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Source Image: PR228_01_11 of Carrara Quarries

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Description

Ancient quarry-face at Carrara.

Monument
Carrara Quarries 
Monument Type
Quarry 
Material(s)
Luna Marble (Archaeometric identification)  
Date
post bc 50 
Keywords
Quarryface  
Collections
Carrara  

Location

Original Location
Carrara 

Evidence for working practices

1. Toolmarks

Process
Quarrying
Tool
Pick
Method
Angle: Steep (60-70°)
Force: Hard
Description
Quarry pick marks are visible on this quarry-face. The natural fissures in the stone would have made the extraction of large blocks of stone in this area difficult.

Notes

The quarries at Carrara, near ancient Luna, are among the largest in the world and an important hub of the international marble trade. Large-scale quarrying in this region started under Julius Caesar and continued through the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. For much of this period Luna marble was the most commonly imported white marble at Rome. Later quarrying has destroyed many of the remains of ancient quarrying at Carrara. Several varieties of white marble are quarried at Carrara as well as a streaked grey variety called Bardiglio.

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