ORIGINAL PAPER Marbles, granites and basalt used in the cruciform basilica of Abila (Decapolis, Jordan): archaeometric characterization and provenance Khaled Al-Bashaireh 1 & Lorenzo Lazzarini 2 Received: 15 January 2015 /Accepted: 25 March 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 Abstract The provenance of granite, basalt, and marble used in building the cruciform basilica of Abila of the Decapolis, northwestern Jordan, is investigated using chemical and pet- rographic techniques. The basilica is dated to the late fifth or early sixth century AD. The stones were characterized using macroscopic traits in combination with optical microscopy, X- ray diffraction, and stable oxygen and carbon isotope spec- trometry. These data were compared to the published data- bases for marbles, granites, and basalts used in antiquity. The comparison showed that the basalts are most probably local. The islands of Marmara (Proconessos-1), Turkey, are the primary source of the white marbles, while Paros island (Paros-2), Greece, is a minor source. The source of the green Cipollino marbles is Styra in the island of Euboea (Greece). The pink and gray granites are likely microasiatic from the Çigri and Kozak Dâgs, respectively, northwest Turkey. Keywords Abila . Jordan . Cruciform basilica . Building stones . Provenance Introduction The archaeological site of Abila (Qweilbeh) of the ancient Decapolis is situated in the far northwestern part of Jordan about 5 km south of the border with Syria (Fig. 1). Archaeological surveys and excavations during the past decades have shown that Abila was a thriving city during the Roman and Byzantine periods with a population of 8000–10,000 persons (Mare 1992a). Archaeological evidence clearly shows the prosperity of Abila (Mare 1992b). The cul- tural richness and diversity of the city can be seen in the archaeological remains of its villas, tombs, basilicas, theater, aqueducts, and baths. The use of its natural resources includes natural defenses, water supplies, and agricultural lands. The city had a multilevel social structure reflected in the construc- tion and embellishment of its tombs. The economic and artis- tic richness of the city is seen in the wide variety of local and foreign luxury artisan products. In addition, the city has an extensive and well-established road system that connected Abila with the other cities in the region, indicative of signifi- cant trade and commerce. Topographically, the site is formed of two tells (Tell Abil and Umm el-Amad) separated by a saddle depression. A cru- ciform basilica was recently excavated in the civic center of the site located on the lowest terrace of the saddle in area E (Mare 1996) and facing the Wadi Qweilbeh just to the west of a Roman bridge (Fig. 2). The basilica has five aisles and three (north, south, and east) apses forming a cruciform design (Mare 1996; Fig. 3). The architectural plan of the church is uncommon among the Byzantine basilicas of Jordan but is reminiscent of the plan of the basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem (Menninga 2004). The church has seven entrances; five of them are located in the west wall, and each leads to an aisle of the church, while the remaining two entries are located on the north and south sides. The north-south and east-west sides of the church (excluding the apses) are 26.6 and 25.4 m in length, respectively (Menninga 2004; Fig. 3). This basilica has been dated to the late fifth or early sixth century AD, based on pottery remains and architectural * Khaled Al-Bashaireh khaledsm@email.arizona.edu 1 Department of Archaeology, Yarmouk University, Postal code 211- 63 Irbid, Jordan 2 Laboratorio di Analisi dei Materiali Antichi, Sistema dei Laboratori, Università IUAV di Venezia, Venice, Italy Archaeol Anthropol Sci DOI 10.1007/s12520-015-0239-2