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Archaeologists and volunteers excavating an ancient Roman site in the United Kingdom uncovered a \u201cmysterious\u201d purple lump.<\/p>\n
It turned out to be an \u201cincredibly rare\u201d substance once \u201cworth more than gold.\u201d<\/p>\n
The colorful lump was unearthed in the drain of a 1,700-year-old Roman bathhouse<\/a> on the grounds of the Carlisle Cricket Club, according to Wardell Armstrong, the company managing the excavation.<\/p>\n Intrigued by the \u201cmysterious lump,\u201d archaeologists sent it to a laboratory for further analysis.<\/p>\n The analysis identified it as an \u201cincredibly rare\u201d lump of Tyrian purple dye, also known as imperial purple, the company said in a May 3 news release.<\/p>\n \u201cFor millennia, Tyrian Purple was the world\u2019s most expensive and sought after colour,\u201d Frank Giecco, the project\u2019s lead archaeologist, said in the release.<\/p>\n What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week.<\/p>\n \u2192<\/span> Massive 2,200-year-old tomb with grand interior unearthed in China<\/a><\/p>\n \u2192<\/span>1,000-year-old weapon \u2014 the first of its kind \u2014 found sticking out of grave in Spain<\/a><\/p>\n \u2192<\/span> Workers unearth steelworks at medieval castle in UK \u2014 and find someone’s ‘hidey-hole’<\/a><\/p>\n Tyrian purple dye was \u201cphenomenally difficult to make\u201d because it required \u201cthousands of crushed seashells\u201d and was only produced along the Mediterranean coast and North Africa, the company said. As a result, the pigment was \u201cexpensive and was worth more than gold pound for pound.\u201d<\/p>\n The lump of Tyrian purple dye found at the Carlisle Cricket Club is \u201croughly the size of a ping pong ball<\/a>,\u201d BBC reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the only example we know of in Northern Europe,\u201d Giecco said in the release, and \u201cpossibly the only example of a solid sample of the pigment in the form of unused paint pigment anywhere in the Roman Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n Tyrian purple pigment is mainly preserved in wall paintings and coffins, Giecco said.<\/p>\n Excavations of the ancient Roman bathhouse in Carlisle are ongoing.<\/p>\n The Carlisle Cricket Club is in Carlisle and a roughly 300-mile drive northwest of London.<\/p>\n 3,400-year-old site \u2014 where the Pharaoh relaxed \u2014 unearthed in Egypt. See the ruins<\/a><\/p>\n Workers cleaning up dirt at 800-year-old temple uncover dozens of ancient statues<\/a><\/p>\nUncover more archaeological finds<\/b><\/h3>\n