A preliminary Raman microscopic exploration of pigments in wall paintings in the Roman Tomb discovered at Kertch, Ukraine, in 1891

Raman microscopy was applied to pigments microsampled from the 1891 tomb (first century Early Roman Empire) at Kertch, Ukraine, in an attempt to assess the viability of this technique when used alone. Three phases were definitively identified non-destructively with no sample preparation: cuprorivaite (blue), amorphous carbon (black) and minium (orange-red). However, new points are raised in each case concerning the details of their Raman spectra (e.g. extra bands or shifted bands); these will help in the establishment of databases of standard reference spectra of pigments and other geo- or biomaterials of relevance to archaeology and art. The discovery of minium at this site is significant as it is one of the earliest known locations of its use. All the new data will be of benefit for the restoration programme.