E. Zanella et al., Archaeomagnetic results from mural paintings and pyroclastic rocks in Pompeii and Herculaneum, PHYS E PLAN, 118(3-4), 2000, pp. 227-240
This work investigates the magnetic remanence associated with red pigments
from murals at Pompeii and compares their directions to those of the pyrocl
astic rocks from the Vesuvius AD 79 eruption. The remanence of the murals i
s shown, using X-ray analyses, to be carried by haematite. Murals in Therma
e Stabianae, known to have been painted a few years before AD 79, yield an
archaeomagnetic direction (D = 1.2 degrees, I = 58.0 degrees; alpha(95) = 5
.5 degrees) indistinguishable from that of a nearby kiln (D = 358.0 degrees
, I = 59.1 degrees; alpha(95) = 1.7 degrees) (Evans and Mareschal, 1989) pr
obably last used immediately prior to the eruption. The directions are also
consistent with those of fine-grained pyroclastic rocks from the eruption
(D = 351.2 degrees, I = 57.9 degrees; alpha(95) = 3.4 degrees) and lithic a
nd tile fragments embedded within them (D = 358.5 degrees, I = 60.4 degrees
; alpha(95) = 8.5 degrees). Other paintings of the 1st century AD yield sim
ilar directions, with a lower statistical definition. This study shows that
murals can retain their remanent magnetization for centuries and demonstra
tes the viability in principle of pictorial remanence as an archaeomagnetic
tool. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.