Scientists are still looking for the answer: no one knows how spots on marble Parthenon appeared (photo)

For almost 2 centuries, scientists cannot reveal the mystery of the origin of brown spots on marble statues of Parthenon. Various theories have been put forward, but still no one has come close to the unraveling. For almost two centuries, archaeologists have been trying to unravel the mystery of the ancient Greek temple of Parthenon in Athens - a brown spot that decorates various marble fragments.

Despite long research and numerous attempts to solve this case, the secret remains undisclosed, writes Ancient Origins. In focus, technology appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! History begins at the National Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, from the marble head of Centaur, which was once part of Parthenon.

It was part of the scene that depicted the battle of mythical lamps with centaur, and is now covered with a special thin brown film, as well as other marble fragments of Parthenon. The mystery of the brown film dates back to 1830, when the British Museum first explored it. The first assumptions concerned whether this color came from ancient paint, or possibly from a chemical reaction with air, or from particles of iron migrated to the surface.

In 1851, the German chemist Justus von Liebih found Oxalates in the brown film, but the origin of these salts remained unknown. Nowadays, Professor Kaare Lund Rasmussen, together with his colleagues from the University of Southern Denmark and other institutions, aimed to study the possibility that the brown film comes from a biological organism, such as lichen, bacteria, algae or fungi.

However, analyzes, including protein analysis and mass spectrometry with laser ablation and inductively associated plasma, found no traces of biological matter-only fingerprints. Although this does not exclude the presence of biological substance, it significantly reduces the likelihood, making biological theory less likely.

Similarly, the researchers found it less likely that the marble surface was painted or preserved, since there were no traces of ancient colors in the brown spot, which were usually made of natural products such as eggs, milk and bones. As a result, the study made an interesting discovery - the brown film consists of two separate layers, each with a thickness of about 50 micrometers, with different trace elements. However, both layers contain oxalate minerals of Vedesite and Velyolite.

This casts doubt on the theory that suggests the migration of material or air response, and eliminates air pollution because the Centaur's head was indoors before industrialization of the XVIII century. Despite these conclusions, researchers remain in a dead end. The existence of two different brown layers in combination with the absence of traces of the applied substances deepens the mystery. Although theories continue to move out, there was no specific evidence.