Classification of Asia Minor marbles based on crystal size for archaeometric assignment

Authors

RAMAZAN HACIMUSTAFAOĞLUFollow
HAKAN ELÇİFollow

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the range of crystal sizes of Asia Minor marbles and to classify the marbles accordingto crystal size. Asia Minor marbles have been used as building stones since ancient times. The literature already includes studies on theircrystal sizes; however, different studies performed on marbles of the same locality have reported different crystal size classes, which hascaused complexity. To eliminate this complexity, this study used multidirectional petrographic analyses on the eight known Asia Minormarbles. Thin sections were photographed under a polarizing microscope, and the crystal sizes of the samples were measured usingcomputerized image analysis. An average of 500 size measurements were taken for each sample to determine the mean and maximumcrystal sizes of each marble. For archaeometric evaluation of the marbles, a crystal size classification is suggested. According to thissuggested classification, crystal sizes of 100–250 μm, 250–1000 μm, and >1000 μm are defined as fine crystal, medium crystal and coarsecrystal, respectively.

Author ORCID Identifier

RAMAZAN HACIMUSTAFAOĞLU: 0000-0002-2054-6559

HAKAN ELÇİ: 0000-0003-2945-2548

DOI

10.55730/1300-0985.1953

Keywords

Asia Minor marbles, marble crystal size, marble crystal size classification

First Page

190

Last Page

197

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

HACIMUSTAFAOĞLU, RAMAZAN and ELÇİ, HAKAN (2025) "Classification of Asia Minor marbles based on crystal size for archaeometric assignment," Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences: Vol. 34: No. 2, Article 4. https://doi.org/10.55730/1300-0985.1953
Available at: https://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/earth/vol34/iss2/4