Provenance of Construction Stone Materials in Archaeology: New Advances, Methodologies and Issues
A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials and Heritage".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 95
Special Issue Editors
Interests: ancient Stone; ancient mortar and plasters; trades of construction materials in archaeology; geochemistry; petrography and mineralogy applied to cultural heritage
Interests: stone trades; ancient architecture; archaeological excavation and stratigraphy; ancient landscapes
Interests: ancient quarries; construction techniques; ancient stones and marbles; archaeological excavation and stratigraphy; architectural survey; photogrammetry in archaeology
Interests: archaeometry; mortars; plasters; pottery; ancient stones; petrography and mineralogy applied to the cultural heritage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the Special Issue entitled ‘Provenance of Construction Stone Materials in Archaeology: New Advances, Methodologies and Issues’. The study of stone materials in archaeology is increasingly crucial for understanding the supply and trade dynamics of raw materials, as well as the movement of skilled labour and the transfer of technological knowledge in ancient societies. The widespread adoption of archaeometric techniques has significantly advanced knowledge of stone provenance in ancient constructions, although methodological challenges persist. These challenges, which include instrumental limitations, lack of geological data for certain regions, and the inherent properties of raw materials, often prevent definitive sourcing or supply area identification.
The objective of this Special Issue is to document and discuss recent advances in stone provenance studies, to exemplify the methodologies used, and to outline the limitations and challenges within archaeological science. Articles are invited that delve into the historical and archaeological relevance of these approaches, examining applications and studies related to ancient construction materials and their uses in architecture.
We welcome original research articles and reviews that address topics such as the application of stone materials in ancient architecture, stone trade, provenance determination methodologies, analytical constraints, and innovative case studies. We look forward to your contributions to this important discourse on the provenance of construction stones in archaeology.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Simone Dilaria
Prof. Dr. Jacopo Bonetto
Dr. Caterina Previato
Prof. Dr. Domenico Miriello
Dr. Anna Gutiérrez Garcia-Moreno
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- ancient stones
- archaeometry
- ancient quarries
- stone provenance and trade
- archaeology of architecture
- ancient economics
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