ON THE IMPORTATION OF MONUMENTAL MARBLE TO SARDIS

Recent work on some architectural marble at Sardis, dating to the 6th century BC, suggests that the marble is not from local quarries. We estimate that the marble of the tomb chamber of Alyattes, fourth king of Lydia, weighs at least 100 tons; the prospect of transporting such an amount over a long distance is not to be taken lightly. Stable isotope and petrographic analysis of marble from the tumulus of Alyattes suggest that the marble was imported from Ephesus, although comparative data is not available for some minor marble sources which are closer to Sardis (Ramage 1995; Ramage & Tykot 1995). Other marble sources at Ephesus were used for the Artemision, also dating to the 6th century BC, and historical evidence demonstrates that Sardis and Ephesus did have close ties. Nevertheless, the movement of such a large quantity of marble, probably by boat along coastal and riverine routes, would have been a considerable effort

The results of trace element analyses, now in progress, are expected to resolve any doubts about this preliminary conclusion. The identification of the source of marble for the tumulus of Alyattes is important for our understanding of marble exploitation patterns during the Archaic Period in particular - and in the ancient Mediterranean in general - since it appears that the use of local sources can no longer be assumed, even for architectural purposes. This study also promotes the use of a multi-method approach to marble sourcing, while illustrating the limitations of provenience studies in which not all possible sources are well characterized.

Ramage, M.H. 1995. The Provenance of Lydian Masonry at Sardis, Turkey. Unpublished senior thesis, Carleton College.
Ramage, M.H. & R.H. Tykot. 1995. Movement of monumental marble to Lydian Sardis. 97th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, San Diego. Abstract in American Journal of Archaeology 100(1996): 377.