Identification of original sources of vermilion in antiquity of Roman Empire period in Europe

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Cinnabar ores from 29 mines in 11 counties in Europe were collected. And when the ratio of sulfur isotope of cinnabar ore was measured, the values were different depending on the mine. In addition, 2-D graph was made by both sulfur and mercury isotope ratios, the difference ever mine appeared more clearly. However, there was too few to measure the mercury isotope ratio, although vermilion was collected from the Roman paintings. Then, we measured the ratio of sulfur isotope of vermilion used in Roman paintings. And vermilion used in Obuda in Hungary had been originally collected from the Transylvania area and vermilion used in Clunia in Spain had been collected from the Almaden mine in Spain. In conclusion, the analysis of sulfur isotope ratio in vermilion is an effective method to identify the original sources of vermilion used in ancient times. And it may be thought that precision increases more when combined analyses of sulfur and mercury isotopes are possible.