Provenance determination of trachytic lavas, employed as blocks in the Romanesque cathedral of Modena (Northern Italy), using magnetic susceptibility, and petrographic and chemical parameters

Trachytic stones were used sporadically as building blocks in the Romanesque cathedral of Modena and probably were recycled from Roman artefacts. They come from the Euganean Hills, a Tertiary volcanic Complex close to Padua, and more specifically from Monte Oliveto, Monte Merlo and Monte Lispida. Whereas the role of Monte Oliveto and Monte Merlo as sources of trachytes for Roman Mutina (present-day Modena) has been already documented, the stones from Monte Lispida, used in the cathedral, may represent the first evidence of the contribute to Mutina from this important locality, quarried under the Romans.