Chemical analyses of Roman wall paintings recently found in Paphos, Cyprus: The complementarity of archaeological and chemical studies

Abstract

The ancient city of Nea (New) Paphos lies on the south-western coast of Cyprus. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1980. Archaeological surveys and excavations led on Fabrika Hill, on the north-east acropolis of the ancient city of Hellenistic and Roman Paphos revealed the existence of important Hellenistic quarries, water supplies and houses of the same period. An important Roman building was found, with traces of wall paintings in different spaces. In order to confirm the relative chronology of this Roman building given by archaeological stratigraphic and stylistic analyses, as well as technical observations, twenty-five samples of different kinds of wall paintings were collected for chemical analyses of inorganic and/or organic constitutive materials. Frescoes have been identified and all the pigments were of mineral origin. At least two different phases in the Roman building on the northern part of the site and another probably older kind of wall painting on the southern part have been successfully differentiated.