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Archaeologists Find 3,600-Year-Old Site Making Ancient World's Prized Color


Archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an ancient workshop on a Greek island where a highly prized purple dye was produced around 3,600 years ago.

Excavations conducted in the ancient settlement of Kolonna—located on the small island of Aegina off the coast of mainland Greece—have revealed the remains of two buildings from the 16th century B.C. that had collapsed on top of each other.

The older building is interpreted to be a site where purple dye was produced in the Late Bronze Age, a conclusion based on several finds that archaeologists unearthed in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Colored dyes were a valuable commodity in the Mediterranean region during the Late Bronze Age. As a result, evidence of dye production in this period can provide significant insights into culture and trade at the time.

The Kolonna archaeological site on the Greek island of Aegina. Insets from L-R: a 16th-century drawing of a snail, a Hexaplex trunculus specimen, and a purple pigment sample from Kolonna. AEGINA KOLONNA EXCAVATION, DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS, PARIS LODRON UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG, CC-BY 4.0 HTTPS://creativecommons.org/LICENSES/BY/4.0/

The most frequently found evidence for purple dye production at archaeological sites in the Mediterranean comes from deposits of crushed marine snails. This type of dye is made from the mucous secretions of one of several species of predatory marine snails that inhabit the region. These secretions come from an organ known as the hypobranchial gland.

"To obtain the desired dye, the hypobranchial glands of the snails, either extracted by opening the shell or as a component of the fully crushed mollusk body, were mixed with some salt water and left steeping for a few days in suitable containers, vats, or vessels," the authors wrote in the study, which was led by Lydia Berger with Paris Lodron University of Salzburg in Austria.

"The choice of an adequate container allows the necessary control of the oxygen and light supply, which are important for obtaining the desired color shade."

While small in size, Aegina played a significant role in the cultural history of the Aegean Sea—the arm of the Mediterranean in which it is located—for thousands of years. From the Neolithic period until Byzantine times (approximately the 6th millennium B.C. until the 10th century A.D.), the main settlement on the island, was situated on a promontory on the northwestern coast called Cape Kolonna.

It is in the Bronze Age eastern suburb of Kolonna where researchers uncovered evidence of the purple dye workshop.

The existence of the workshop at the site is inferred from three main strands of evidence. The first is the "exceptional finding" of pottery fragments with "remarkable quantities" of well-preserved purple pigment, which are likely remnants of dye containers. The researchers also uncovered tools used in the manufacturing process, such as grinding stones, as well as the crushed shells of marine snails.

The findings are significant given that pigment residues have rarely been preserved on the interiors of ceramic vessels, other containers, and other materials.

A map shows the location of the archaeological site of Kolonna, on the small Grecian island of Aegina. Archaeologists have discovered that, during the Late Bronze Age, the site housed a purple dye workshop

The researchers then conducted an analysis of the shells and the chemical composition of the pigments, revealing that the workshop almost exclusively used one marine snail species to produce the dye—the banded dye-murex (Hexaplex trunculus).

This marine snail, found throughout the Mediterranean, is one of three main species, along with the spiny dye-murex (Bolinus brandaris) and the red-mouthed rock shell (Stramonita haemastoma), that were exploited in antiquity to produce purple dye.

The dye made from these snails is known as Tyrian purple, which was highly prized in the ancient world—not least because producing it was an extremely tedious and difficult task. The process was complex and required the collection of thousands of marine snails. In fact, it is estimated that it up to 12,000 individual mollusks would need to be processed in order to produce only around 1 gram of dye.

This made the product very expensive. During the Roman period, for example, Tyrian purple was worth more than gold, pound-for-pound. As a result, the pigment was generally reserved for use by the upper echelons of society. In fact, in certain periods, the use of Tyrian purple was restricted by Roman law so that only the emperor could wear it.

Tyrian purple is thought to have first been manufactured by the Phoenicians—an ancient civilization of the Mediterranean region that originated in the coastal Levant region, primarily in an area that is now occupied by modern Lebanon.

The pigment was most famously produced in Tyre, a city located in Lebanon that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. But it was also manufactured in other regions of the Mediterranean.

The recent excavations at Kolonna also unearthed the bones of several young mammals—mainly piglets and lambs—that were heavily burnt in the area of the dye workshop.

The authors proposed in the study that these animals were sacrificed in some form or ritual, potentially to protect the production site.





"Although many Byzantine slaves and concubines had already been brought into Mecca and Thaqif and other towns in Hijaz (according to Jahiz al Dhahabi and Chinese recordings) it hadn’t done much to change the complexion of the people even by the 15th century if we are to believe Al-Dhahabi and the Chinese records which also speak of the entire region from Mecca to Jidda as occupied by "very dark purple" people.

 

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Archaeologists Find Rare Item Worth More to Romans Than Its Weight in Gold

An incredibly rare Roman-era object—made from a substance that was once worth more than its weight in gold—has been discovered at an archaeological site in the United Kingdom.

The item was unearthed during excavations conducted in 2023 by archaeologists and volunteers at the site of a Roman bathhouse located within the grounds of a sports club in the city of Carlisle, northern England

Testing of the lump—made from a soft, mysterious, purple substance—subsequently revealed that it contained beeswax and an element known as bromine. This is a strong indication that it represents a solid sample of Tyrian purple—a man-made pigment that was highly valued in the ancient world.

The dye, which is purple in color, is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails that are found in the Mediterranean region. Producing Tyrian purple was an extremely difficult task. The process was complex and required the collection of thousands of marine snails. In fact, it is estimated that it up to 12,000 individual mollusks would need to be processed to produce just 1 gram of dye.

The sample of Tyrian purple found at the archaeological site of a Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, England. Tyrian purple was a highly valued pigment in the ancient world.

As a result, it was extremely expensive during Roman times, to the extent that it was worth more than gold, pound-for-pound. The pigment was generally reserved f

For millennia, Tyrian purple was the world's most expensive and sought after color," Frank Giecco, an archaeologist with mining consultancy company Wardell Armstrong, which has been involved in excavations at the Carlisle site, said in a press release.

Finding a solid sample, such as the one from Carlisle, is a particular unusual find, according to Giecco.or use by the upper echelons of society.

"It's the only example we know of in Northern Europe—possibly the only example of a solid sample of the pigment in the form of unused paint pigment anywhere in the Roman Empire," Giecco said in the release. "Examples have been found of it in wall paintings (like in Pompeii) and also some high status painted coffins from the Roman province of Egypt.

Tyrian purple is thought to have first been manufactured in the 2nd millennium B.C. by the Phoenicians—an ancient civilization of the Mediterranean region that originated in the coastal Levant region, primarily in an area that is now occupied by modern Lebanon.

The purple pigment was most famously produced in Tyre—a city located in Lebanon that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. However, it was also manufactured in other regions of the Mediterranean, such as North Africa.

The Tyrian purple sample from Carlisle was likely used for painting frescos, Sarah Irving, a spokesperson for Cumberland Council, which has partnered with Wardell Armstrong on the excavation project, told Newsweek.

Sometimes the pigment was used to paint walls in grand public buildings, as well as the homes and properties of the elite. However, it was also used to dye clothes.