balkan peninsula. While in fact for crystalline limestones, i.e., marbles, we now have rich databases of known quarries to identify provenances with good approximation, the same cannot be said for limestones, which have far less diversified characteristics and for which we do not yet have sufficiently large databases: it cannot be ruled out that the characteristics of the Aurisina limestone can be traced to other parts of the Balkan ridge. Until proven otherwise, the fragment from Venice must therefore be recognized as the remnant of a Hellenistic monument from the Macedonian area or neighbouring areas: only there its appearance is historically and culturally comprehensible.