Purple Dye Production Research Articles

Purple dye production under royal management: Evidence from the Cypro-Classical citadel of Ancient Paphos

Au cours de la campagne de fouilles 2016 de l’Université de Chypre sur le plateau de Kouklia-Hadjiabdoullah, des coquilles de murex ont été découvertes en nombre exceptionnellement important (430 kg), concentrées dans le complexe industriel (West Complex) qui occupe avec le « palais » (East Complex) la partie nord du plateau. Cette découverte inattendue nous a conduits, dans un premier temps, à établir un projet en coopération avec l’Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) Study Center for East Crete, puis, peu après, à organiser en commun (1er-2 novembre 2019) un atelier sur le thème « The materiality of purple dye production and use in Cyprus and the Aegean from Prehistory to the Late Roman period ». Cet article constitue un rapport préliminaire sur le contexte de découverte et l’étude des coquilles trouvées dans le West Complex.

Pottery and trade at Euesperides in Cyrenaica: an overview

AbstractThe excavations conducted at Euesperides between 1999 and 2007 under the auspices of the Society for Libyan Studies, London, and the Department of Antiquities, Libya, and jointly directed by Paul Bennet and Andrew Wilson, brought to light private houses and a building complex, industrial areas related to purple dye production and part of the city's fortification wall. Among the finds was a highly significant body of local, regional and imported pottery (from the Greek and Punic world, Cyprus, Italy and elsewhere), dated between the last quarter of the seventh and the middle of the third century BC, when the city was abandoned.This archaeological project adopted an innovative approach to the study of pottery from the site, based on the total quantification of the coarse, fine wares and transport amphorae. This was supplemented by a targeted programme of petrographic analysis to shed light on production centres and thus questions about the trade and the economy of ancient Euesperides. The pottery study by K. Göransson, K. Swift and E. Zimi demonstrated that although the city gradually developed a significant industry of ceramics, it relied heavily on imports to cover its needs and that imported pottery reached Euesperides’ sheltered harbour either directly from the supplying regions or most often through complex maritime networks in the Mediterranean which changed over time.Cooking pots from Aegina and the Punic world, mortaria, bowls, jugs and table amphorae from Corinth as well as transport amphorae from various centres containing olive oil, wine, processed meat and fish were transported to the city from Greece, Italy/Sicily, Cyprus and elsewhere. The so-called amphorae B formed the majority, while Corinthian, Aegean (Thasian, Mendean, Knidian, etc.), Greco-Italic and Punic were adequatly represented. Regarding fine wares, East Greek, Laconian and Corinthian are common until the end of the sixth century; Attic black-glazed, and to a lesser extend, black-figure and red-figure pots dominate the assemblages between the fifth and the mid-third centuries BC, while Corinthian, Italian/Sicilian and Punic seem to have been following the commodities flow at Euesperides from the fourth century BC onwards. Finally, Cyrenaican pottery and transport amphorae have been also identified at Euesperides implying a considerable volume of inter-regional trade.

Costruire ingegnosamente riutilizzando materiali poveri. L’impiego di conchiglie a fini edilizi ad Aquileia tra età repubblicana e tarda antichità.

In this paper, we take into exam six different contexts in Roman Aquileia in which considerable amounts of shells, originally collected for different purposes (dietary consumption or purple dye production), were re-used as raw material in building activities, either inserted in mortars or used as floor foundation. Shells as building material have useful properties, which are here analyzed. Themes such as technological transmission among cultures are discussed through the examination of other attestations of these practices in the ancient Mediterranean.

Harvesting the Sea: The Exploitation of Marine Resources in the Roman Mediterranean

Harvesting the Sea provides the first systematic treatment of the exploitation of various marine resources, such as large-scale fishing, fish salting, salt and purple-dye production, and oyster and fish-farming, in the Roman world and its role within the ancient economy. Bringing together literary, epigraphic, and legal sources, with a wealth of archaeological data collected in recent years, Marzano shows that these marine resources were an important feature of the Roman economy and, in scope and market-oriented production, paralleled phenomena taking place in the Roman agricultural economy on land. The book also examines the importance of technological innovations, the organization of labour, and the use of the existing legal framework in defence of economic interests against competitors for the same natural resource.

Harvesting the sea: the exploitation of marine resources in the Roman Mediterranean

Harvesting the Sea provides the first systematic treatment of the exploitation of various marine resources, such as large-scale fishing, fish salting, salt and purple-dye production, and oyster and fish-farming, in the Roman world and its role within the ancient economy. Bringing together literary, epigraphic, and legal sources, with a wealth of archaeological data collected in recent years, the book shows that these marine resources were an important feature of the Roman economy and, in scope and market-oriented production, paralleled phenomena taking place in the Roman agricultural economy on land. The book also examines the importance of technological innovations, the organization of labour, and the use of the existing legal framework in defence of economic interests against competitors for the same natural resource.

PURPLE‐DYE PRODUCTION IN LYCIA – RESULTS OF AN ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY IN ANDRIAKE (SOUTH‐WEST TURKEY)

Summary. In 2003 a substantial deposit of heavily fragmented shells of purple snails was by chance located at the site of Andriake, the ancient port of the Lycian city of Myra near Demre, in southern Turkey. The archaeozoological and archaeological record of a survey project in 2004 proved the identification of a large installation for the production of purple dye. Adjacent to a well preserved Hadrianic granary and partly superimposing the remains of a U‐shaped building, the deposit is wrapped around three sides of a subterranean cistern. Apparently dating to the sixth century AD, the deposit contains approximately 300 m3of shell debris. The unique chance of examining an undisturbed and well preserved manufacturing place for purple dye provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the processual particularities as well as the ecological impact of purple‐dye production in antiquity.

Euesperides 2005: Preliminary Report on the Spring 2005 season

AbstractThis paper is a preliminary report on the Spring 2005 season of the excavations at Euesperides (Benghazi). Work continued in Areas P and Q, and on the processing of finds from the 2005 and previous seasons. In Area P a series of domestic deposits dated to the last quarter of the fourth or first quarter of the third century BC was excavated, including a hearth, a probable domestic altar and associated votive deposits, and a series of post-holes perhaps connected with furniture and a loom. Two small external yard areas seem to have been used for purple dye production. In Area Q late occupation to the west of the street is dated to the late fourth century BC; to the east of the street, the latest stratigraphy appears to have been truncated and the occupation levels so far excavated here date from 470 down to 300 BC.Selected finewares from the excavations are presented, ranging in date from the sixth to the third centuries BC. Work on the coarse pottery and amphora assemblages has begun to distinguish products of different production centres within Cyrenaica. Besides demonstrating the quantities of imported coarsewares from Corinth, the Aegean and the Punic world, we can now recognise four classes of Cyrenaican amphorae, including exports present at Punic Sabratha. The study of the wall plaster, environmental remains and other finds are also briefly discussed.Euesperides is a site both of archaeological importance and of considerable scientific interest for its rare wetland vegetation, but both of these aspects remain vulnerable to ongoing damage as a result of urban development, uncontrolled rubbish dumping and a lack of effective protection of the site.

Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the spring 2004 season

AbstractThis article reports on the sixth season of the ongoing project at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavation in Area P established the date of construction of the penultimate phase (and therefore of the plain pebble mosaic with inscription published last year) as 300-282 BC, following the abandonment and demolition of the antepenultimate phase beneath it. An area used for the preparation and cutting of the materials employed in the final-phase mosaics has been identified. In Area Q the dismantling of the street sequence was completed, and the W building fronting the street found to date from the fifth century BC. In Area R the crushed deposits ofMurexshell were removed and working surfaces associated with purple dye production defined. Geological investigations to the west of the city revealed a possible location for the ancient harbour, and showed that the waterlogged deposits of the former sebkha are a good source for further palaeoenvironmental research.Study of the finds also continued. Further work on reconstructing the design of the final phase mosaic in Area P suggests a central motif probably of two dolphins set within a wave-crest surround. The initial results of the analysis of the mosaic samples taken from the final-phase Building A are presented. The study of the wall plaster fragments was begun, enabling some preliminary observations on the decoration. New forms of local black glaze pots have been recovered this year along with fineware imports from Attica, Corinth, East Greece, south Italy and the Punic world throwing light on the interrelations between Euesperides and the Mediterranean world from the fifth to third centuries BC. Full quantification of the coarse pottery assemblages continued this season, doubling the dataset of fully recorded pottery, whilst detailed analysis of vessel forms and their variations identified production techniques and chronological developments of vessel shapes within the local and imported wares. The study of the amphorae identified more Punic amphorae and an unusual basket-handled amphora which may be of Cypriot origin. Initial assessments of environmental and faunal remains were conducted.

Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the spring 2003 season

AbstractThis article reports on the fifth season of the ongoing project at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavation in Area P'confirmed a date of 261-250 BC for the destruction of the penultimate phase and the construction of the final phase, with mosaics of mixed pebble and irregular tesserae. An inscription was discovered on the mosaic of the penultimate phase; and some rooms of the preceding phase were investigated. In Area Q the dismantling of the street sequence continued, together with the investigation of houses fronting the street, and the evidence for the lines of different phases of the city defences. Outside the line of the latest defences, excavation in an ancient quarry ditch revealed a refuse deposit rich in ceramics and organic materials. In Area R the rooms surrounding the courtyard were defined, and the latest phases of Murex purple dye production were investigated. At the request of the Municipality and the Department of Antiquities of Benghazi, evaluation trenches were cut to assess the impact of proposed developments on the archaeological remains south and east of the city.Study of the finds also continued. Work began on reconstructing the design of the final phase mosaic in Area P, the central motif of which was probably a dolphin, within a wave-crest surround. Analysis of the coarsewares demonstrated that between 40-60% of third-century BC coarsewares at the site were imported, many from areas of the Punic world; this suggests active and regular trading networks. Study of the amphorae revealed that forms of Corinthian B amphorae were produced at Euesperides.

Euesperides (Benghazi): Preliminary report on the spring 2000 season

AbstractThis paper reports on the second season of the new fieldwork at Euesperides (Benghazi). Excavations continued in Areas P (a large building with early Hellenistic mosaics) and Q (an area of streets and buildings built against the line of the Archaic period city wall), and were commenced at a site in the Lower City (Area R), where evidence for purple dye production from the Murex trunculus shellfish was found. In addition, a programme of machine-cut evaluation trenching was carried out in an area to the south of the Sidi Abeid mound to determine the limits of the archaeological area; this showed that occupation deposits continued for some distance to the south-east of the zone formerly considered to have encompassed the city. Geophysical prospection was completed in the Lower City, giving a fuller understanding of the city plan and of manufacturing activities. Preliminary quantification of the fine pottery suggests heavy reliance on imported wares (some 90%) to meet demand for tablewares, and carries important implications for the volume of ancient shipping and trade reaching Euesperides.

Urbanism and Economy at Euesperides (Benghazi): preliminary report on the 1999 season

AbstractThis paper reports on the first season of a new project at Euesperides (Benghazi) aimed at studying the urban development and economy of the city. Two area excavations were started, the first on the site of early Hellenistic pebble and tessellated mosaics discovered in 1998, and the second in what appears to be an area of houses and workshops built against the city wall on the east side of the mound of Sidi Abeid. Geophysical survey and surface prospection was also undertaken; it appears that the lower-lying extension to the city was much larger than previously thought, and several modifications are necessary to previously published plans of the site. Much of the lower city is covered with large spreads of deliberately crushed shells of Murex trunculus, indicating the production of purple dye on a significant scale. Other evidence of urban production was also recovered, notably metal-working, while study of the ceramic assemblage shows widespread trading connections, with significant imports of coarsewares besides the expected fineware and amphora imports.