Ancient Egyptian pigment provides modern forensics with new coat of paint

It was during a trip to Indianapolis that Professor Simon Lewis, a forensic and analytical chemist, was approached by Gregory Smith from the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) with an idea.

Smith, senior conservation scientist at the IMA, had read and known of Lewis’ search for new luminescent compounds that could be used in fingerprint detection.

It was common practise in Smith’s work to use white light to sweep ancient painted artefacts to find traces of an ancient pigment, which was revealed by viewing in the near infrared part of the spectrum.

Egyptian Blue is considered to be the earliest known artificial pigment with origins dating back to 3200 BCE. Even on artefacts dating back several thousands of years, Egyptian Blue still glowed brightly in the near infrared.

Smith asked if Lewis had considered using artistic pigments in his fingerprint research?

The rest as they say, was history.

Egyptian Blue pigment was found to be a promising candidate as luminescent fingerprint dusting powder. Under visible light it lit up the fingerprints in the near infrared against non-porous or patterned surfaces, such as polymer notes or soft drink cans, outperforming commercially available fingerprint dusting powders.

The findings could bring new colour not only to the field of modern forensics but also challenges in artefact conservation, demonstrating how the past could provide solutions for the future.

Out of the blue

Egyptian Blue is a pigment with a remarkable lineage that showcased the ancient Egyptians’ highly advanced grasp on chemistry.