An innovative approach for provenancing ancient white marbles: the contribution of x-ray diffraction to disentangling the origins of Göktepe and Carrara marbles

A novel, low-cost, and minimally destructive method using X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) has been developed to distinguish between Göktepe marble from Turkey and Carrara marble from Italy, two historically significant white marbles used in Roman sculptures. This approach leverages refined unit cell parameters of calcite, offering a quick and efficient alternative to the traditional geochemical analysis that relies on strontium content. The method was validated using 18 known samples (9 from each quarry) and successfully applied to archaeological artefacts, including sculptures from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli and the National Archaeological Museum of Venice. The study demonstrates that this XRPD technique can reliably solve provenance issues in ancient marbles, providing a promising routine procedure for future research.

Antonelli, F., & Nestola, F. (2021). An innovative approach for provenancing ancient white marbles: the contribution of x-ray diffraction to disentangling the origins of Göktepe and Carrara marbles. Scientific Reports, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01800-7