The marbles of two early Christian churches at Latrun (Cyrenaica, Libya)

The provenance of twenty-seven architectural marbles from the two 6th century AD Christian churches of Latrun (Cyrenaica, Libya) has been established by discriminant function analysis of twelve isotopic, EPR and petrographic/morphological variables. Sixteen samples (59%) originate from Proconnesos, while 8 samples (30%) are assigned to the calcitic quarries of Thasos and 1 to the Docimium quarries near Afyon. The last two samples are of uncertain provenance and might be Proconnesian as well. These results demonstrate that the suggestion made long ago by Ward-Perkins that the presence on non-Proconnesian, possibly Thasian, marbles at Latrun was well founded. Particularly interesting is the strong correlation found between provenance and type of the architectural element sampled. Thasian marbles at Latrun were used exclusively for the manufacture of chancel screens. Seven out of nine screens sampled have this provenance, suggesting that the use of different materials is related to issues of work organisation and specialisation in different marble production centres.