On the Ephesian Origin of Greco Scritto Marble

A new, massive source of greco scritto marble, the Hasançavuslar quarries near Ephesos, is reported and shown to be isotopically quite distinct from Cap de Garde, the Algerian marble site traditionally considered to be the main source of greco scritto. Isotopic and EPR analyses carried out on 58 artifacts from North Africa, Italy and Asia Minor demonstrate that all the true greco scritto samples (36 artifacts) come from the newly discovered site. The remaining 22 samples are related veined varieties originating from different sites including Hasançacuslar (45%), Cap de Garde (23%) and other not identified marble quarries (32%). It is suggested that Hasançavuslar was the major, if not unique, source of the greco scritto marble actually used in antiquity.