A new source of Bigio Antico marble: the ancient quarries of Iznik (Turkey)

A new source of bigio antico has been discovered in Turkey near Iznik (ancient Nicaea, Bithynia). The district, quite large and beautifully preserved, includes more than 20 different quarry sites. A spectacular, almost life size relief representing Herakles with a club in front of an altar was found in the largest Iznik quarry, Delikta?. The characterization of the Iznik marbles, carried out by isotopic analysis, EPR spectroscopy, grain size and colour measurements, prompted us to establish a new database of bigio antico marbles including the most important known sites. Statistical data analysis shows, that although the Iznik marbles can be easily and unequivocally identified, general provenancing of bigio artifacts can be problematic. Work to verify the distribution of the Iznik marbles is in progress. The size and the production capacity of the site appears, in fact, to be definitely too large for exclusive local use.