Abstract Échaillon stone, a Mesozoic platform limestone from SE France, is proposed as a Global Heritage Stone Resource. The Échaillon stone quarries are located at the western termination of the Alps, near the city of Grenoble. Stone from the main Échaillon quarries is an Upper Jurassic to Berriasian bioclastic near-reef limestone, renowned for its two characteristic white and pink colours. Two ancillary quarries nearby, the Lignet and Rovon quarries, provided the Lower Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian) Yellow Échaillon stone, of lagoonal origin. Échaillon stone's unique characteristics, resistance to weathering and high aesthetic values made it a prized building and ornamental material used in many significant historical buildings in Europe, North Africa and the USA. Although the first use of Échaillon stone in buildings dates from the Gallo-Roman period, the industrial use ranges from the mid-nineteenth century, during the heyday of the Beaux-Arts architecture period in France, to the mid-twentieth century. The reputation of Échaillon stone was bolstered by world-renowned architects, sculptors and artists who used it for historical building ornament and sculptures. By the turn of the twentieth century, production started to decline and it ceased by the middle of that century.

Abstract Ravenna represented an important administrative, commercial and cultural centre in the fifth and sixth centuries. The present study explored the commercial mechanisms of Ravenna in Late Antiquity from the point of view of the marble trade, as well as the trade in other architectural elements. A portion of the research is based on the macroscopic and quantitative study of stone materials (around 1000 fragments) from the Late Antique and medieval complex of San Severo in Classe (Ravenna, Italy). The results indicated that the predominant commercial relationships of Ravenna with respect to stone artefacts (marbles, limestones, porphyry, breccia, granites) were orientated mainly towards the regions of Asia Minor, with some trade also occurring in minor quantities with North Africa, Greece, Italy, and France. Three representative marble samples were analysed to make determinations of their provenance. The methods used were based upon a combination of petrographic image analysis, polarizing and cathodoluminescence microscopy of thin sections, and stable isotope geochemistry of carbonates. The Proconnesos and, eventually, other Turkish provenance of the selected samples is considered.