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Referring to an article recently published by JAS Reports (Brilli et al., 2018, 19, 625-642) this communication raises doubts and poses questions concerning the identity and origin of the materials used for the analyses and the reliability of the results that are presented. Very different analytical values, in fact, were already reported for several samples that are now re-published using different labels. The point is crucial because new data may entangle the identification of an important ancient marble.

Nell’area del Quartaccio, a Ponte Galeria, sondaggi archeologici preventivi alla realizzazione di Commercity-Autoporto e della Fiera di Roma tra il 1990 ed il 2009, hanno permesso di identificare il tracciato della via Campana diretta al Campus salinarum romanarum e conoscere il percorso della via Portuensis verso Portus. L’attraversamento di un’area soggetta ad attività idrotermale impose la costruzione di un viadotto che, tramite ponti arcuati, superava le depressioni del terreno. All’interno di una di queste è stato rinvenuto una grande quantità di frammenti marmorei, prevalentemente in pentelico, attribuibili ad elementi architettonici, rocchi e basi di colonna, di grandezze inaspettate. Le dimensioni eccezionali di questo materiale consentono di porlo in strettissima connessione con il Tempio di Giove Capitolino che, tra il I secolo a.C. e il I secolo d.C., subì ripetute distruzione e fu oggetto di immediate ricostruzioni. An accumulation of spolia marble found along the ancient Via Portuense in the area of Tenuta di Ponte Galeria. In the area of Quartaccio at Ponte Galeria, preliminary archaeological surveys conducted between 1990 and 2009 for the construction of Commercity-Autoporto and the Fair of Rome, allowed to identify the route of the via Campana to the Campus salinarum romanarum and that of the via Portuensis towards Portus. The crossing of an area subjected to hydrothermal activity imposed the construction of a viaduct that, with arched bridges, overcame the several depressions of the ground. Inside one of these, a huge amount of marble fragments was found, mainly in Pentelic, some of which have been identified with different architectural elements, as column drums or base, of unexpected size. The exceptional dimensions of these materials make it possible to propose its very close connection to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus that suffered repeated destructions between the first century BC and the first century AD and that was always immediately rebuilt.

Isotopic, EPR and petrographic studies aimed at establishing the provenance of sculptural bigio antico are reported, including 18 possible quarry sites and 21 ancient sculptures. The results demonstrate that the Belevi quarry, north-east of Ephesos, above the more famous white marble quarry, was the major source of this marble. Nineteen artefacts belong to Belevi, whereas the precise origin of the remaining two is unknown, but must probably be found within the same area. The peculiar distribution of δ13C values both for Belevi and artefacts was crucial for inferring the correct provenance, subsequently confirmed by additional analytical and petrographic data.

Il distretto estrattivo di Iscehisar, da cui proveniva il marmor phrygium (pavonazzetto), è uno dei più grandi dell'antichità romana nonché uno dei più studiati e documentati. Il primo ad interessarsi alle cave di Docimium fu J. Röder, che effettuò una ricognizione sistematica delle cave con la conseguente produzione della prima pianta topografica dell'antico sito estrattivo, allora ancora in gran parte integro anche con i rispettivi cumuli detritici. M. Waelkens rivolse la propria attenzione non solo alle cave, ma anche alla loro produzione, mentre J. C. Fant affronto soprattutto l'analisi dei corredi epigrafici dei blocchi di cava in modo da comprendere l'organizzazione delle attività estrattive di queste grandi cave imperiali. Le iscrizioni di cava sono state oggetto inoltre degli studi approfonditi di M. Christol e T. Drew-Bear, che non di rado si ponevano in forte contrasto e dissenso con quelli di Fant, e, negli ultimi anni, di P. Pensabene.

Wohlen bei Bern ist eine Nachbargemeinde der Stadt Bern. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Grundlagen und die Entwicklung der strategischen Steuerung in Wohlen bei Bern. Dabei wird insbesondere auf die Entwicklung eines IT-Tools zur Unterstutzung der strategischen Management-Prozesse eingegangen.

Der Beitrag stellt die Entwicklung der strategischen Steuerung in der Gemeinde Moosseedorf (Bern/CH) dar.

During a survey in the large quarry area of Bacakale several unknown inscriptions and marks were discovered painted in red colour on some quarry fronts. This epigraphic evidence, which probably can be dated to the middle Imperial period, shows that strict production control was not limited to the quarry items produced, blocks and column shafts, but in fact was extended to the quarry sites, where, on the extraction faces, the amount periodically extracted was recorded.

The marble provenance of 163 Roman Imperial portraits, stretching approximately over 500 years, has been established with the purpose of obtaining quantitative, diachronic data on the use of sculptural marbles in Roman times. The overall result shows that Göktepe was the most widely used variety (45%) followed at a great distance by the Parian lychnites (27.5%), whereas other marbles such as Carrara or Docimium played a more limited role. The use of Göktepe for high quality portraits, already known in Trajanic times, became widespread from the early 2nd century AD and apparently reached its apogee under the Severans continuing to be widely used till late antiquity. The significance of these results on the technical and stylistic trends that were popular at Rome in Imperial times is briefly discussed.

During a site survey in 2012 an unknown marble quarry was discovered near the ancient city of Euromos (Milas), where a very typical grey veined stepped marble was extracted. A systematic archaeological investigation of the quarry site was undertaken and extensive sampling was carried out for archaeometric analyses (isotopes, EPR, MGS) in order to obtain a reference data bank, even if the macroscopic aspect of the Euromos marble allows an easy preliminary autoptic distinction, thanks to the frequent presence of stepped grey veins, due to shear fractures of the marble outcrop. The use of the Euromos marble was not limited to the region, where it was employed at Euromos and Iasos, but it was diffused all over the Roman Empire probably from the Hadrianic period onwards and it is attested in several coastal cities of Asia Minor, Palestine, north Africa and obviously also in Rome.

The sculptures of Lepcis Magna represent one of the richest and most important collections of ancient Tripolitania (Libya). Many of the statues were discovered during the excavations carried out in the first half of the 20th century. Archaeometric analysis on the white marble provenance was conducted on a selection of 36 statues kept in the storerooms and in the Museum of Lepcis Magna. These new data concerning the origin of sculpted marbles allow better consideration of several questions concerning the import of sculptural marbles and finished works, the presence of foreign craftsmen in the local context, the ability to identify local production with a distinct style and the organization of the Tripolitanian workshops. Of particular relevance is the copious use of Luna marble for statues from the 1st up to the 3rd century AD.

A database of the ancient marbles of Goktepe near Aphrodisias is reported, and includes 160 white, black and bichrome samples from 13 quarries and two waste deposits. The quarries are grouped into four districts. Districts 1 and 2, to the north, produced exclusively black or dark grey marbles (nero antico). Districts 3 and 4 produced white statuary marble. Nero antico and a black and white stone were also quarried in district 4, where the black marble surfaces again. The samples were characterized using petrography, isotopic analysis, EPR spectroscopy and trace analysis. The Goktepe white exhibits an unparalleled combination of fine grain, low EPR intensity and high strontium concentration that often allows easy identification. The isotopic values are less distinctive and similar to those for Carrara. In most cases, however, they are tightly grouped and also quite indicative. The black marbles exhibit a much weaker metamorphic overprint. With respect to the white marbles, they show analytical similarities but also notable differences. Therefore, establishing their provenance can be more difficult and may require the support of petrographic analysis. The results suggest that the Goktepe marbles were among the most prized and widespread statuary marbles used in Roman times, particularly from the early second century ad onwards.

Multi-method provenance studies, including petrographic, isotopic, electron paramagnetic resonance and trace chemical analyses, have been carried out on 20 white, 9 black and 1 red artifacts purposely selected to investigate the use and distribution of sculptural marbles at the Hadrian's Villa. A large fraction of the marbles tested (21 samples, 70%) are shown to be from Asia Minor, mostly originating from the recently discovered site of Goktepe near Aphrodisias (15 or 71%). All the 9 black samples investigated and 6 out of 11 white Asiatic marbles are from Goktepe, the remaining being Docimium marble from Iscehisar (4 samples) and Aphrodisias marble from the city quarries (1 sample). The single red sculpture tested proved to be Carian red marble from the Iasos quarries, whereas non-Asiatic marbles include 3 Carrara and 6 Pentelicon samples. The selection of marbles tested is preliminary and incomplete, but, despite this, the results are noteworthy, especially since the marble of other sculptures from the Villa has already been identified as Goktepe. Together with other published results, the marble distribution at the Hadrian's Villa seems to suggest that the use of sculptural marbles in the Roman world underwent considerable changes around the turn of the 1st and the 2nd century AD. The evidence supporting this hypothesis is briefly summarized in the conclusions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

he excavations at the site of Lepcis Magna have yielded a remarkable number of sculptures, which make it as a whole one of the most representative samples from North Africa. This paper presents the results of an archaeometric analysis on the provenance of the white marble conducted on a selection of 36 statues kept in Lepcis Magna: 31 in the Old Museum, now used as storerooms, and 5 on display in the Museum. The most surprising data detected by this archaeometric study is that the majority of the sculptures is of Luna marble, for a total of 12 statues corresponding to 34%. The archaeometric analysis, whose specimens sample out the heterogeneous character of the data (by provenance, typology, usages and chronology), provides the opportunity to combine observations about sculptural typology, style, and archaeological context of provenance, with those on identification and origin of the marbles; the aim of such exercise is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the sculptural artefacts of Lepcis, from their execution to the identification of their workshops, and place of production.

The marble of seven under-lifesize sculptures of barbarians, now in the archaeological museums of Naples, Venice and the Vatican, commonly considered to be Roman copies of the Pergamene Lesser Dedication in Athens, comes from the Göktepe marble quarries near Aphrodisias, as is shown by isotopic, electron paramagnetic resonance, trace analyses, and of petrographic data. Since this marble was used mostly by Aphrodisian artists, this finding confirms, on the basis of scientific data, previous hypotheses on the origin of the sculptors who manufactured the statues. Reliable discrimination from similar fine-grained Asiatic marbles, such asDocimium, is possible primarily on the basis of the composition of the Göktepe marbles, which have unusually low concentrations of manganese and high concentrations of strontium. Present knowledge of the history of the quarries and the distribution of their marbles seems to rule out the possibility that the sculptures date from the late Republican period and supports the opinion, previously proposed on stylistic grounds, that they were manufactured in Rome by Aphrodisian sculptors probably during the first half of the second centuryad.

An updated database of Ephesos marbles including 244 samples from 16 quarrying districts is reported. The unknown Greco Scritto quarries near Hasancavuslar and the Bigio marbles from the quarries of Belevi and of Mt Panayir are also presented. The paper, however, is mostly devoted to the identification of the Ephesos white marbles, whereas the problems posed by the Bigio and Greco Scritto varieties are deferred to future work. The samples have been characterized by isotopic analysis, EPR spectroscopy and additional petrographic and optical properties. Owing to the complex geology of the region, the white marbles of Ephesos exhibit rather inhomogeneous properties and are conveniently classified into four marble groups, which can be almost completely discriminated. The problem of distinguishing the Ephesos white marbles from other similar varieties has been dealt with by statistically comparing the Ephesos samples with all the similar, medium-grained varieties present in the marble database. Although some of the four Ephesos groups can be reliably identified, general solution of the discriminant problem is difficult. Historical archaeological information is needed to reduce the complexity of the problem by eliminating unlikely provenances. In this way relevant problems, such as the discrimination between Ephesos and Proconnesos marbles, can be solved.

This paper reports an updated and enlarged archaeometric database of Proconnesos marbles with the aim of attaining more reliable inter- and intra-site identification. Quarry and artefact samples (n = 397) from 23 different quarrying areas were characterized using petrographic, isotopic and EPR results. The most distinct property of Proconnesos marbles is their extremely weak EPR intensity, associated with the low concentration of Mn 2+ impurities. This feature, supported by the contribution of other important isotopic and petrographic variables, forms the basis for the correct identification of Proconnesos marbles. Within the site the distribution of properties is relatively homogeneous; only limited infra-site discrimination is possible. All the experimental results, as well as the quarry samples are made available to other researchers willing to measure additional experimental properties, thus increasing the rate of within the site discrimination. Extensive survey has proved that, although about 10% of the samples exhibit maximum grain size below 1.0 mm, no locations exist where fine grained marbles could be intentionally quarried. The historical aspects of Proconnesos marble quarrying and usage are also discussed.

RECENT INVESTIGATIONS OF TRAJAN'S COLUMNWhilst some maintenance work was being undertaken in the area of Trajan's Column, the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma, and specifically the architect Giangiacomo Martines, asked the authors to undertake new drawings and analysis of the excavations done by Giacomo Boni in 1906 along the northwestern side of the base of the column. The aim of this was to document the situation almost 100 years after the excavation had been carried out. This new work has allowed the identification of the possible construction sequence of the column, which right from the start seems to have been an integral part of the courtyard of the libraries, thus dismissing the hypothesis that the concrete foundations of the courtyard of the libraries were cut for the insertion of the foundations of the column. In addition, it is possible to reconstruct the way in which the travertine blocks of the solea were moved and installed, through an analysis of the holes of various types present in the travertine blocks, which to date have not been studied, even given the clear absence of holes intended for the insertion of the olivella.

La provenienza dei marmi di 93 manufatti, prevalentemente scultorei, campionati ad Afrodisia, è stata determinata utilizzando misure isotopiche, EPR e petrografiche. I risultati dimostrano che il marmo, sebbene di origine quasi esclusivamente locale, proviene da diverse cave presenti nel territorio di Afrodisia e non unicamente dalle cosiddette cave di città come generalmente ritenuto. Di particolare importanza è il ruolo svolto dalle cave di Göktepe, a circa 40 km a SO dalla città. Gli otto manufatti in nero antico che è stato possibile campionare sono tutti in marmo nero di Göktepe, mentre la varietà di bianco statuario delle stesse cave è attestata in quasi tutte le sculture analizzate a grana fine. In totale 26 manufatti in marmo di Göktepe (28%) sono stati identificati, mentre l'uso per scultura del bianco docimeno è stato accertato in un solo caso, quello del giovane togato inv. 6167. Anche le tre statuette bicrome che rappresentano Europa sul toro, Afrodite ed Eros sono realizzate nella caratteristica varietà bianca e nera che poteva essere cavata a Göktepe dove le due varietà vengono a contatto rimanendo tuttavia ben distinte. Il marmo di gran parte delle altre sculture (46 campioni, pari al 49.5%) proviene, come previsto, dalle cave di città che rimangono la fonte quantitativamente più rilevante del marmo utilizzato ad Afrodisia. Nonostante ciò la presenza di altri marmi simili cavati presso Vakif (11 campioni, 12%) e presso Karahisar (9 campioni, 10%) è tutt'altro che trascurabile e dimostra che ad Afrodisia esisteva ed era utilizzata una rete complessa di siti estrattivi. Nelle cave di Karahisar, a parte il marmo bianco, si estraeva anche una varietà di pavonazzetto difficilmente distinguibile macroscopicamente da quello rinomato docimeno. Tale marmo fu utilizzato, ad esempio, per una statuetta di orientale, ora nei depositi, mentre una colonna in pavonazzetto nel Bouleterion, è risultata invece essere in quello frigio dalle cave di Docimium.

Using a multiparameter approach (isotopic analysis, EPR spectroscopy and petrography), we have determined the marble provenance for 81 objects representing the four main phases of sculptural production of the Roman city of Caesarea Mauretaniae (present-day Cherchel in Algeria). During the first phase, the reign of King Juba II and his son Ptolemaios, almost all of the 38 sculptures sampled are made from Parian or Pentelic marble. In the Claudian period the use of Pentelic marble continues but Parian marble disappears completely. Carian and Luna marbles are used for only a few statues. After an interruption of about 50 years, sculptural pro- duction resumes at Caesarea at the beginning of the 2nd century and is marked by a dramatic shift in the procurement of marble towards Asiatic quarries. This trend continues in the final phase from the late 2nd century onwards. In general, the succession of different patrons and the concomitant shifts in the type of works they commissioned are correlated with changing pat- terns of marble procurement. One of the surprising findings of this study is the use of marble from the Göktepe quarry as early as the late 1st century BC.

Fra i numerosi elementi che possono gettare luce sulle fasi di cantierizzazione e sulle modalità operative che hanno portato alla realizzazione dello straordinario complesso monumentale di Villa Adriana a Tivoli, due ritrovamenti, di scoperta relativamente recente , rappresentano casi di grande interesse sia per gli studiosi di storia dell’architettura che per gli archeologi, in quanto forniscono importanti spunti in relazione a due ordini distinti di problemi: in primo luogo, circa le modalità di comunicazione/illustrazione del progetto nei confronti sia della committenza che delle maestranze e, in secondo luogo, su quali soluzioni venissero adottate nei processi di proto-prefabbricazione degli elementi della decorazione architettonica da riprodurre serialmente. I manufatti presi in esame a questo scopo sono un modello architettonico comunemente denominato “modello di stadio” e una matrice marmorea di una semibase di colonna per realizzare basi di tipo attico in stucco; entrambi sono stati rinvenuti all’interno della Villa, nella zona delle Grandi Terme (CAPRINO 1996-1997; CAPRINO et al. 1999), nella quale si ritiene che fossero ancora attive, all’epoca della morte dell’imperatore, officine di marmorari. Questi ultimi, come suggeriscono i materiali rinvenuti, dovevano lavorare al completamento degli edifici già esistenti, con la realizzazione di elementi architettonici e rivestimenti pavimentali e parietali, ma dovevano operare anche nell’ambito della fase di progettazione, a stretto contatto con architetti e committenza . A questi esemplari pressoché unici si può affiancare una serie di reperti, di cui sono noti diversi altri esempi nel mondo antico, caratterizzati da specifici segni, quali linee incise, lettere, sigle e numerali segnati sui singoli elementi, che rientrano nel novero delle linee guida per la lavorazione di manufatti morfologicamente complessi e per il corretto assemblaggio delle varie parti di uno stesso manufatto ; tra di essi verranno esaminati, ad esemplificazione della prima categoria di reperti, un capitello corinzio collocato lungo il portico settentrionale del Pecile, in corrispondenza del Viale dei Cipressi, e un capitello ionico incluso nell’anastilosi del vestibolo sull’isola del Teatro Marittimo, e inoltre un frammento di trabeazione con fregio figurato pertinente alla decorazione architettonica di Piazza d’Oro, che testimonia la qualità di un’officina particolarmente quotata, la cui attività è ben documentata anche ad Ostia.