Abstract
Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79 represents one of the most important events in history. The cataclysm left behind an abundance of archeological evidence representing a fundamental source of the knowledge we have about ancient Roman material culture and technology. A great number of textiles have been preserved, rarely maintaining traces of their original color, since they are mainly in the mineralized and carbonized state. However, one outstanding textile sample displays a brilliant purple color and traces of gold strips. Since the purple was one of the most exclusive dyes in antiquity, its presence in an important commercial site like Pompeii induces us to deepen the knowledge of such artifacts and provide further information on their history. For this reason, the characterization of the purple color was the main scope of this research, and to deepen the knowledge of such artifacts, the SERS (Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering) in solution approach was applied. Then, these data were enriched by HPLC-HRMS analyses, which confirmed SERS-based hypotheses and also allowed to hypothesize the species of the origin mollusk. In this context, a step-by-step integrated approach resulted fundamental to maximize the information content and to provide new data on textile manufacturing and trade in antiquity.
Highlights
In recent years, studies in archeological sciences and analytical chemistry have been moving towards the same direction
The combination of Raman, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in solution, and HPLC-HRMS analyses resulted in the identification of purple dyes and the convergence of information obtained by the different techniques allowed the formulation of hypotheses about the specific mollusk species which constituted the natural matrix for colorant extraction
From the archeological point of view, the mineralized textile analyzed offers clear evidence for the presence of luxury textiles made of gold and dyed with shellfish purple in Pompeii
Summary
Studies in archeological sciences and analytical chemistry have been moving towards the same direction. Considering the uniqueness of these samples and the difficulty in producing laboratory mock-ups to test novel analytical protocols, the scientific research requires advances in the standard analytical. The growing research into archeological textile materials has led to taking of unexplored or scarcely investigated collections into account. Pompeii may represent the most important case study, which perfectly fits with the definition of this new challenge. The wide textile collection of Pompeii offers one of the major opportunities to apply and test more advanced archeological and scientific techniques. In this context, the investigation of archeological textile samples is a great challenge due to the highly perishable nature of organic materials
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