Almost 1800 years old, the purple pigment could only be purchased by Roman royalty and was made from sea snails: the piece is unique in the world
Scientists have discovered, in a Roman archaeological site in the UK, a strange shapeless purple object. An investigation revealed that it was an extremely rare piece of Tyrian purple, or Tyrian purple, a type of ancient paint that was worth more than its weight in gold.
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The discovery was made in 2023, on the grounds of Carlisle Cricket Club, in the north of England. The excavation was part of research into a huge building that included a bathhouse from the 3rd century AD, during the reign of Roman emperor Septimius Severus.
The piece of soft material was found in the ruins’ plumbing and was identified by its unusual purplish hue. Sent to Newcastle University, the object revealed an organic pigmentation containing bromine (Br) and beeswax, an unmistakable sign of Tyrian purple. Roman times.
Purple paint in antiquity
Since today dyes are easily produced in the laboratory, a discovery like this does not seem very important, but in the past it could have been very difficult to obtain. In the case of purple, already rare in nature, the only way to obtain it was to crush thousands of sea snails – the murex gastropods, found in the Mediterranean Sea.
To paint an entire garment or color an ornament it was necessary to procure and process tens of thousands of murex, which required a lot of labor. This made the product extremely expensive, so it could only be obtained by royalty, such as aristocrats and emperors. Romans. For a long time the princes were called “born in purple”, synonymous with the current term “born with a silver spoon”.
Many objects with this color have been found throughout the Mediterranean, but finding one in the United Kingdom is rather unusual, as it was the northernmost border of the empire. It is the only specimen from Northern Europe and probably the only sample of the unused pigment from anywhere in the world. Roman Empireaccording to the responsible researchers.
Septimius Severus, Roman politician who was emperor from 193 AD to 211 AD, was born in present-day Libya and visited the province of Britannia (present-day England) in 208 AD, with the aim of strengthening Hadrian’s Wall, the most northern part of the territory.
The presence of Tyrian purple in Carloforte, which is found in the same region, is probably linked to the royal visit. For a time Severus’ court was located in the northern city of York (then Eboraco).
Source: Wardell Armstrong
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Source: Terra
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