Sustainable Use of Traditional Geomaterials in Construction Practice
Geomaterials derived from the Earth’s crust and used in construction after appropriate processing are among the earliest raw materials exploited, processed and used by humans. Their numerous functional properties include accessibility, workability and serviceability, and these are explored within this volume. In modern society, sustainable use of raw materials, specifically those exploited in large volumes such as geomaterials for construction, raises questions of reducing extraction of primary resources and thus minimizing impacts on natural systems, and also employment of materials and technologies to lower emissions of deleterious substances into the atmosphere. This will be possible only if we fully understand the properties, processing and mode of use of traditional geomaterials. Although most of the papers within this volume were written by geologists, the contributions will also be of interest to those working in cultural heritage, monument conservation, civil engineering and architecture.
Late Antique marble trade: new insights obtained from stone artefacts from the San Severo complex (Ravenna, Italy)
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Published:January 01, 2016
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CiteCitation
Helena Tůmová, Andrea Augenti, Aneta Kuchařová, Enrico Cirelli, Richard Přikryl, 2016. "Late Antique marble trade: new insights obtained from stone artefacts from the San Severo complex (Ravenna, Italy)", Sustainable Use of Traditional Geomaterials in Construction Practice, R. Přikryl, Á. Török, M. Gomez-Heras, K. Miskovsky, M. Theodoridou
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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.
- archaeological sites
- archaeology
- artifacts
- C-13/C-12
- carbon
- Cenozoic
- classification
- economics
- Emilia-Romagna Italy
- Europe
- fabric
- grain size
- Holocene
- human activity
- image analysis
- import
- isotope ratios
- isotopes
- Italy
- marbles
- materials
- metamorphic rocks
- microscope methods
- mineral composition
- O-18/O-16
- oxygen
- petrography
- provenance
- Quaternary
- Ravenna Italy
- Roman period
- Southern Europe
- stable isotopes
- thin sections
- utilization
- Basilica of San Severo
- Classe Italy