Marble: one of the main building materials from Antiquity, also used for sculpture. On this page, marble is discussed together with several other types of natural stone and minerals. You will find photos of the main types of marble, various other stones, minerals, and related stones.

What we call “marble” is, essentially, a kind of limestone, which in turn is a petrified sediment, deposited hundreds of thousands of years ago. The recognizable characteristic of marble is that it can be made to shine by polishing and the Greek word μάρμαρον means “shiny”. The ancients also used this word for several types of stone that are not limestone, like granite.