A QUANTITATIVE FABRIC ANALYSIS APPROACH TO THE DISCRIMINATION OF WHITE MARBLES

Quantitative fabric analysis was applied in order to discriminate better among white marbles from various quarries of archaeological interest. This method provides an effective complementary tool to a characterization based upon petrography, cathodoluminescence microscopy and stable isotopes. Very good discrimination of marbles is achieved with the help of simple variables such as major axis and the shape-specific PARlS-factor. Using quantitative fabric analysis, marbles with similar cathodomicrofacies, as, for example, the Naxian quarries of Apiranthos, Koronos, Flerio and Kinidaros and the quarry of St. Beat (French Pyrenees), can be distinguished from each other. Marbles collected within one quarry may display dissimilar cathodomicrofacies. The common origin of such specimens can be determined with the aid of quantitative fabric analysis, as shown for the quarries of Kinidaros as well as St. Beat.