Raman spectroscopic study of red pigment and fresco fragments from King Herod's Palace at Jericho

Non-destructive Raman spectroscopic analysis of two red-pigmented fresco fr agments from the Palace of King Herod the Great (late first century BC) at Jericho has provided some novel information about the source of the pigment and its application to the fresco plaster, The pigment is unadulterated ci nnabar which closely resembles a mineral source from Tarna in Spain. The pi gment actually consists of two layers, the lower one being of a lighter col our which was obtained using calcite dust, and there is a suggestion of rem ains of an organic wax or oil binder in this layer to provide better adhesi on for the bright-red pigment superimposed layer. No trace of gypsun was fo und in the fresco substrate. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.