Provenances and Lithologic Anal Ysis of Mosaic

Roman Villas, Nortwestern Libya

Abstract. The mosaic of Romans villa pavements of Suq Al-Kadeem, Dar Buk-Ammera, Al- Khums Group villas and Nerids of NW Libya were studied geochemically, petrographically and statistically. XRD analysis results of mortar showed that quartz, calcite, and kaolinite were the cement forming minerals in these villas. X-Ray fluorescence analysis of tesserae, tesserae petrography, and cluster analysis identified that the source rocks of Al-Khums villas might be the south Terhona basalt cone rocks, and North Gharyan basalt flow rocks were the source for Nirds and Dar Buk-Ammera villas. Formation outcrops of Al-Khums limestone, Sidi as-Said, and Nalut were the source rocks for certain sedimentary tesserae. This would help in the conservation of damage pavements.