Arredi lapidei con sigle di lavorazione da contesti residenziali: profili tecnici, sociali ed economici

In antiquity, graphic and epigraphic marks related to the construction process were meant to communicate through a code one or more information to several people with different purposes. A high percentage of Late Antique architectural marble items results to be labelled by masons’ marks, namely simple letters, abbreviated names or monograms. They represent a unique repository of information about the administrative organization of quarry districts, the technical procedures of carving and assembling marble items, as well as about the operational arrangement of the workshops. The most recurrent instances of marks come from public monuments. Only rarely, they can be pointed out even in private residential contexts, both in primary and secondary use. Though scant, these documents allow gaining in-depth insights into the methods of appropriation and distribution of marble lots, the dynamics of dismantling, storage and secondary provision of stone products, in their relation to the concerned social and artisanal groups.