One of the first really careful pieces of work on colours in archaeology was done by Prof. Buckman in 1850 on the colours used in the Roman mosaics in England. Coloured tesserae from Roman sites had been recorded in the early 15th century, but the first scientific work in analysing the colours was done in the late 1800s. Prof. Buckman, for example, illustrated and described the colours (oolite, terracotta, limestone and ruby glass) used in the Roman mosaics of Circencester. Similarly fragments of coloured and decorated walls had their colours analysed and illustrated by the same archaeological team who showed the use of lapis lazuli, peroxide of iron, compact clorite, lamp black and so on. More recently magnificent work has been done on the colours and their meanings in the mosaic psychocosmogram in front of the high altar at Westminster Abbey. The first colour reconstructions of historical archaeological features were collected together and published in a book by Bossart.
D.P.
BOSSART, H. (1928) An Encyclopaedia of Colour Decoration. London: Gollancz.
BUCKMAN, and NEWMARCH, C.H. (1850) Illustrations of the Remains of Roman Art in Circencester. London: George Bell.
FOSTER, R. (1991) Patterns of Thought. London: Cape.
See also the Library of the School of Archaeology, London University.
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