*3.1. The Purple Pigment Finds from Akrotiri, Thera*

Two lumps of purple pigment, found free of any support or container in rooms of different buildings in the city, were identified as having a similar physical appearance.

The first lump (inv. no. 10891), with a volume of about 20 cm3, was found in (Building Complex Delta, Romford, UK) room 12. We assume that the color was stored not in powder form after any treatment such as grinding, but rather in raw form, as a cohesive mass, because following its excavation and storage in a glass container for over 30 years it was still cohesive. The quantity, form, and context indicate that it was not an accidental find in the field.

We do not know if it was kept in a vessel or other container of perishable material (bag from plant fibers, basket, etc.). A triton shell was found next to the lump of purple. Particularly interesting is the fact that from the same place came a large amount of yellow ochre, which weighed about 8 kg and was probably stored in a large pithos [34]. The pithos was found lying next to the triton and the purple pigment. The presence in the same room

of two lumps of pigments—the purple, which is valuable and rare, and the ochre, which is common but here in such great quantity—is extremely important. The pigments were kept there, probably to be distributed subsequently to artists and artisans.

The dimensions of the second purple find (inv. no. 10882) were comparably smaller (Figure 1). It was found in a closed area during the excavation of pillar shaft 53a for the new shelter of the excavation site. Pillar shaft 53a is located to the west of Xeste 3. The lump of pigment was very small and could have been an accidental find derived from the destruction layer. However, the finding in the same place of a clay vase containing dissolved masses of impure red ochre suggests that perhaps the purple pigment was kept there intentionally.
