Paul De Paepe

Quarries and the Marble Trade in Antiquity

Despite the fact that some random information on ancient quarries was already recorded by western travellers in the East from the mid 15th century A.D. onwards, the oldest one being the description of the lychnites quarries on Paros by Cyriacus of Ancona, a systematical study of ancient quarrying techniques has mainly been a phenomenon of the last three decades. This kind of research has been stimulated enormously by the work of J. Roder in Germany, Northern Africa and Turkey. On the other hand, the study of the whole process of shaping artifacts and of all intermediary stages between quarry and workshop, together with the associated marble trade, basically was started by J.B. Ward-Perkins. It got another impetus by N. Asgari’s detailed work in the Proconnesian quarries and elsewhere in Asia Minor.

Crystal-chemical characterization of tourmalines from the English Lake District: Electron-microprobe analyses and Mössbauer spectroscopy

Abstract Electron-microprobe analyses (EMPA) and Mössbauer spectra (MS) have been acquired for natural tourmalines sampled near Crummock Water and Haweswater, English Lake District. In the former, the dravite-schorl series is prevalent, whereas in the latter, the dravite species is dominant. All tourmaline samples presently studied are chemically disordered. The compositional and MS data give an insight into the thermal and fluid evolution experienced by the tourmalinite rocks. The tourmalines from Crummock Water crystallized in a closed, low fO₂ environment, under the influence of a magmatic fluid. The tourmalines from Haweswater are of hydrothermal origin and were formed under low, variable T and low fO₂ conditions, from a fluid of constant composition.