Incrustations in Roman villas in the Rhine and Moselle area: Studies on the provenance of natural stones and their use

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Vilma Ruppiene
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 457269552

Together with the massive stone construction, the Romans also brought into the areas on the left bank of the Rhine the fashion to furnish rooms with incrustations.While mural paintings, mosaics and baths belonged to the standard of Roman villa furnishings, incrustations are handed down in comparatively few villas. Numorous remnants of this precious interior were found in the villae rusticae Vettweis-Froitzheim and Jüchen (both in the Rhine area), Oberweis, Mehring, Wasserliesch, Konz, Pfalzel, Schieren on the Moselle and in the Villa Leudersdorf in the Volcanic Eifel.Regardless of the increased interest in the study of villae rusticae and private villas, incrustations have so far received little attention and represent a desideratum in the research of villae. The planned, iterdisciplinary study intends to close this gap and builds on the results of the previous research projects that have been achieved for marmora from the public buildings in Trier and Xanten.The core of the study is formed by seven villae rusticae from the Roman provinces Gallia Belgica and Germania inferior. Two other estates (Palatiolum and Villa Konz), which are interpreted as the imperial seat, were chosen as comparative examples. The study is essentially devoted to two major issues:The aim of the archaeological investigation is to examine the remains of incrustations with regard to the former appearance of wall and floor revetments in order to gain new insights into this kind of furnishing of Roman villae that has been – in contrast to painting, sculpture and mosaics – little explored so far. Decoration schemes and variety of materials are to be studied and compared to simultaneous incrustation fashion in neighbour provinces and Mediterranean in order to highlite regional development and reference to Mediterranean examples. Such an analysis of the high-quality equipment is directly linked to the assessment of the social status of the property owner. Moreover, comparative studies between the villas in private and imperial ownership are to be carried out in order to show the possibilities and limits of the clients with regard to access to precious and sought after materials.Archaeometric analysis is used to gain new insights into variety and provenance of decorative stones, the volume of imports from the Mediterranean region and into extraction and use of regional resources. The question of when and in which villas most of the imported stones are to be documented and when, where and why regional natural stone types are used most will also be investigated. By linking the results of both research approaches, new insights into the equipment of the roman villas from art-historical, social, cultural-historical, provenance-specific and trade-related perspectives are to be worked out. Furthermore, through profound work on new find complexes, a significant contribution to the international research on the Roman stone trade is to be made.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants