Provenance determination of travertine from Umbria (Italy) Preliminary results of a multimethod - analytical approach

A multi-method analytical approach was applied in the characterization of travertines from different monuments in Umbria (Central Italy), with the aim of obtaining archaeometric information on provenance. Preliminary statistical analysis of whole rock geochemical data was employed to discriminate travertines of different monuments in Umbria, and in one case it led to the identification of two distinct provenances, local and from Latium, for the travertines employed in the same monument. Further information on provenance was obtained by combining geochemical and isotopic compositions with textural data in the comparison between monuments and reference quarry samples. The obtained results show that the intrinsic variability of travertine within the same litholog ical formation, though large, can be lower than that observed between different travertine formations. This makes it possible to determine the provenance of the stone, providing the source areas have been adequately selected and characterized.