Egyptian Blue Production and Lead Metallurgy in a Late Hellenistic Workshop on Kos (Greece)

A Case of Multicrafting

Bibliographic Data

ID24228626
AuthorsAriadne Kostomitsopoulou Marketou (0000-0001-9416-6324, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society), Søren Handberg (0000-0001-7743-2862, University of Oslo)
Year2026
Pages1-14
Publication date2026-10-14
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774326100754
OpenAlexW7221818688
LanguageEN
References cited24

A well-preserved late Hellenistic workshop in the agora of Kos provides a rare opportunity to examine pigment production embedded in a multicrafting setting. Excavations of a room in the eastern stoa have revealed fire-structures, Egyptian blue pellets, a range of mineral earth pigments, litharge rods, lead slag, tools and other production debris, demonstrating both pigment manufacture and lead metallurgy within a single workshop space. This archaeological evidence points to an alternative mode of Egyptian blue production, one that departs from procedures described in ancient literary sources and those inferred from other archaeologically known workshops.

ancient pigments · Egyptian blue · Kos · lead metallurgy · lead slag · litharge · pigment production · Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis · Historical and Literary Studies · Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts

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