Explotación, usos y difusión de rocas ornamentales (marmora) entre la Antigüedad Tardía y la Alta Edad Media en la Mitad Norte de la Península Ibérica

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the phenomenon of marmor in the post-Roman world of the northern Iberian Peninsula. The study combines three analytical axes: theory and method, textual sources and archaeological sources. Firstly, a conceptual, theoretical and methodological reflection on the subject is carried out. Secondly, a study of the historiography on the subject is carried out and the sources that report on the phenomenon in the post-Roman Mediterranean area are compiled. Finally, a catalogue of archaeological pieces located within the proposed analytical framework has been drawn up. On the basis of the information recovered from textual and archaeological sources, a historical reflection on the exploitation, use and diffusion of marmor in the northern half of the Iberian Peninsula between the 5th and 10th centuries is proposed. In terms of exploitation, it can be concluded that the extraction of marmora is conditioned, until the Visigothic period, by the link of these extractive spaces with certain centres or workshops of building or sculptural activity. The situation is more uncertain from the 8th century onwards, where the problems regarding the dating of most of the pieces and the absence of reliable analyses complicate our knowledge of the process. With regard to the use of marmor, it has been found that architectural elements are the most abundant, followed by liturgical sculpture, especially in the Visigothic period. Finally, decorative and funerary sculpture and epigraphic supports are in a clear minority after the 5th century. There is also an aesthetic-symbolic interpretation of marble determined by the link between its material qualities and the representation of divinity. Regarding the diffusion of materials, most of the decorative rocks for which we have reliable information are not very extensive in the chronologies studied.