Imported marbles found in three Roman cities of the territory of “Cinco Villas” (Zaragoza), north of Hispania Citerior

Abstract

The archaeological remains of three Roman cities placed in the most northern part of the Hispania Citerior province,in the demarcation of the ancient Augustancolony of Caesar Augusta, are currently under a multi-disciplinary study. Located along the road that once con-nected the Ebro valley with the Pyrenees, they include Los Bañales (Uncastillo) and the small municipalities of Campo Real (Sos del Rey Católico) and Cabezo Ladrero(Sofuentes), all in the modern province of Zaragoza. By Augustan times, they probably started to become monu-mental, and became municipia in the Flavian period.The reopening of the recent archaeological research car-ried out in the mentioned area together with the imple-mentation of a multi-method archaeometric study have provided a better knowledge of the stone resources and about the selection of imported marbles for special goods. Apart from varieties of the nearby Saint-Beatmarbles, the attested catalogue includes other well known quarry sources like Carrara, Paros and Docimium.