The Use of Alcover Stone in Roman Times (Tarraco, Hispania Citerior). Contributions to the Officina Lapidaria Tarraconensis

After the recent re-edition of Tarraco’s epigraphic corpus (CIL II2/14), we initiated a multidisciplinary project to study the stones used for the town’s inscriptions. The study of Santa Tecla stone and the knowledge of the quarries of the territory provides a basis for the study of stone from Alcover, which was employed during the founding period of the colonia. Its lithology is very different from the bioclastic limestones and calcarenites so common around Tarragona that supplied large blocks and ashlars (El Mèdol and soldó stones) and facilitates obtaining uniform, thin pieces perfect for plaques. Its use for the earliest epigraphy is one of the clearest pieces of evidence to date the first historic urban phases. Alcover stone was used alongside another local stone, Santa Tecla limestone, which was gradually introduced during Augustan and Julio-Claudian times. However, in Flavian times, Alcover stone was no longer used in epigraphy