The identification by Raman microscopy and X-ray diffraction of iron-oxide pigments and of the red pigments found on Italian pottery fragments

The technique of Raman microscopy has been used to identify and characterise the pigments used in red shards of medieval and earlier items of pottery which have been found in various archaeological sites in the South of Italy. The research has led to the identification, on the basis of their characteristic Raman/resonance Raman spectra, of the red pigments as iron(III) oxide (e.g. Indian Red, Red Ochre or Venetian Red) and the yellow pigments as hydrated iron(III) oxyhydroxide (e.g. Yellow Ochre and Mars Yellow). X-ray powder diffraction experiments confirm the conclusions drawn above.