Marbles from the Campiglia Marittima area (Tuscany, Italy)

The area surrounding the Tuscan municipality of Campiglia Marittima hosts widespread deposits of thermo-metamorphic marbles that were extensively used as a building and ornamental stones since the time of the Etruscans. The macroscopic characteristics of this class of marble, its chemical, mineralogical, petrographic features as well as the P-T conditions of metamorphic re-crystallisation, C and O stable isotope data and the main physical properties are presented in order to provide a solid basis for possible studies on the provenance and distribution of building stones from this terranes. With the aim to evaluate the effects of thermal stress on these marbles, apparent density and water absorption at atmospheric pressure were measured before and after thermal treatments. Based on a careful survey of the marbles used for building in the area, their uses and state of conservation have also been assessed.