Resumen de Ancient uses of the Roman breccia (brèche des Romains) in Gaul
The antique quarry of the Roman Breccia is a "brecciated" marble composed of angular white elements, in a yellow matrix, and recognized by thin pink veins. The white marble elements have dark CL, the matrix shows an orange CL. This quarry was exploited at Roman times, especially for revetment slabs or cornices. The trade extended over a large territory in Gaul, from Aquitaine to Paris. In the Gallo-Roman sites of Fâ and Périgueux, slabs of Roman breccia are coloured in yellow on one side and in pink on the other one. This was done to imitate the famous breccia corallina or the "marmor Numidicum". The Roman craftsmen modified the colour of material in order to save the costs of transportation from quarry in a remote eastern region. It just takes a basic heating to transform this stone from Pyrenees, in a stable soft pink decorative marble with the appearance of breccia corallina
