SALZBURG, AUSTRIA—According to a statement released by PLOS, a purple dye workshop dated to the sixteenth-century B.C. has been discovered on the Greek island of Aegina by Lydia Berger of Paris Lodron University and her colleagues. The researchers identified the workshop through the purple pigment preserved on ceramics that may have served as dye containers; grinding stones; a waste pit; and the crushed shells of marine snails. Most of these shells came from the banded dye-murex species of Mediterranean snail. The bones of young mammals, including piglets and lambs, were also recovered at the site. The animals are thought to have been sacrificed as offerings to protect the production process. Continued examination of the workshop is expected to provide additional insight into the techniques used to manufacture the valuable purple dye. Read the original scholarly article about this research in PLOS ONE. To read more about the Mediterranean's robust purple dye industry, go to "Letter from Israel: The Price of Purple."
Late Bronze Age Dye Factory Found in Greece
News June 17, 2024
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Bronze Age Beads Go Abroad
(Courtesy Cambridge Archaeological Unit)
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Rubber Ball Recipe
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Black Magic Seeds
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
A Friend for Hercules
MORE TO DISCOVER
Letter from Nigeria
July/August 2024
A West African Kingdom's Roots
Excavations in Benin City reveal a renowned realm’s deep history
Artifacts July/August 2024
Etruscan Oil Lamp
(Courtesy Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona; © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY)
Around the World July/August 2024
TONGA
(Phillip Parton/ANU)
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Bronze Age Beads Go Abroad
(Courtesy Cambridge Archaeological Unit)
Features July/August 2024
Java's Megalithic Mountain
Across the Indonesian archipelago, people raised immense stones to honor their ancestors
(Courtesy Lutfi Yondri)