Bronze Age Workshop That Produced Ancient Dye Discovered by Archaeologists

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Reported by Artnews:

Though small, the island of Aegina on the Saronic Gulf in Greece boasts a rich historical footprint that stretches back millennia. The island’s main settlement, Kolonna, was established on the island’s northwestern coast in the Early Bronze Age, built and fortified with stone. It experienced a cultural and economic heyday from around 2000 B.C.E., evidenced by finds including sumptuous graves, Minoan ceramics, and gold jewelry, most famously the Aegina Treasure.

A recent excavation by researchers from the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg has found that the prehistoric settlement was also the site of purple dye production—and not just any purple dye, but Tyrian purple, a hue once highly prized and priced.

Digs at two early Mycenaean buildings in the eastern suburb of Kolonna have turned up six pottery shards, possibly parts of a jug, still holding well-preserved residues of the pigment. Once tested and compared with existing Tyrian purple samples, the dye was found to be “qualitatively and quantitatively similar,” according to a new study published by the research team.

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