Identification of Pigments in Hellenistic and Roman Funeral Figurines

Abstract

Microsamples removed from funeral figurines, which were found in two Hellenistic (third to second centuries bc) and two Roman (first to second centuries ac) tombs in the centre of Thessaloniki, Greece, are investigated following a multi-analytical approach. Polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) are employed to identify both inorganic and organic pigments. PLM is useful to reveal the combinations of the colourants, which are identified as follows. Red ochre, cinnabar, yellow ochre, Egyptian blue, carbon black, calcite, dolomite and quartz are identified using XRF and Raman spectroscopy. HPLC–DAD is used to identify the organic colourants, which are rarely detected in painted objects of the Hellenistic and Roman period. In particular, cochineal and madder are found in six samples extracted from Hellenistic figurines. This is the first study describing the unequivocal identification of cochineal in Hellenistic objects. Furthermore, madder is identified in one sample dated to the Roman period. Madder lakes detected in the samples contain high amounts of purpurin; alizarin is either not detected or detected in trace amounts.