Analysis of the pigments on painted pottery figurines from the Han Dynasty's Yangling Tombs by Raman microscopy

The pigments on painted pottery figurines from the Han Dynasty's Yangling Tombs were analysed by Raman microscopy. It was found that BaCuSi2O6 is included in the purple pigment, which was first synthesized by ancient people 1845 years ago. The red pigments were identified as haematite and cinnabar, the yellow pigment as goethite, the white pigment as calcite, the blue pigment as azurite and the black pigment as soot. Copyright