Identification of ancient Persian pigments from Persepolis and Pasargadae

Carefully documented specimens of ancient Persian pigments taken from the surface of the limestone reliefs at Persepolis and Pasargadae, and several bulk specimens excavated at Persepolis, have been identified as Egyptian blue, malachite, hematite, cinnabar and yellow ochre. A separate group of excavated materials, also thought to have been used as pigments, were determined to be Egyptian blue, azurite, the rare green mineral tyrolite, orthorhombic sulfur, a calcite-yellow ochre mixture, and realgar. These materials were studied and identified using a combination of optical and scanning electron microscopic, atomic emission spectrographic, X-ray diffractionand fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometric techniques.