Spoils and Spolia: Large Marble Assemblage from Givati Excavations, Jerusalem

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the large marble assemblage discovered during the salvage archaeological excavations of the Givati site in Jerusalem. Over 2400 worked and polished marble items, mostly slabs and veneers were discovered in secondary deposition in the later occupational layers of the site, dated from the Byzantine to Abbasid periods, and in the primary fills near the modern surface. It seems that the analysis of this large assemblage may serve as a case study for the understanding of the “marble circulation” process in Late Antiquity: stones export, local finishing and placement, as well as the processes of its final deposition, spolia and different forms of reuse and conversion.