Overview

With colours ranging from purest white to honeyed brown, texture of finest grains to undulating waves, and a translucent nature, alabaster has captured the imagination of patrons and craftsmen across the globe from Prehistory to the present. Yet, while calcite alabaster has been one of the most sought-after decorative stones throughout history, many aspects of its procurement and use are less well known. This volume provides the first comprehensive study of calcite alabaster from a comparative, interdisciplinary perspective. The 21 chapters - contributed by geologists, archaeologists, and art historians - cover a wide range of topics, including the quarrying, scientific provenance, use, and imitation of this stone, from a wide chronological perspective (covering over 6000 years from the Predynastic Period to the early medieval period) and geographic context (from the Near East, across the Mediterranean basin, to the Iberian peninsula). This is followed by a gazetteer of known calcite-alabaster quarry sites that is designed to unify the data on the disparate sources and varieties of this stone. This important compendium includes the known calcite-alabaster sources from the most important quarries in the ancient world as well as less well-known quarries. Overall this volume provides a tool for researchers interested in this ubiquitous stone resource.

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9782503610665

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