The timelessness of Thassos and Naxos heritage ornamental stones

Abstract

Heritage stones have been used since prehistoric times for a variety of purposes. The beauty of historic stone buildings that have endured over time testifies to the importance of heritage stones to the cultural heritage of societies. The aim of this paper is to study the timelessness of two ornamental stones from the islands of Thassos and Naxos. The marble of Thassos was originally extracted in the 7th century BC from the ancient quarry of Alykes, which produced a grey calcitic marble. This quarry had been in operation for over 1200 years and had become one of the most important sources of marble in ancient times. Today the ancient quarry is no longer in operation. The quarrying and exploitation of another calcitic marble began later, in modern times, in the central part of the island of Thassos. Laboratory tests carried out on this “new” marble have confirmed that its aesthetic and physical-mechanical properties are similar to those of the marble extracted from the ancient Alykes quarry. The white marble of Naxos was widely used even in prehistory and antiquity for religious purposes or for daily life objects and later for architectural purposes, in monuments and sculptures. Naxos quarry is still in operation, and the marble is used for various applications, due to its high quality characteristics. The mineralogical and physical-mechanical properties of these marbles have been determined in the Lithos Laboratory, in order to highlight their importance as heritage stones.