The Tyrian purple dye block from Roman Britain was produced from large quantities of sea snails, which may have been used for frescoes.
Archaeologists and volunteers discovered an extremely rare object during an excavation of a Roman bath in the city of Carlisle, northern England (England was occupied by Rome in 43 – 410). Newsweek reported on May 3. Analysis showed that the object, made of a soft purple substance, contained beeswax and the element bromine. This indicates that this is a solid sample of Tyrian purple dye – a highly valuable artificial pigment in ancient times.
Purple dye is secreted by some carnivorous sea snails living in the Mediterranean region. Producing Tyrian purple is extremely difficult. The process is complex and requires collecting thousands of sea snails. Experts estimate that up to 12,000 snails need to be processed to create just 1 gram of dye. Therefore, this substance was extremely expensive in Roman times, even more valuable than gold. It was usually reserved for use by the upper class.
“For millennia, Tyrian purple has been the most expensive and sought-after color in the world,” said Frank Giecco, an archaeologist with mining consultancy Wardell Armstrong, who participated in the excavation at Carlisle. know. According to him, finding a solid specimen like the blob in Carlisle is particularly unusual. “This is the only example that we know of from Northern Europe, and possibly even the only example, of a solid sample in unused paint pigment form anywhere in the Roman empire,” Giecco said.
Tyrian purple was first produced in the 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians – an ancient civilization of the Mediterranean region, originating from the coastal region of the Levant. The most famous place of production is Tire – a city in Lebanon and one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements. In addition, Tyrian purple is also produced in some other areas of the Mediterranean, for example North Africa.
The Tyrian purple dye sample at Carlisle was likely used to paint frescoes, according to Sarah Irving, a spokeswoman for Cumberland Council, which collaborated with Wardell Armstrong on the excavation project. This pigment can also be used to paint walls in large public buildings, homes and real estate of the upper class, and sometimes to dye clothes.