Material characterization of the Late Roman wall painting samples from Sinop Balatlar Church Complex in the black sea region of Turkey

Abstract

Two groups of Late Roman wall painting fragments (2nd-4th cent. A.D.), from Sinop Balatlar Church Complex in northern Anatolia, were analyzed in order to reveal their material characteristics, painting stratigraphy and the pigments used by optical microscopy, XRD, mu-XRF, Raman spectrometry and SEM-EDX. Two types of arriccio plasters were identified. The painting stratigraphy is variable among the two wall painting groups. The pigment palette of the wall paintings is similar to those of the other Roman wall paintings analyzed elsewhere, including calcite, yellow and red ochre, goethite, cinnabar, dolomite, green earth and carbon black, The results of this study contribute to our present knowledge about the characteristics of the wall painting materials during the Late Roman period in the context of the Black Sea region. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.