Marbles of the Aracena Massif (Ossa-Morena Zone, Spain) : aspects of their exploitation and use in roman times

Abstract

In a region located near the large-scale quarry areas of theEstremoz Anticline (district of Evora, Portugal) and the Almadén de la Plata Core (province of Seville, Spain), the Aracena Massif (Ossa-Morena Zone, Spain) includes a series of marble outcrops that were exploited in Romantimes. Among these materials, the lithotypes of Arocheand Fuenteheridos-Navahermosa have been identified indiverse archaeological pieces recovered in this south-western sector of modern Andalusia. The ongoing research has focused, in a first phase, on the archaeometric definitionof the different lithotypesby means of the intensive field-sampling of the marble varieties and their petrographic analysis in thin section.The outcrops of Aroche are located in the hill range immediately to the south of the Roman town of Arucci (localityof Aroche) and, in turn, very close to the coetaneous Roman town of Turobriga (hermitage of San Mamés, Aroche). Those of Fuenteheridos-Navahermosa on thecontrary do not appear, at present, to be linked to a Romansettlement of similar importance. These different situa-tions with respect to the relationship between exploitationand settlement suggest two possible well-differentiated patterns of exploitation, distribution and use: the materials of Aroche may have been exploited mainly for thetowns’ own use and local distribution, while those of Fuenteheridos-Navahermosa may have been subject tocommerce on a wider scale. This was the initial hypothesis that we aimed to testthrough the study of the patterns of distribution of themarble products of this area of the Aracena Massif. With this aim, we have analysed a broad selection of archaeological materials -architectural elements, sculpture, inscribed materials- recovered from sites of the southwest of Baetica and currently held in several museums of the province of Huelva.