Methodologies of Analysis for Researching on prehistoric marBLE
Research Project funded with competitive tender by the Tuscany Region POR-FSE 2019
Start Date: 1/07/2020 End Date: 30/06/2022
Project partners: Museo di Storia Naturale del Mediterraneo di Livorno, Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Lucca e Massa Carrara, Comune di Carrara, CNR- Istituto di Chimica dei Composti Organometallici, Ditta MARMI VM65, Ditta GHIRARDI srl.
- Scientific tutor: Elisabetta Starnini
- Laboratory tutor: Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia
- Scientist in charge: Alice Vassanelli
- Granted funds amount: € 56.000
Title of the research activity: “Recognition and analytical study of pre-protohistoric marble artifacts from Tuscany, through the collection and computerization of analytical: techno-typological, functional, petrographic and archaeometric analyses, integrated with experimental studies for the reconstruction of production gestures”.
MARBLE aims to increase the knowledge, enhancement, and usability of the collections of prehistoric Tuscan marble artifacts. The use and mining of Apuan marble in Roman times is known, less known is the existence of prehistoric artifacts that reveals how the exploitation of this raw material is much older, dating back to prehistoric times. The first marble artifacts consist of small ornamental objects that have never been the subject of in-depth studies so far. The lack of knowledge of these finds, often belonging to old collections, only partially exhibited in Museums, has so far prevented us from giving prominence to this heritage which deserves to be known and valued. The application of modern analytical technologies and the use of digital databases allow us to provide cultural operators with new tools and content useful for the conservation, management, and promotion of these collections.
The main objectives of the project were: 1- to identify and register the personal marble ornaments in the museum collections of the Tuscan territory; 2- design an interdisciplinary methodological protocol to scientifically identify the raw material and understand the strategies of raw material exploitation and circulation of Apuan marble artifacts during prehistoric times; 3- develop and validate an experimental protocol to understand the manufacturing techniques of marble artifacts; 4- assess the “state of health” of the archaeological objects, recognizing signs of deterioration and facilitating their correct conservation and restoration procedures.
Thanks to MARBLE we discovered that during the second half of the third millennium BC in Tuscany a considerable production of ornaments in marble and limestone spread found exclusively in burial contexts. The accuracy of the manufacture testifies to a high degree of specialization in the production of these ornaments. The research carried out with modern methods of investigation allowed to reconstruct the ancient manufacturing techniques, showing the symbolic and ideological meaning that these artifacts had for the Eneolithic populations.
Contact: Elisabetta Starnini / Alice Vassanelli
Outputs
Conferences
Conference held at the Museo Archeologico e dell’Uomo A.C. Blanc of Viareggio (Tuscany), on May 28, 2022, with a presentation entitled: La vita oltre la morte: i gioielli in marmo dalle sepolture eneolitiche della costa Toscana; by Alice Vassanelli.
Conference held at the Museo di storia Naturale del Mediterraneo of Livorno (Tuscany), on June 11, 2022, with a presentation entitled: M.A.R.M.O PROJECT_GIOIELLI IN MARMO: tradizioni e simbolismi nella Toscana preistorica; by Alice Vassanelli (speaker), with Elisabetta Starnini and Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia.
Oral presentation at the AWRANA-Conference 2022, Tracing Social Dynamics, on 4-7 April 2022, in Barcelona, entitled: Marble for Beads during the Copper Age in Italy: Products and Techniques; Alice Vassanelli and Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia.
Poster presented at the AWRANA-Conference 2022, Tracing Social Dynamics, on 4-7 April 2022, in Barcelona, entitled: Copper Age Marble Beads: An Interdisciplinary Approach; Alice Vassanelli, Cristiana Petrinelli Pannocchia, Elisabetta Starnini, Simone Sani, Lucia Spadacini, Agnese Terranova.
Publications
Vassanelli A., Petrinelli Pannocchia C., Starnini E. (under review). The chaîne opératoire approach for interpreting personal ornament production: marble beads in Copper Age Tuscany (Italy). Special Issue: Reconsidering the ChaîneOpératoire: Towards a Multifaceted Approach to the Archaeology of Techniques; Open Archaeology.
Vassanelli A., Petrinelli Pannocchia C., Starnini E., Sani S., Spadacini S., Terranova A., 2022. Copper Age Marble Beads: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Book of Abstracts – AWRANA-Conference 2022, Tracing Social Dynamics, 4-7 April, Barcelona, Poster, p. 211.
Vassanelli A., Petrinelli Pannocchia C., 2022. Marble for Beads during the Copper Age in Italy: Products and Techniques. Book of Abstracts – AWRANA-Conference 2022, Tracing Social Dynamics, 4-7 April, Barcelona, Presentation, p. 118.