Archaeometric analysis of ancient pottery in a church

The Mediaeval fortification Skopsko Kale (Skopje Fortress) is situated in the heart of the modern capital of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, performing the role of a strategic centre of the Central Balkan Peninsula, mainly since the 6th until the end of the 19th century. This Fortress served as one of the most important military and administrative sites of the competing military powers of the Middle Ages: Byzantium; the II Bulgarian Kingdom; the King-dom of Samuel and the Serbian Kingdom, when it became the capital of Tsar Dushan, and later the seat of the Ottoman rulers. The present study of mediaeval pigments using micro-Raman spectroscopy provides important information on the inorganic and organic type of pigments used in the wall paintings in the remains of the church in Skopsko Kale (Skopje Fortress).