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A purple dye workshop dating back some 3,600 years has been discovered on the Greek island of Aegina.
Tyrian purple, a natural pigment produced by sea snails, was a highly valued commodity across the Late Bronze Age Mediterranean. Recent excavations at Aegina Kolonna, the island’s main settlement in the 2nd millennium BC, have unearthed a collapsed structure believed to be an Early Mycenaean production site for the prized purple dye.
The site’s interpretation is supported by discoveries associated with multiple stages of the production process. First, the excavations produced a large quantity of crushed mollusc shells, coming almost exclusively from one species of Mediterranean snail, the banded dye-murex (Hexaplex trunculus), which was regularly used in the production of Tyrian purple. Interestingly, the other two species of purple snails sometimes used appear to have been excluded deliberately from the production process at Aegina, despite the fact that they would doubtless have been available. Second, several tools and facilities were found, including a waste pit, and pounding and grinding stones used to crush the shells. Finally, a number of ceramic fragments believed to come from containers used to heat or store the pigment were analysed and revealed to contain considerable quantities of well-preserved purple dye.
The archaeologists also uncovered significant deposits of heavily burnt remains belonging to young mammals, mostly piglets, kids, and lambs. They believe that these remains are unlikely to be the result of everyday consumption and may instead represent offerings or sacrifices intended to ensure the success of the workshop.
At present, only part of the workshop area has been excavated: it is hoped that further investigations will shed more light on the details of the manufacturing techniques used. Nonetheless, the results of the research to date, which have been published in PLOS ONE (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304340), offer a valuable insight into an industry and product that played an important role in Mycenaean society and economy.
Text: Amy Brunskill / Image: L Berger
