Archaeologists have announced the discovery of an extraordinary object that was found during excavations on the territory of a sports club in the English city of Carlisle. In their opinion, he was worth more than his weight in gold to the Romans.
The object was discovered in 2023, but it was investigated recently. After analysis, it turned out to be one of the samples of Tyrian purple, an artificial pigment that was very valuable in the ancient world.
newsweek.com
Tyrian purple, a reddish-purple natural dye, was secreted by several species of predatory molluscs of the Muricidae family, stone snails, originally known as "Murex." Up to 12,000 individual clams would have to be processed to produce just 1 gram of dye.
This pigment was used to color fabrics and facades of buildings, and was considered a luxury item. Its production was a very complicated and time-consuming process, which made it more valuable even compared to gold.
"For thousands of years, Tyrian purple was the most expensive and sought-after pigment in the world. So far, we have come across the only example we know of in northern Europe—perhaps the only example of a solid sample of pigment in the form of unused paint pigment anywhere in the Roman Empire,” said Frank Giecco, an archaeologist with the consulting firm Wardell Armstrong, which participated in the excavation at place of Carlisle.
Fabrics dyed from different types of sea snails
uk.wikipedia.org
It is believed that Tyrian purple was first produced in the 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians. The purple pigment was most famous in Tyre, a city located in Lebanon that is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world. However, it was also made in other regions of the Mediterranean.
Source: newsweek.com
