The quarrying of ornamental stones of Hispanic origin is directly related to the development of the earliest monumental programmes on the provinces and to the participation of cities in a luxury goods market. Carthago Nova (modern-day Cartagena, Murcia) and its territory feature some of the earliest examples of the extraction and use of these local marmora, their use being documented as early as late 2nd century BC in the decoration of certain houses and functional rooms. There are also epigraphic and architectural examples from pre-Augustan times, but the use of these marbles became more widespread from the 1st century AD onwards. Among these materials are two white-grey varieties characterized by low grade regional metamorphism, green schist facies and granoblastic texture, but of significantly diverse mineralogical composition. The study of the quarry fronts and the formal analysis of items made with these materials enabled us to perform a diachronic study of the use of these rocks which, especially in the case of Cabezo Gordo marble, played a very important role in the implementation of the main decorative programmes documented in the colony, especially as regards the manufacture of architectural pieces, epigraphic supports and other decorative elements.

Proceedings of the IX Association for the Study of Marbles and Other Stones in Antiquity (ASMOSIA) Conference (Tarragona 2009).

Peer reviewed