Prehistoric wall paintings: the case of the Domus de Janas necropolis (Sardinia, Italy)

The Domus de Janas (Home of the Fairies, or Home of the Witches) are Neolithic hypogea located throughout Sardinia (Italy) and decorated with red and black wall paintings. The objective of this study was to define the painting technique through the analytical characterization of the pigments and binding media. Samples of painting film from different graves have been examined by means of various analytical techniques. XRD, Raman and SEM-EDX analyses identified the red and black pigments respectively as red ochre rich in hematite and carbon black, while GC-MS analyses characterized the organic binder as egg.