Tyrian purple was a highly prized pigment developed in the Bronze Age, and it retained its status into the late medieval period. Several pottery fragments had residue of Tyrian purple pigment, the research team revealed. The well-preserved pigment could be used to dye textiles today, lead study author Dr. Lydia Berger said. Once collected, the snails had to be kept alive until the purple dye makers were ready to crush them and extract the mollusk’s mucus glands. The process came with a fishy odor, one that the researchers recognized when they came across the purple pigment residue in the recent excavation at Kolonna, she added.

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Persons: Lydia Berger, Berger, ”, Maria Melo, Dye, Melo, Rena Veropoulidou, Veropoulidou, Julius Caesar, Jesus Christ, ” Veropoulidou, “ Organizations: CNN, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, University of Michigan, Nova University of Lisbon, Hellenic Ministry of Culture, CPA Media Locations: Byzantine Empire, Aegina, Austria, Tyre, Lebanon, Phoenicia, Portugal, Kolonna, Greece, Rome