Breaking news from the world of archaeology! Researchers have discovered a lump of ancient purple dye at the site of a Roman bathhouse in Carlisle, a town in the northwest of England. Such a discovery may seem a little odd, especially with the amount of excitement that is surrounding it; but it was a very important (and ridiculously expensive) item in the ancient world, and this is the first of its kind found in the UK!
A few months ago, just out of interest, I actually put a bit of time into researching Tyrian purple. From what I read, it seems like dyeing things purple became such a status symbol that people started paying absolutely ludicrous amounts for it, far exceeding its actual cost to make. It’s scary to think how much someone might have actually paid for this lump of dye.
It really highlights how much economical value is artificial. This was only valuable because people assigned value to it (as obvious as that sounds). I wonder how much we spend stupid amounts of money on today which, in 1,000 years time, will raise an eyebrow or two!
A few months ago, just out of interest, I actually put a bit of time into researching Tyrian purple. From what I read, it seems like dyeing things purple became such a status symbol that people started paying absolutely ludicrous amounts for it, far exceeding its actual cost to make. It’s scary to think how much someone might have actually paid for this lump of dye.
It really highlights how much economical value is artificial. This was only valuable because people assigned value to it (as obvious as that sounds). I wonder how much we spend stupid amounts of money on today which, in 1,000 years time, will raise an eyebrow or two!