Resumen de The "marmora" used in the imperial cult area of Tarraco (Hispania Citerior)

Aurelio Álvarez Pérez, Josep Maria Macias i Solé, Andreu Muñoz Melgar, Africa Pitarch Martí, Inma Teixell Navarro, Joan Menchón Bes

• The imperial cult area of Tarraco was built in the 1st century AD in the highest part of the city and presided over the seat of the Concilium Provinciae Hispaniae Citerioris. It was a temenos with a similar layout to that of the Forum Pacis and architectural decoration imitating that of the Forum Augustum in Rome, where the use of marble was a fundamental part of the architectural and sculptural decorative programme. An extensive assemblage of marble was recovered during the excavations carried out under the Tarragona Cathedral Master Plan. It reflects the use of imperial quarries in the decorative programme and has been analyzed at the Unitat d'Estudis Arqueomètrics (ICAC) facilities. This assemblage reflects the wide panorama of "marmora" imported and used in the decoration of the temenos. Local varieties of "marmora" have been identified in Tarraco, plus a series of foreign "marmora" from quarries all over the Roman Empire (Greece, Turkey, Egypt and North Africa). All this shows the involvement of the imperial power in the monumental architecture of the capital of the provincia Hispania Citerior.