Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones

Marie Xavier Lecuit; Gilles Fronteau; Frédéric Boulvain; Sylvain Dechamps; Stéphanie Eyssautier-Chuine; Mathieu Piavaux; Johan Yans

doi:10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8

Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones

Marie Xavier Lecuit
, Gilles Fronteau
, Frédéric Boulvain
, Sylvain Dechamps
, Stéphanie Eyssautier-Chuine
, Mathieu Piavaux
, Johan Yans

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We investigate the provenance of the ochre building stones called “Lorraine limestones” used for architectural specific elements of the Saint-Paul Cathedral in Liège (Belgium) between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. A multi-analytical approach, including archives study, petrography and Rare Earth Elements geochemistry, has been performed to characterize the stones used in the church and to compare them with ochre limestones outcropping in the north-east of the Paris Basin. Our study suggests that a very restricted geographical area near the ancient port of Donchery (Ardennes, France) including Dom-le-Mesnil and Hannogne ancient quarries of Bajocian limestones (Middle Jurassic) should clearly be regarded as the potential origin location for the stones used in the Saint-Paul Cathedral.

Original language	English
Article number	361
Number of pages	11
Journal	Environmental Earth Sciences
Volume	77
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8
Publication status	Published - 1 May 2018

Funding

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the project n° 7065796 of the F.R.F.C.-F.N.R.S. (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique of Belgium.) We would like to thank Laure-Anne Finoulst for giving us a copy of the medieval text about the shipment of stone for the Cathedral.

Funders	Funder number
Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS	7065796

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production

Keywords

Cultural heritage
Geochemistry
Limestone
Petrography
Provenance
Rare earth elements

Access to Document

10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8

Cite this

Lecuit, M. X., Fronteau, G., Boulvain, F., Dechamps, S., Eyssautier-Chuine, S., Piavaux, M., & Yans, J. (2018). Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones. Environmental Earth Sciences, 77(10), Article 361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8

@article{2a9c95066ed14768b9c31a63128f126a,

title = "Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Li{\`e}ge (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones",

abstract = "We investigate the provenance of the ochre building stones called “Lorraine limestones” used for architectural specific elements of the Saint-Paul Cathedral in Li{\`e}ge (Belgium) between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. A multi-analytical approach, including archives study, petrography and Rare Earth Elements geochemistry, has been performed to characterize the stones used in the church and to compare them with ochre limestones outcropping in the north-east of the Paris Basin. Our study suggests that a very restricted geographical area near the ancient port of Donchery (Ardennes, France) including Dom-le-Mesnil and Hannogne ancient quarries of Bajocian limestones (Middle Jurassic) should clearly be regarded as the potential origin location for the stones used in the Saint-Paul Cathedral.",

keywords = "Cultural heritage, Geochemistry, Limestone, Petrography, Provenance, Rare earth elements",

author = "Lecuit, \{Marie Xavier\} and Gilles Fronteau and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Boulvain and Sylvain Dechamps and St{\'e}phanie Eyssautier-Chuine and Mathieu Piavaux and Johan Yans",

year = "2018",

month = may,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8",

language = "English",

volume = "77",

journal = "Environmental Earth Sciences",

issn = "1866-6280",

publisher = "Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH",

number = "10",

}

Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones. / Lecuit, Marie Xavier; Fronteau, Gilles; Boulvain, Frédéric et al.
In: Environmental Earth Sciences, Vol. 77, No. 10, 361, 01.05.2018.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium)

T2 - assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones

AU - Lecuit, Marie Xavier

AU - Fronteau, Gilles

AU - Boulvain, Frédéric

AU - Dechamps, Sylvain

AU - Eyssautier-Chuine, Stéphanie

AU - Piavaux, Mathieu

AU - Yans, Johan

PY - 2018/5/1

Y1 - 2018/5/1

N2 - We investigate the provenance of the ochre building stones called “Lorraine limestones” used for architectural specific elements of the Saint-Paul Cathedral in Liège (Belgium) between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. A multi-analytical approach, including archives study, petrography and Rare Earth Elements geochemistry, has been performed to characterize the stones used in the church and to compare them with ochre limestones outcropping in the north-east of the Paris Basin. Our study suggests that a very restricted geographical area near the ancient port of Donchery (Ardennes, France) including Dom-le-Mesnil and Hannogne ancient quarries of Bajocian limestones (Middle Jurassic) should clearly be regarded as the potential origin location for the stones used in the Saint-Paul Cathedral.

AB - We investigate the provenance of the ochre building stones called “Lorraine limestones” used for architectural specific elements of the Saint-Paul Cathedral in Liège (Belgium) between the thirteenth and fifteenth century. A multi-analytical approach, including archives study, petrography and Rare Earth Elements geochemistry, has been performed to characterize the stones used in the church and to compare them with ochre limestones outcropping in the north-east of the Paris Basin. Our study suggests that a very restricted geographical area near the ancient port of Donchery (Ardennes, France) including Dom-le-Mesnil and Hannogne ancient quarries of Bajocian limestones (Middle Jurassic) should clearly be regarded as the potential origin location for the stones used in the Saint-Paul Cathedral.

KW - Cultural heritage

KW - Geochemistry

KW - Limestone

KW - Petrography

KW - Provenance

KW - Rare earth elements

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85046891512

U2 - 10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8

DO - 10.1007/s12665-018-7554-8

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85046891512

SN - 1866-6280

VL - 77

JO - Environmental Earth Sciences

JF - Environmental Earth Sciences

IS - 10

M1 - 361

ER -

Geochemical characterization of “Lorraine limestones” from the Saint-Paul Cathedral of Liège (Belgium): assumptions for the true provenance of the building stones

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this