Provenance study of building and statuary marbles from the Roman archaeological site of “Villa dei Quintili” (Rome, Italy)

The present work represents the first study addressed to the provenance attribution ofmarbles from the Villa dei Quintili, an important Roman archaeological site located inthe south-eastern area of Rome (Italy). The monumental villa was built in the 2ndcentury A.D. at the behest of the brothers Sesto Quintilio Condiano and Sesto QuintilioValerio Massimo. Later (182 A.D.), the Emperor Commodus confiscated the villa,transforming it into an imperial residence until the 3rd century A.D. Different analytical techniques, including polarized optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopycoupled with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), carbon and oxygen stableisotope ratio determinations, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and X-raydiffraction, were used to identify the provenance existing databases relative to whitemarbles commonly used in antiquity collected from historic quarries in theMediterranean area. Results show that several precious marbles from differentMediterranean sites were used for the statuary as well as for decorative and archisources of seventeen white marblesamples belonging to statues, covering slabs and architectural elements of the villa. Forsuch a purpose, data obtained were compared with existing databases relative to whitemarbles commonly used in antiquity collected from historic quarries in theMediterranean area. Results show that several precious marbles from differentMediterranean sites were used for the statuary as well as for decorative and architecturalelements of the Villa thus confirming the importance of the archaeological site.