Provenancing Ancient Pigments of the Classical World

By Alexandra Rodler-Rørbo, Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Department of Lithospheric Research, University of Vienna, Institute for Conservation, University of Applied Arts Vienna.

The Hellenistic and Roman period were particularly colorful – people processed certain raw materials to use them as colorants and their material qualities and provenance mattered. Yet, little is known about where these materials came from and where they were processed. Some materials are rare in nature and were equally rare in ancient art, other mineral pigments were produced from easily available resources and were likely an output of far-reaching trade networks. Mineralogical-petrographic and geochemical analysis are used for tracing production processes and raw material provenance to reveal the connectivity of ancient societies through pigment trade. A plethora of mineral pigments was used in the past; materials were processed ranging from powdered cinnabar to pyrotechnological multi-component materials. They came together to color walls and sculpture alike and now enable the understanding of interaction across production technologies, trade networks and cultural relations.