Overview

• The findings, published in Antiquity on September 29, are based on 2023–2024 laboratory analyses of a long-held museum artifact from Mühlheim-Dietesheim.
• Proton Induced X-ray Emission and related techniques confirmed the residue as ground azurite, a copper-based blue mineral.
• A bowl-shaped stone previously catalogued as an oil lamp is now interpreted as a small paint-mixing palette.
• Researchers propose the blue was likely used on skin, textiles, or objects that seldom preserve, explaining its rarity in surviving cave art.
• Recovered at a Magdalenian riverside campsite near the River Main east of Frankfurt, the discovery is presented as a starting point for broader pigment searches using modern detection methods.