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Provenancing the stone tools of Volubilis, Morocco: A Socio-economic interpretation of stonework lithologies
Abstract
This paper discusses the study of stone implements from the Roman site of Volubilis (Morocco), undertaken in order to identify the types of stone used for different tools found in workshops and to isolate potential quarry sources. As part of the work of the Urban Economy of Volubilis Project, we analyzed the petrology, mineralogy, and geochemistry of sixteen stone millstones and dough mixers. The results show that Volubilis’ stone implements likely derived from three different quarry sources, with olive mills, grain mills, and dough mixers each having their own distinct lithology, specifically selected to suit the function of the object. The geochemistry of the stones indicates a local source for all of the samples, including the alkali basalt millstones which are often considered to be imported through long-distance trade. The close proximity of the stone quarries and the evidence for selectivity suggest a degree of communication and reflexivity between the city’s craftspeople and those who produced their specialized equipment.
A petrographic and geochemical study of several volcanic millstones, representative of 119 artifacts found in the ancient Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea (Sicily Island) and recording the grinding device evolution from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, unravelled the volcanoes involved as quarrying and production areas. This was possible also through the comparison with available petrographic and geochemical literature data of ancient volcanic millstones found in the whole Mediterranean. Saddle querns, hopper-rubber, rotary Morgantina- and Delian-type millstones of Megara Hyblaea consist of lithotypes belonging to five magmatic series: Tholeiitic, Na-Alkaline, Tholeiitic Transitional, Calcalkaline and High-K Alkaline. A provenance from the Eastern Sicily, i.e. mugearites from Etna and basalts and basaltic andesites from the Hyblaean Mountains were recognized for all the four investigated grinding devices. By contrast, a sea-trade is involved for several saddle querns made of calcalkaline basaltic andesites and andesites lavas (Aegean Islands) and two Morgantina-type millstones consisting of a calcalkaline rhyodacite ignimbrite from the quarrying site of Mulargia (Sardinia). A wide millstone trade, both local (Eastern Sicily) or maritime (Central-Eastern Mediterranean) was thus constrained through six centuries, from the foundation of the Greek colony up to the destruction of the settlement at the end of third century BCE. Finally, Vulture Volcano (southern Italian peninsula) is the most probable candidate for the only leucite- and haüyne-bearing phonolite of the High-K Alkaline Series.
This archaeometric study was focused on 28 grey to dark-grey lava artifacts found in Ustica Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy) and referable to different grinding tools: saddle querns, rotary Morgantina-type millstones, rotary hand-mills and one small mortar. Mineralogy, petrography and bulk rock geochemical analyses emphasized that most of the grinding artifacts belonged to the Na-Alkaline series of Ustica, mainly basalts, hawaiites and mugearites. Nevertheless, some millstone samples did not match major and trace elements of Ustica lavas, in particular, one high-TiO2 Na-Alkaline basalt from Pantelleria Island, some tholeiitic/transitional basalts from the Iblei Mountains and one Calcalkaline basaltic andesite, most likely from the Aeolian Archipelago. The Hellenistic–Roman re-colonisation of Ustica Island, after ca. one millennium of nearly complete abandonment, was testified by the import of the non-local Morgantina-type rotary millstones, very widespread in the Mediterranean area from 4th–3rd century BC. This import of millstones represented, for the Ustica inhabitants, a real breakthrough for developing a local production of grinding artifacts on the basis of the new rotary technique which was much more efficient than that of the archaic saddle querns, largely used in the Middle Bronze Age. The results are also discussed in the framework of the overall volcanic millstone trade in the Mediterranean area and the different milling technology in antiquity.
Through the tabular morphology of northwestern part of the Middle-Atlas in Morocco, numerous uncovered monogenetic volcanoes arise structured of pyroclastic product layers and lava flows. Our fieldwork results witness a wide-ranging volcanic shape spectrum, as cones, maars, tuff-rings, and cone-maar mixes, generally associated with a later lava flow discharge that could develop many surfaces and appearances. There are withal sundry eruptive products such as pahoehoe lava, scoria, tuff, lapilli, peperites, base-surges, bombs, etc. This monogenetic volcanic field of practically 1000 km ² offers remarkable eruptive landforms, referred to as the largest, and the youngest volcanic field in Morocco, which consists of a large area within the Ifrane National Park. This fieldwork study provides a renewed volcanic geomorphological classification table and GIS data to be used by a wide public range for both educational and geo-touristic interest and access effectively to such a high-mountain natural museum. In the event that these volcanic structures were appropriately dealt with, the high educational scientific content and the notable touristic vocation would almost certainly create business openings and new financial wages for neighborhood populaces. This work focuses to share our outcomes and emphases the scientific value about the monogenetic volcanic field around the tabular Middle-Atlas in Morocco.
The results of a petrographic and geochemical study carried out on archeological grindstones allow to provide new constraints on protohistoric commercial exchanges over the Mediterranean area. Eleven grindstones, discovered in an archeological site located in Milazzo (Messina, Sicily) and dated from the Early Bronze Age, have been investigated by geochemical and petrographic techniques. The raw materials are mainly volcanic rocks characterized by calc-alkaline and K-alkaline affinities with volcanic arc geochemical signature. Only one sample, made of basalt belonging to the Na-alkaline series, shows an intraplate signature. The comparison with the available literature data for similar rocks allowed constraining the volcanic origin of the exploited lavas. While the intraplate-type raw material came from Mt. Etna Volcano (Sicily), the arc-type volcanic rocks are mostly trachyandesites, basaltic andesites, and one rhyolite. Although most of them come from the Aeolian Arc, a provenance of some samples from the Aegean Arc cannot be excluded. This last region could represent the most probable provenance area for the rhyolite sample.
The coast of the Mediterranean provide several remnants of ancient coastal quarries, which are now useful to study sea level change occurring during the last millennia. Millstones quarries were exploited with same quarrying techniques from rocks like beachrocks, sandstones or similar lithologies, were shaped to be suitable to grind olives, seeds and wheat, to produce oil and flour, or to break apart soft rocks.In this study we integrated historical sources, aerial photography, field surveys and palaeo sea-level modelling to investigate a number of millstones quarries with the aim to asses the intervening sea level change that occurred since the quarries were abandoned.We investigated on their chronology, spatial distribution and spatial relationship to the sea-level. Our results indicate that most of these were carved close to sea level between 1.45 ka and 0.25 ka cal BP, but mainly around 0.45 cal ka BP. Despite the uncertainties associated with the chronology in, we found good agreement between their lowest elevation (between 0.33 m and -0.06 m) and the paleo sea-levels, as predicted by the GIA models.
Summary:
The Middle Atlas basaltic province comprises the largest volcanic fields in Morocco. A hundred well-preserved strombolian cones and maars occur along a N-S trend ca. 70 km long between El Hajeb and Itzer. K-Ar ages show that the Middle Atlas volcanic activity occurred during the Miocene, the Pliocene and the Quaternary until 0.6-0.5 Ma. Four types of mafic lavas are distinguished. Intermediate and evolved compositions are lacking, a feature which contrasts with other Moroccan volcanic fields (e.g., Siroua and Saghro). Nephelinites (SiO2 = 36-41%) usually
form small strombolian cones and associated lava flows located along the borders of the volcanic plateau, and most of them were emplaced prior to the other petrologic types. The basanites (SiO2 = 41-45%) are the youngest lava type, and make up most of the well preserved cones located between Azrou and Itzer. The corresponding lava flows generally overlie the alkali basalt flows.
Alkali basalts (SiO2 = 46-51%) represent the dominant petrographic type, and their fissural lava flows cover most of the plateau surface, especially to the east (Oued Guigou Valley) and the west (Oued Tigrigra Valley) of the main volcanic axis. They also form the large northern cone of Jbel Outgui, whose lava flows covered the Quaternary formations of the Saiss plain. Finally, subalkaline basalts, richer in silica than the former types (SiO2 = 52%), make up the El Koudiate cone and associated 20 km long lava flows. The alkali basalts, basanites and nephelinites display
strongly enriched incompatible element patterns. Their geochemical signatures are typically intraplate alkaline, and hardly distinguishable from those of ocean island alkali basalts (OIB) and related rocks. The progressive enrichment in the most incompatible elements from alkali basalts to nephelinites, is consistent with decreasing degrees of partial melting of an enriched mantle source. Isotopic data indicate a mantle source characterized by unradiogenic Sr signatures, rather
variable Nd isotopic ratios, but significantly radiogenic in Pb. This isotopic signature is close to the HIMU end-member, a signature frequently found in Cenozoic alkali basalts and basanites from Europe, the western Mediterranean, northern Africa, and eastern Atlantic islands (Madeira, Canary archipelago), suggesting a “common” source.
Keywords: Middle Atlas, Strombolian cone, Maar, Neogene-Quaternary, Volcanology, Petrology
This paper presents the results of a petrochemical study of Roman millstones for cereal production, made of volcanic rocks, which were found in several archaeological areas of Messina territory. Thirteen samples dating from the III century AD and one dating from the II-III centuries AD were characterized through petrographic and geochemical investigations. The raw materials of the studied millstones are mainly volcanic rocks characterized by Na-alkaline affinity with intraplate geochemical signature. Only one sample belongs to the K-alkaline series and shows a volcanic arc signature. The comparison with literature data on similar rocks allowed constraining the volcanic origin of the exploited lavas. The intraplate samples are mostly mugearites and benmoreites from Mt. Etna (Sicily, Italy), and only in few cases peralkaline-trachyte and alkaline basalt from Pantelleria and Linosa islands (Sicily), respectively. The arc-type sample derived instead from islands of the Aeolian Archipelago.
Roman rotary millstones are commonly reported in ancient mines and iron-making centres around the Mediterranean basin. The millstones from the iron-making site of Les Martys have been found in slag heaps dated at the first century B.C. They are mainly of two types: Pompeian-style mills made of tephritic leucite-phonolite imported from Orvieto (Vulsini, central Italy), and cylindrical handmills made of basalt imported from Agde (southern France). The Pompeian-style mills were presumably used for the crushing of slag residues in order to re-use them as a flux in the reduction of iron.
A comprehensive investigation and classification of volcanic millstones of the Greek and Roman periods found on three islands of the Aeolian archipelago (Lipari, Salina and Filicudi) has been reported. Most of the analysed hopper-rubber (Olynthian-type) and rotary (Morgantina-type)
millstones are made up by basaltic andesite and andesite lavas belonging to the medium-K and high-K calc-alkaline series. Among the andesite group we also identified one millstone made of a cordierite-bearing andesite lava. In addition, three latites (shoshonitic series), two hawaiites (Na-alkaline
series) and one tholeiitic/transitional basaltic andesite have been found. Modal mineralogy, petrography and major and trace element chemistry of the millstones are consistent with a provenance from the Aeolian archipelago and Sicily. The Aegean colonization of the Aeolian archipelago led
to the manufacture of the hopper-rubber millstones through the local exploitation of Lipari lavas, whereas the rotary Morgantina-type mills represent quarrying sites of Lipari itself, Vulcano Island and Sicily (Etna and the Iblean Mountains). An intrusive, two-mica granodiorite rotating hand
mill has also been identified among the archaeological artefacts under study, and a possible provenance from Capo Vaticano (Calabria) has been argued. The localization of the sites of quarrying and provenance of the artefacts highlights that the rotary millstone trade in southern Italy should
have begun from the third century BCE, which is the period to which the Morgantina-type mills have been dated.
The Roman Theatre in Catania was built using basically both local lithotypes such as lava blocks from quarries in Etnean flows, and granite and marble from various regions of the Mediterranean basin. In the cavect, the tiers were made of lava blocks, originally covered by large limestone slabs, and of calcareous blocks, probably derived from an earlier Greek theatre which had existed on the same site. The tiers were subdivided into sectors by steps in lava, a material resistant to the constant passage of the public and whose colour, contrasting with that of the white limestone seats, created a pleasing chromatic effect. Granite slabs were used to pave part of the orchestra and for the columns. Some of these columns still remain within the theatre, where they lie, fallen in the orchestra; however, most of them were removed from the area and used to ornament the facade of the Cathedral and other monuments in Catania. At present, one of them may also be admired at Largo della Marina (the Marine Parade) where it supports the statue of St. Agatha, the patron saint of Catania. This paper examines the petrographic and chemical characters of some types of lava used for the construction of the tiers, and of the granitoid rocks used in the flooring and columns of the Theatre. The resulting data made it possible to define the probable areas of origin of the building stone, by comparing it with reference sources concerning ancient Roman quarries. It is hypothesized that the lava blocks forming the tiers of the cavea in the Roman Theatre, despite their heterogeneous appearance, were all quarried from prehistoric lava flows of the Recent Mongibello, near the monument itself, outside the Roman city walls. Petrographic and petrochemical studies on the granitoid rocks used to pave the orchestra and for the columns reveal their mineralogical and compositional heterogeneity. It is assumed that all but three of these samples came from Western Turkey («Mysian marble» from Kozak). It is not yet possible to define the provenance of these three samples on the grounds of their petrographic and geochemical characters.
An archaeometric study of all the Roman millstones preserved today in the National Archaeological Museum of Aquileia, the ancient capital of the X Regio Augustea –‘Venetia et Histria’ located on the Friuli plain (northeastern Italy), has been recently envisaged to define their geological–geographical provenance. We present here the results of the first step of the research, which is aimed at characterizing all of the definitely allochthonous lithologies. In order to carry out petrography on thin‐section and geochemical analyses, 10 small samples were picked out directly from Pompeian‐style millstones (catilli and/or metae) and rotary querns. Five different lithologies originating in various Italian regions were recognized: eight samples consist of pale‐ and dark‐grey lavas from the Venetian Volcanic Province, Vulsini Volcanic District (Latium), Etna Volcano and Pantelleria island (Sicily), whereas two samples were shown to be made of green garnet‐bearing schists (pietra ollare) from the Western Italian Alps. The presence of Alpine pietra ollare in northeastern Italy, used to produce pots and food containers, was established for numerous classical findings at Roman and Middle Age sites, but the analysed items represent the first evidence for the utilization of this kind of stone to produce mills during the Roman epoch.
The Middle Atlas basaltic province is the largest and youngest volcanic field in Morocco. A hundred well-preserved strombolian cones and maars emitted numerous mafic lava flows, which cover a surface of ca. 960 km2. The study of 103 samples from these volcanic units allows us to distinguish four lava types, to map their distribution, to provide new K-Ar ages and to discuss their petrogenesis on the basis of their petrologic and geochemical (major and trace element) features. Nephelinites represent only 1.2% of the total surface of volcanic units; they are scattered all over it as small monogenic volcanoes built during the Middle and Late Miocene (16.25-5.87 Ma) and the Plio-Quaternary (3.92-0.67 Ma). The three other types are exclusively Plio-Quaternary (3.77-0.60 Ma). Basanites cover 22.5% of the volcanic field area, and generally overlie the more widespread alkali basaltic flows (68.5% of the plateau surface). Finally, subalkaline basalts form the E1 Koudiate cone and associated flows (7.8% of the surface of the volcanic units) and their origin is ascribed to contamination of alkali basaltic magmas by the upper continental crust. We show that nephelinites, basanites and alkali basalts derive from temporally increasing but small degrees of partial melting of variably enriched spinel- and garnet-bearing peridotites from the base of the North-African lithospheric mantle, at depths of ca. 70 km. Partial melting was caused by an asthenospheric uprise, which induced dehydration melting of pargasite-bearing enriched peridotites, metasomatised during an earlier Cenozoic plume-related magmatic event.
This study concerns 47 hourglass and 25 rotary-hand millstones from Pompei. All of them are made of volcanic rocks. Most samples were chemically analysed and all were studied by optical microscopy. Out of the rotary-hand millstones, 20 are composed of leucite basaltic trachyandesites belonging to the oldest eruptions of Somma-Vesuvius, 4 are mugearites and hawaiites from Etna, and 1 (of uncertain provenance) is a leucitic tephriphonolite. Among the hourglass millstone samples, 29 are leucitic phonolites from the Orvieto quarries discovered by Peacock (1986), and 18 are leucite basaltic trachyandesites identical to the rocks making up the rotary-hand millstones. The typology of the hourglass millstones varies between the different manufacturing areas. According to the morphological classification we propose here Orvieto millstones belong to the A type and Somma-Vesuvius millstones to the B type. Therefore, our research demonstrates that millstone trade was frequent and important in Roman times.
We present the results of the first archeometric study of some Roman millstones and mortars made of volcanic rocks found at the Libyan archeological sites of Leptis Magna and Cyrene. Two millstones from the first site dating from the III century AD and one from the second, also dating from the II–III centuries AD, were found to made from leucite–phonolite lavas from the quarrying area near Orvieto, in the Vulsini Volcanic District (Roman Volcanic Province). These findings provide further confirmation of the central role played by Orvieto in the Roman production and export of millstones. Mugearite lavas from Etna, transitional basalt from the island of Pantelleria, alkaline basalt, probably from Al Haruj-Al Aswad (Central Libya), and high-K calc-alkaline andesite of uncertain geological origin were the other rocks used for the millstones investigated in this study. This evidence clearly indicates a trade in millstones between Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Central-South Italy.
This study shows that hygromagmaphile elements (elements which exhibit an affinity for the liquid phase of magma: Th, Ta, Nb, Zr, Hf, Ti, Y, V) can be plotted on an extended rare earth diagram. The position of these elements among rare earths is determined and normalization values calculated from data on ocean tholeiites and alkali basalts. This representation in the form of an extended rare earth diagram permits a detection of the behavioral anomalies of certain elements (such as Eu anomalies). These anomalies can be quantified and used for petrogenetic interpretations. We demonstrate that Nb, Ta, Ti and V anomalies observed in magmas associated with subduction zones are not due to the same cause. Ti and V anomalies are interpreted as the result of opaque fractionation between the fractional crystallization of magmas; Nb and Ta anomalies are more primitive and are associated with the presence in the mantle of a phase which is stable under the P, T and H2O conditions generated by the geodynamic context.
This study is an application of the ideal free distribution (IFD) model to understand settlement patterns during the Mauretanian and Roman periods in northwest Morocco. We use proxies for potential agricultural productivity and distance from a viable harbor for each of the locations of known settlement sites. There is a clear relationship between the distance from harbors and habitat suitability, with sites that were established earliest all on or close to a point of access to the ocean. This is consistent with a focus on maritime trade and a connection with the Mediterranean Sea. Agricultural potential is also an important factor influencing settlement, although to a lesser extent, with earlier, low-density settlement more focused on trade potential. Consistent with predictions of the IFD, there is an expansion through time to progressively lower ranked habitats, with persistent settlement at the highest ranked habitats, including at Lixus, which is generally considered to be the earliest city in northwest Africa. During the Roman period, there is a focus of interior settlement near Volubilis. Subsidiary sites likely benefit from their proximity to this important political site, despite their relatively low rank within the IFD, perhaps reflecting patterns consistent with an ideal despotic distribution. This study demonstrates how the IFD can be used in a simple context with limited available survey data to assess the important environmental variables influencing settlement decisions. It has broad implications for understanding the formation of urban centers prior to and during the Roman period.
Making offers a series of profound reflections on what it means to create things, on materials and form, the meaning of design, landscape perception, animate life, personal knowledge and the work of the hand. It draws on examples and experiments ranging from prehistoric stone tool-making to the building of medieval cathedrals, from round mounds to monuments, from flying kites to winding string, from drawing to writing. The book will appeal to students and practitioners alike, with interests in social and cultural anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art and design, visual studies and material culture.
One way of approaching the interpretation of workshops can be to investigate whether they have been designed specifically or not to accommodate the activity that took place within them. Hence it is of a primary importance to appreciate the different tools involved in the workplace in order to reconstruct the operational sequence and see if its organization is rationalized or not.While bakeries do belong, almost since the beginning of the excavations, to Pompeii’s public image, earlier studies have always portrayed them as random assemblages of mostly three types of equipment: mills, kneading-machines and ovens. Reviewing the 35 known bakeries in Pompeii – some of them no more in use in 79 A.D. – allows rediscovering all existing equipment, some of which having never been taken into account, in their functional context and characterizing their spatial relations. If the reconstructed operational sequence shows three work-clusters – grinding, loaf leavening and baking –, there are two specific context-types that might be distinguished from the others: some bakeries are lacking mills, but no independent mill has been recognized yet in the city. These reflections on the operational sequence, re-inserted in the Pompeian context, might lead to a better understanding of key socio-economical processes in the first century A.D.
Three textural features seem especially useful in classifying those carbonate rocks that retain their depositional texture (1) Presence or absence of carbonate mud, which differentiates muddy carbonate from grainstone; (2) abundance of grains, which allows muddy carbonates to be subdivided into mudstone, wackestone, and packstone; and (3) presence of signs of binding during deposition, which characterizes boundstone. The distinction between grain-support and mud-support differentiates packstone from wackestone—packstone is full of its particular mixture of grains, wackestone is not. Rocks retaining too little of their depositional texture to be classified are set aside as crystalline carbonates.
Excavations in the Roman town of Pompeii have revealed no fewer than 37 bakeries or patisseries (pistrina or pistrina culciaria). Since at this period, the tasks of the baker and the miller seem to have been undifferentiated, it is hardly surprising that Pompeii has yielded an impressive collection of millstones. The town remains a key site in the study of Roman mills and milling technology. A metrical study of the mills of Pompeii, intended to throw light on the function and chronology of hour-glass shaped mills, was undertaken in the spring of 1986. The relatively limited collection at Herculaneum was also incorporated, as were data from Ostia. In 1987, the work was extended by a comparative study of earlier material in Magna Graecia. This paper presents new data from Pompeii in the light of these broader investigations. -from Author
Central-Southern Italy and the Tyrrhenian Sea are the sites of extensive Plio-Quaternary magmatic activity. The rock compositions include crustal anatectic granites and rhyolites, tholeiitic, calc-alkaline, shoshonitic volcanics, and potassic to ultrapotassic and Na-alkaline volcanics. This very wide compositional variation makes Italian magmatism one of the most complex petrological issues, the understanding of which is a challenge for modern petrology and geochemistry. This book summarises the petrological, geochemical and volcanological characteristics of Italian Plio-Quaternary volcanism, and discusses petrogenetic hypotheses and possible geodynamics settings. The book is written for petrologists and geochemists, but fundamental geochemical information is well presented and the use of excessive jargon is avoided, making the book readable to a wide audience of Earth scientists.
The Morgantina archaeological area, inhabited from the Early Bronze Age, had its widest expansion from the fifth to the first century bc. The volcanic millstones found at Morgantina fall into three different groups on the basis of the milling technique: (i) saddle querns (known from the Middle–Late Bronze Age and Iron Age); (ii) rectangular hopper-rubbers (Olynthian) millstones, the invention of which dates to the fifth century bc; and finally (iii) Morgantina-type rotary millstones (starting to be used from the fourth to the third century bc). In order to determine the provenance of the raw materials (lavas) used for all these millstone types, we collected 38 very small rock samples for thin-section modal mineralogy, petrography and major trace element composition. The results have contributed to classifying different lithotypes and distinguishing between provenance from Etna and the Hyblean Mountains, the two volcanic areas respectively north-east and south-east of Morgantina. Saddle querns are made of tholeiitic basaltic andesites from the Hyblean Mountains and transitional basalts, mugearites and hawaiites from Etna. The variety of sources of portable saddle querns, mostly used in households, indicate that there was no general preference for specific quarrying sites. By contrast, the rectangular hopper-rubber and the Morgantina-type millstones, which document the period of Morgantina's greatest prosperity, are almost completely made of hawaiites from Etna. The use of a specific lithotype (i.e., Etna hawaiite) for the more efficient rectangular hopper-rubber and rotary millstones could be linked to the fact that these mills may have been operated in business establishments. It is worth noting that the Gornalunga river was, in antiquity, a waterway joining Morgantina to the final stretch of the Simeto river and then the Ionian coast. The best candidate areas for the millstone hawaiite quarrying sites from Etna are the far south-western sectors of the volcano, along the Simeto Valley (i.e., the ‘Piano Provenzana’ Formation) or the inner suburb of present-day Catania (i.e., the ‘Pietracannone’ Formation). The very efficient Morgantina-type rotary millstones spread during the reign of Hieron II of Syracuse (275–215 bc) in eastern Sicily and met the need for grinding large quantities of cereals during a relatively peaceful time and a period of agricultural development.
L'objectif principal du projet «Pistrina – Étude des boulangeries de l'Italie ro-maine» est de comprendre le moment et les modalités du basculement d'une consom-mation de céréales sous forme de bouillie et de galettes confectionnées dans un cadre domestique à la boulangerie commerciale. Durant cette première phase, deux sites ont été sélectionnés afin de suivre ce proces-sus, Pompéi et Ostie; une première cam-pagne s'est déroulée à Pompéi du 1 er au 30 septembre, puis du 1 er au 5 novembre 2008 2 . Nous avons exploré concomitam-ment deux directions. La première consiste à étudier l'ensemble des 36 boulangeries pour comprendre leurs aménagements et leur agencement spatial de manière géné-rale (fig. 1) 3 . Une campagne de relevé sy-stématique a ainsi été initiée, permettant de dessiner et d'insérer dans la trame urbaine géoréférencée de Pompéi huit boulangerie, 1 Ce rapport préliminaire a été écrit en collaboration avec l'ensemble de l'équipe, composée de la façon suivante: M.-A. Le Guennec, E. Letellier, N. Monteix (EFR), avec la collaboration d' Y. Manniez (INRAP), étude et fouille de la boulangerie I 12, 1-2; C. Hartz, C. Loiseau, étude et fouille de la boulangerie VII 12,13; S. Aho, M. Célié (INRAP), S. Zanella, étude et fouille de la boulangerie IX 3, 19-20; F. Fouriaux, V. Lallet, relevés topographiques et mise en place SIG; S. Longepierre, étude des meules; M. Derreumaux (CRAVO), V. Matterne (CNRS, UMR 7209), approche archéobotanique, étude carpologique; H. Dessales (ENS Paris, UMR 8546 AOROC), étude des systèmes hydrauliques; A. Coutelas (ArkéMine), avec la collaboration d'E. Bukowiecki, étude des fours. A. Duvauchelle a collaboré à l'étude des pétrins et des tuyaux en plomb. 2 Ce projet est réalisé par l'École française de Rome et le Centre Jean-Bérard (UMS 1797, CNRS-EFR), en en collaboration avec la Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. Outre les financements institutionnels du Ministère des Affaires étrangères (Paris), cette opération a bénéficié du soutien de Fittes S.A. (Nîmes) au titre du mécénat culturel. Nous remercions M. Tessier, son gérant. Les relevés ont été effectués grâce au logiciel «Top Station», gracieusement prêté par la société JSInfo, ce dont nous sommes reconnaissants à son président, O. Cochard. L'équipe était composée de la façon suivante: M.-A. Le Guennec Les photos des boulangeries de Pompéi (fig. 3, 7-9, 13-16) ont été réalisées par des membres de l'équipe, sur concession du Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali -Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. Toute reproduction, par quelque moyen que ce soit, reste interdite. 3 L'inventaire du nombre de boulangeries à 36 procède de la recension des principaux équipements, fours à pain et meules. Les fours de taille trop réduite (diamètre de la sole inférieur à 1,5 m) ont été écartés, à moins qu'ils n'aient été associés à des moulins non manuels: si le local VII 3, 4 dispose d'un petit four à pain, seules des meules manuelles y ont été observées; en revanche, la présence d'un moulin à sang (à probable mouvement humain et non animal), en association avec un four à pain, dans l'arrière-boutique du commerce alimentaire I 8, 15-16 permet d'y restituer une production boulangère. De ce fait, par rapport aux inventaires précédents, en particulier celui dressé par B.J. Mayeske (1972), des distinctions subtiles existent: la supposée boulangerie située en VII 4, 29 a été écartée, tandis qu'ont été ajoutés celles des Casti Amanti et celle située en I 8, 15-16. Fig. 1. Plan de répartition des boulangeries dans l'espace urbain pompéien.
This study presents new geochemical data on 26 mafic lavas from the Middle Atlas and Central Morocco volcanic provinces, including Miocene nephelinites and Pliocene–Quaternary (3.9–0.6 Ma) nephelinites, basanites, alkali and subalkaline basalts. Most of them represent near-primary magmas, although some alkali basalts were derived from the minor fractionation of olivine and diopside phenocrysts. These evolved samples and the subalkaline basalt display higher 207Pb/204Pb and Zr/Nb ratios and lower εNd consistent with their contamination by lower crustal granulites during an open fractionation process. The progressive enrichment in incompatible elements observed from alkali basalts to nephelinites suggests their derivation from decreasing partial melting degrees of an enriched mantle source located at the garnet–spinel transition zone. The strong negative spikes observed for K in multielement patterns indicate that this source contained a residual pargasitic amphibole. We propose that partial melting occurred at around 2 GPa, i.e. near the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary beneath the Middle Atlas (60–80 km).
The coasts of Italy still preserve several remnants of coastal quarries built in antiquity, that now provide insights into the intervening sea-level changes occurred during the last millennia. In this paper, we show and discuss a new class of sea level indicator consisting of millstones carved along the rocky coast of southern Italy since 2500 BP, that are currently submerged. They were extracted from beachrocks, sandstones or similar sedimentary rocks, easier for carving by ancient carving tools. Our study focuses on 10 coastal sites located at Capo d'Orlando, Avola, and Letojanni, in Sicily; Soverato, Tropea, and Capo dell'Armi, in Calabria; Castellabate, Palinuro, and Scario, in Campania; and Polignano San Vito, in Apulia.
Unfortunately, only limited archaeological information is available for these anthropic structures. Scario, one of these millstone quarries discussed here, has been dated through independent archaeological remains, allowing us to restrict the exploitation age to the end of XVII century. Present day elevations of these coastal sites were obtained through geo-archaeological surveys calibrated using the nearest tidal stations, together with geomorphological and tectonic interpretations. Data were compared against the latest sea level predictions based on glacio-hydro-isostatic models. Our results allow proposal of the age-range of these millstone quarries and to estimate the intervening relative sea level changes since the time when they were carved.
This article presents a previously unpublished Roman travertine relief showing scenes of breadmaking, currently in the restaurant Romolo in Trastevere in Rome. It presumably came originally from a tomb monument, possibly in the vicinity, and might be dated on grounds of material and style anywhere between the very late Republic and the Flavian period. From left to right it shows two men delivering of sacks of grain, a man loading grain into an animal-driven mill, three men keading dough by hand, three more shaping loaves, and one putting loaves into the oven. The article discusses parallels in other reliefs of bakery scenes, and highlights the importance of this one for the evidence that it provides for the extent of division of labour in a fairly large-scale bakery, in which the breadmaking process is divided into stages each carried out by different groups of people.
Questo articolo presenta un rilievo di travertino di epoca romana che mostra scene di lavorazione del pane. Il rilievo, finora inedito, è attualmente conservato nel ristorante Romolo in Trastevere a Roma. Presumibilmente esso è appartenuto ad un monumento funerario, forse situato nelle vicinanze, e potrebbe essere datato genericamente, in base al materiale e allo stile, tra la tarda età repubblicana e il periodo flavio. Da sinistra a destra mostra due uomini che consegnano sacchi di grano, un uomo che carica grano in una macina a trazione animale, tre uomini che impastano la pasta per il pane con le mani, altri tre che fanno pagnotte e uno che mette le pagnotte in un forno. L'articolo discute confronti con altri rilievi di panettieri e sottolinea l'importanza di questo per l'evidenza che fornisce circa la misura della divisione del lavoro in un panificio di scala abbastanza ampia, in cui il processo di panificazione è diviso in stadi, ognuno dei quali condotto da gruppi diversi di individui.
Millstones and grindstones of the prehistoric to Roman periods include saddle querns, rectangular hopper-rubber mills, rotary querns and Pompeian-style donkey mills. Many of these were manufactured from igneous rocks which can be provenanced to their geological sources using chemical analysis, giving information about trade contacts of sites. Sixty-nine samples of 10-20 g each were removed from broken parts of lava millstones of prehistoric and early historic date, from sites in Israel, Syria, Egypt, Greece and Turkey. These were analysed for major and trace elements using X-ray fluorescence, and petrological features were examined in thin section. The millstones were all young generally fresh lavas ranging from vesicular basalt to porphyritic andesite. Potential sources occur in younger volcanics of mainland Greece, the Aegean, Turkey and the Levant (Israel, Syria and Jordan), and in Egypt. Thirty-four geological samples from Israel, Syria and Turkey were collected and analysed in the same way as the archaeological samples, and an intensive literature survey carried out to supplement these by published analyses. Comparison of archaeological samples with source data is done by using a series of discrimination graphs, following a simple flow diagram. The archaeological samples were of two types, within-plate lavas, and island arc or other subduction-related lavas. All samples were successfully assigned to sources, and results show use of the source areas as follows.
The partitioning behavior of niobium between clinopyroxenes and aqueous fluids was determined experimentally using an indirect approach in which the solubility of Nb in clinopyroxenes and aqueous fluids was measured in two separate runs that both were saturated in CaNb2O6. The solubility of Nb in clinopyroxenes was investigated in the system CaMgSi2O6 - NaAlSi2O6 - Nb2O5 - H2O at 1.5 GPa and 900 - 1100 °C. At these conditions, clinopyroxene coexists with hydrous melt and CaNb2O6. The solubility of niobium in the pyroxene increases drastically with its aluminum content. While the solubility of niobium is in the order of 100 ppm by weight for Al-poor clinopyroxenes, it reaches 4 wt.% for clinopyroxenes containing 10 wt. % Al2O3. Microprobe analyses suggest that Nb is incorporated in the clinopyroxene as NaNbAl2O6 component. The solubility of CaNb2O6 in aqueous fluid was determined by direct visual observation of dissolving CaNb2O6 crystals in an externally heated hydrothermal diamond anvil cell, using the technique described in [1]. At 1.5 to 1.7 GPa and 800 - 1000 °C, an aqueous fluid saturated with diopside dissolves only 20 - 100 ppm by weight of CaNb2O6, i.e., niobium solubility in the fluid is orders of magnitude lower than that in aluminous clinopyroxenes. Reconnaissance experiments on the solubility of CaTa2O6 in clinopyroxenes and in aqueous fluid suggest that Ta behaves generally similar to Nb, with the notable exception that the solubility of CaTa2O6 in aqueous fluid is even lower than that of CaNb2O6. Our results imply that fluid/clinopyroxene partition coefficients of Nb and Ta are
In Roman times, rotary querns and different types of millstones, driven either by horse-capstan or water power, were produced in the lava quarries of the quaternary volcanic Eifel region and exported to many parts of the Empire. The geographic distribution of Roman lava millstones from the Eifel region provides important information about trade patterns and, in cases of well dated millstones, also allows an estimate as to when the Roman lava quarrying in the Eifel region began. Sixty-two millstones from Germany, France and Austria were sampled and analyzed for major and trace elements by X-ray fluorescence. To determine their provenance, the millstone data was evaluated by a combination of geochemical discrimination and cluster and discriminant analyses using an extensive and detailed database of all Roman lava quarries in the Eifel region. An Eifel provenance could be confirmed for forty-four artefacts and, furthermore, determined down to the exact lava flow. The affiliation of the other artefacts to other possible regions where millstones of comparable lava were extracted was carried out on the basis of geochemical data from the literature. However, because of insufficient data, only assumptions about the regional provenance can be made. The origins of the other finds are assumed to be the Vogelsberg region, the Massif Central, Orvieto, and, possibly, the Pannonian Basin. A preliminary map of the distribution of Eifel millstones in Roman times based on these data is presented; the beginning of Roman lava quarrying can be constrained to 8–7 BC.
This paper is part of the special publication No.156, The Mediterranean basins: Tertiary extension within the Alpine Orogen. (eds B.Durand, L. Jolivet, F.Horvath and M.Seranne). Tertiary-Quaternary magmatism within the Mediterranean and surrounding regions, including the European foreland of the Alps, the North African margin and the Eastern Mediterranean, occurs in three distinct associations: anorogenic, extension-related intra-plate magmas, typically Na-rich alkali basalts, basanites and their differentiates, but locally including subalkaline basalts and potassic partial melts (e.g. leucitites) of the mantle lithosphere; orogenic, subduction-related/post- collisional magma series related to plate convergence; typically with potassium-rich geochemical characteristics which may be related to subduction of continental crustal materials; subalkaline basalts, similar to mid-ocean ridge basalts, formed at localized oceanic spreading centres. The magmatism is spatially and temporally associated with the Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic convergence of Africa-Arabia with Eurasia which resulted in the progressive closure (by subduction) of oceanic basins in the Mediterranean domain and ultimately the collision of the Alpine orogen with the southern passive continental margin of Europe. Break-off of subducted lithospheric slabs may have provided an important trigger for magmatism in several localities. The timing and geographical distribution of magmatism of orogenic and anorogenic affinity is summarized. Detailed discussion of the major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotope characteristics of the magmatism in the Central Mediterranean region provides important insights into the petrogenesis of the magmas and the nature of the main mantle source components.
The petrochemical study of millstones can contribute to improve the archaeological research into reconstruction of ancient communication routes and trade networks. Volcanic rocks are geographically restricted and rather rare in the Mediterranean regions, and during the Roman period Italian volcanoes were important sources of raw materials for millstones, so the task of determining their geological origin is relatively straightforward. The Italian vesicular volcanics most frequently employed for this purpose were: trachytes from Euganean Hills (Veneto), leucite-bearing lavas from the Vulsini Volcanic District (Latium), basic-intermediate leucite-bearing lavas from Somma-Vesuvius (Campania), silica undersaturated lavas from Monte Vulture Volcano (Basilicata), a rhyolitic ignimbrite from Sardinia and basic products from Mount Etna and the island of Pantelleria (Sicily). This paper contains a general outline of the trade network for each volcanic typology used for millstones during the Roman period – updated with data concerning the leucite-bearing lavic items discovered in the archaeological sites of the ancient Cuicul (now Djemila, Algeria) – together with a summary of their petrographic and geochemical features.
The ruins of the Roman town of Volubilis, located in the Middle Atlas, near Meknes, between Fez and Rabat, constitute the most important Roman archaeological site in Morocco and are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Volubilis became the headquarters of the Mauritania Tingitana limes after the annexation of the kingdom of Mauritania to the Roman Empire in AD 42. Evacuated by the Romans after the second half of the 3rd century, the town became the capital of the kingdom of Idriss I in AD 789.The results of an archaeometric study of the marbles imported into Volubilis during the Roman age are reported herein the sixth framework program of the European Union.Of the few coloured lithotypes that have been found, all are of Greek origin with the exception of the so-called “Portuguese pink”, a pale pink marble exploited by the Romans near Vilaviçosa in the Lusitania which, till now, has not yet been identified outside Iberia. As regards the white marbles employed in the statuary, petrographic study in thin section and the δ13C and δ18O isotopic data emphasize the frequent use of Lunense and Pentelic marbles. The latter also features among the white marbles used for crustae and architectural elements together with the dolomitic variety of Thasian marble, Parian marble from Lakkoi, Proconnesian marble from the island of Marmara, an unknown marble most probably of local origin, and a variety of the so-called “greco scritto” whose provenance still remains unclear. In fact, its petrographic and geochemical features do not match those known for the classical “greco scritto” from Cap de Garde, near Annaba (Algeria).
A system is presented whereby volcanic rocks may be classified chemically as follows:I. Subalkaline Rocks:A. Tholeiitic basalt series:Tholeiitic picrite-basalt; tholeiite; tholeiitic andesite.B. Calc-alkali series:High-alumina basalt; andesite; dacite; rhyolite.II. Alkaline Rocks:A. Alkali olivine basalt series:(1) Alkalic picrite–basalt; ankaramite; alkali basalt; hawaiite; mugearite; benmorite; trachyte.(2) Alkalic picrite–basalt; ankaramite; alkali basalt; trachybasalt; tristanite; trachyte.B. Nephelinic, leucitic, and analcitic rocks.III. Peralkaline Rocks:pantellerite, commendite, etc.A system is presented whereby volcanic rocks may be classified chemically as follows:I. Subalkaline Rocks:A. Tholeiitic basalt series:Tholeiitic picrite-basalt; tholeiite; tholeiitic andesite.B. Calc-alkali series:High-alumina basalt; andesite; dacite; rhyolite.II. Alkaline Rocks:A. Alkali olivine basalt series:(1) Alkalic picrite–basalt; ankaramite; alkali basalt; hawaiite; mugearite; benmorite; trachyte.(2) Alkalic picrite–basalt; ankaramite; alkali basalt; trachybasalt; tristanite; trachyte.B. Nephelinic, leucitic, and analcitic rocks.III. Peralkaline Rocks:pantellerite, commendite, etc.
This contribution summarizes and brings up to date the recommendations made by the IUGS Subcommission on the Systematics of
Igneous Rocks for the classification of volcanic rocks when modal analyses are lacking. The classification is on a non-genetic
basis using the total alkali-silica (TAS) diagram, and is as nearly consistent as possible with the QAPF modal classification.
The diagram is divided into 15 fields, two of which contain two root names which are separated according to other chemical
criteria, giving the following 17 root names: basalt, basaltic andesite, andesite, dacite, rhyolite, trachybasalt, basaltic
trachyandesite, trachyandesite, trachyte, trachydacite, picrobasalt, basanite, tephrite, phonotephrite, tephriphonolite, phonolite
and foidite. Using Na-K criteria, trachybasalt may be further divided into the sub-root names hawaiite and potassic trachybasalt,
basaltic trachyandesite into the sub-root names mugearite and shoshonite, and trachyandesite into the sub-root names benmoreite
and latite.
Rectangular hopper-rubber (Olynthian-style) and rotary (Pompeian-style) millstones were found, respectively, in the archaeological sites of Monte Bibele (4th-3th century B.C., Etruscan-Celtic Age) and Fossombrone (2nd century B.C.-6th century A.D., Roman Period). All the hopper-rubber millstones from Monte Bibele and three rotary millstones from Fossombrone were made using the leucite phonolite lavas from the same quarries which are located near Orvieto (Vulsini Volcanic District, Roman Volcanic Province; Central Italy). Since these leucite phonolites were also used in the Iron Age (pre-6th century B.C.) to produce small oval saddle-querns, a long continuous period of quarrying and production of millstones is therefore established for the Orvieto centre. Euganean Hills (Na-trachyte), Etna (hawaiite) and Iblean Mounts (tholeiitic basalt) were also identified as additional volcanic source areas for some millstones, mortars and/or worked lavas found at Fossombrone. This strongly supports the existence of a well organized millstone trade from different volcanic areas in the Roman Period.