infant

The discovery of traces of rare Tyrian purple dye in the gypsum burials of two infants in Roman York has shed exciting new light on the immense wealth and social standing of the city’s ancient elite. This remarkable find marks the first time that this costly colorant, normally reserved for emperors and the highest aristocracy, has been identified on Roman textile remains in York, challenging traditional assumptions about Roman funerary practices for children. During the Roman period, Tyrian purple was a luxury commodity of unparalleled prestige, valued at up to three times the price of gold. The dye was labor-intensively manufactured by crushing thousands of murex marine molluscs to extract minuscule amounts of the vibrant purple colorant, a process perfected