Geoarchaeology of Roman Underground Quarries at Ksour Essaf (Tunisia)

Abstract

The underground quarries at Ksour Essaf hills (Tunisia) contribute to our knowledge of extraction techniques that have been in use since antiquity. The extracted stone consists of oolitic sandy limestone, dated as Lower Messinian (Ksour Essaf Formation). Geotechnical analyses have revealed that the quality of the Messinian stone is better than that of Tyrrhenian (Late Pleistocene) age from the same region (Rejiche Formation). However, the latter has been more widely used as it is more extensively exposed. The extraction technique and the use of cut blocks in Roman constructions, but not mediaeval Muslim constructions in this area, allow the approximate determination of the period of the exploitation of the underground quarries during the period of Roman occupation.