Abstract
Naturally occurring minerals or their synthetic analogues have been important as pigments used in artistic and cosmetic contexts in global antiquity. The analysis and identification of mineral pigments, though routine to the petrologist or mineralogist, also requires specialist knowledge of the archaeological contexts and available technologies and trade. This paper attempts to present an analytical approach to the study of mineral pigments in archaeology and also introduces the range of mineral pigments encountered in works of art and painted objects on archaeological sites and in museums. It attempts to cover the range of mineral and synthetic inorganic pigments used in global cultures from to the early Medieval period.
Highlights
As long as people have been making marks, they have been using pigments
As is always the case in archaeology and history, our attention and knowledge is restricted to preserved evidence, but it can be assumed that pigments were made into paints to produce temporary and permanent marks on objects, the landscape and the human body throughout the Later Pleistocene and into the Holocene/Anthropocene
The routine analytical techniques used for the analyses of mineral pigments and their synthetic analogues are polarised light microscopy (PLM), Raman microspectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction (XRD)
Summary
As long as people have been making marks, they have been using pigments. As is always the case in archaeology and history, our attention and knowledge is restricted to preserved evidence, but it can be assumed that pigments were made into paints to produce temporary and permanent marks on objects, the landscape and the human body throughout the Later Pleistocene and into the Holocene/Anthropocene. I will attempt to review the most important applications of mineral pigments in art history globally from the Palaeolithic to the early Medieval period as well as some important uses of mineral pigments in modern hunter-gatherer societies. This is no small task as human innovation knows few boundaries with respect to materiality and innovation and new uses of minerals as pigments are regularly being discovered as the scientific analysis of painted objects becomes more widespread. Era (prior to year 0) and Common Era (year 0 to the present day)
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