Direct 14C-dating of Roman and late antique purple dye sites by murex shells

Until late antique times, murex shells were used for the production of true purple. Murex production sites are found all around the Mediterranean. In this paper are studied four sites from the Balearic Islands. Radiocarbon dates from animal bones and charcoal supposed to be synchronic with the murex dye production, are compared to direct dating of the murex shells. In all but one case the terrestrial samples were inconsistent. The murex shells on the other hand yielded coherent results. The charcoal and the animal bones were without any doubt intrusive.