Quarrying and geology in early 18th century Italy: the lithological column of Gregorio Piccoli (1739)

In 1739 the Italian cleric Gregorio Piccoli (1680-1755), the parish priest of the village of Erbezzo in the pre-Alps north of Verona, published a short treatise entitled Ragguaglio di una Grotta ove vi sono molte ossa di Belve diluviane nei Monti Veronesi. This work supported the organic origin of the ammonites (corni d'ammone) - which could be easily found in the limestone strata of the Veronese pre-Alps (Monti Lessini) - and stated that their presence in these mountains so far from the sea, as well as that of other fossil bones found in some caves of the same area, was exclusively due to the universal and catastrophic effects of the Deluge. As in the case of other early 18th century Italian clerics interested in fossils and rock-strata, such as Anton Lazzaro Moro, Piccoli was completely outside the world of universities or scientific academies. In order to write his treatise he collected some data in the field, mainly in the marble quarries of the Veronese pre-Alps. Piccoli with this work clearly aimed to take part in the contemporary debate on the meaning of fossils within a theory of the Earth based on the central role of the Deluge. However, the most interesting feature of his book is the lithological column published at the end of the text, together with a small topographical map of the Veronese pre-Alps. In this plate Piccoli intended to show the series of regular horizontal strata - with different thicknesses and lithologies which often included fossils - as he had observed them in some marble quarries. This 'columnar' visual representation of superimposed strata was probably taken from the drawing practice of the marble quarrymen. It appears to be very unusual in early 18th century geology and seems to anticipate the common use of the well-known stratigraphical columns from the 19th century onward. The column was considered by Piccoli as a generalized model for all the Veronese pre-Alps and its lithological units were explained in the text with the names taken from the spoken language of the quarrymen, some of which are still used today. The aim of this paper is to discuss the case of Piccoli's lithological column within the context of the links between mining, quarrying and development of geological sciences in 18th century Europe.