SiliROck: a new chert reference collection for central Italy

Chert provenance analyses are rapidly increasing among the scientific community due to their potential in unravelling hidden aspects about prehistoric groups and societies. Hence, access to lithotheques (i.e., comparative collections of siliceous rocks) is essential to link archaeological raw materials to geological sources. In this contribution, we present the first project of construction of a lithotheque for the Sabina region (central Italy) as a valuable tool for provenance analysis. The collection is composed of knappable raw materials collected during field surveys in Sabina and neighbouring areas (Umbria and Abruzzi regions) by researchers from the Department of Antiquities, Sapienza University of Rome. The aim of the SiliROck project is to create a digital platform open to archaeologist and other scholars interested in siliceous rocks provenance to better understand raw material acquisition, circulation, and mobility throughout Prehistory. The SiliROck lithotheque will be available online as an open-access space to provide information about the availability, distribution, and localization of chert sources across central Italy. To date, the collection is stored at the Origini Museum (Sapienza University of Rome) and is accessible to scholars previa request. The virtual platform, beyond providing fresh comparative data, will encourage scientific inter-operability, cooperation, and data sharing, according to the FAIR principles.