Abstract:

Stone vases were one of the most prominent forms of material culture in the ancient Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Roman periods. Elite items and status markers, stone vessels were produced traded and exchanged throughout the Aegean, Near East, Levant, and Egypt. Recent studies have provided valuable theoretical and practical tools on stone vessel production, consumption and value in Bronze Age Mediterranean and Near East. Regrettably, little attention is given to later ages. It is believed that by the 1st century BC stone vessels had lost their “relevance” in the material culture hierarchy across the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it emerges that the production of utilitarian, ritual or luxury vases in stone continued at least until and beyond the 1st century AD. This paper aims to show that coloured stone vases were in high demand from the mid 1st century BC as the appearance of coloured marble cinerary urns in Roman tombs suggests.