Abstract:

Lapidary marks are among the most intensely studied topics within the field of “archaeology of construction”. A large diversity of such marks have been identified to date, on an equally diverse typology, which suggests that these marks followed a coded language which included all stages of construction, including the transportation, commercialisation and erection of the masonry blocks. This contribution aims to examine a selection of incised and painted marks on stone, including alphabetic and numerical signs, lineal marks and ideograms. Although the coded language employed is hard to interpret, the global analysis of these marks and their respective archaeological contexts (exploitation areas, harbour warehouses and construction sites) suggests that these marks were used in a wide variety of situations.