A rare pigment in the world’s most expensive and sought-after colour of its time has been discovered in the UK.
The archaeological object is thought to be the only one of its kind in the former Roman Empire.
The pigment is made from thousands of crushed seashells collected from the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa or Morocco.
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The unique shade of purple is known as Tyrian Purple, according to Need To Know.
Researchers say it was famously difficult to make and worth more than gold at the time.
The lump of the soft mysterious purple substance was discovered at in the drains at a Roman Bathhouse in Carlisle.
The bath house – which was built in the third century – was located within the grounds of Carlisle Cricket Club during the 2023 excavation by archaeologists and volunteers.
The bath house was built during the time of the Emperor Septimius Severus.
The purple was tested with the support of the British Geological Society.
Experts from Newcastle University further analysed it and found it was organic and contained levels of Bromine and beeswax.
According to researchers, this indicates it is Tyrian Purple, the colour associated with the Imperial Court in the Roman Empire.
Kings and emperors from the Bronze Age often wore this shade of purple.
Sometimes the dye was used on clothes but it was also used to paint walls in grand public buildings, and the homes and properties of the elite – including bathhouses.
The ongoing archaeological project is delivered by a partnership of Cumberland Council, Carlisle Cricket Club, Tullie, and Wardell Armstrong LLP.
The bathhouse is the largest-known building on Hadrian’s Wall.
Over 2,800 significant finds have been discovered at this __cpLocation.
Frank Giecco, technical director at Wardell Armstrong, said: “For millennia, Tyrian Purple was the world’s most expensive and sought after colour.
“It’s presence in Carlisle combined with other evidence from the excavation all strengthens the hypothesis that the building was in some way associated with the Imperial Court of the Emperor Septimius Severus which was located in York and possibly relates to a Imperial visit to Carlisle.
“Other evidence being an inscription stone to the Empress Julia Domna, the date of the monumental building – among the largest on Hadrian’s Wall – coinciding with Emperor Septimius Severus campaigns in Scotland, and an ancient source stating Septimius Severus was in Carlisle, and the high quality of the objects discovered at the bathhouse, granting of civic status to the local Celtic tribal capital at Carlisle; which in effect is the beginning of the city of Carlisle.
“It’s the only example we know of in Northern Europe – possibly the only example of a solid sample of the pigment in the fort of unused paint pigment anywhere in the Roman Empire. Examples have been found of it in wall paintings (like in Pompeii) and also some high status painted coffins from the Roman province of Egypt.”
Councillor Anne Quilter, Cumberland Council’s Executive Member for Vibrant and Healthy Places, added: “This is exciting news for Carlisle and our wider area.
”Following the discovery of the two Roman monumental heads and the other precious items, the project is unearthing some fascinating and globally significant finds.
”More digs are planned, as well as the opportunity to visit the site and see the ground breaking work underway.”
