Green earth pigments were widely used in the ancient Mediterranean area during the Roman period. Two green pigments were mentioned by Roman authors: the creta viridis and appianum. The former was cited by Vitruvius who indicated that it was coming from Smyrna (current Izmir) and it has been speculated that it could correspond to the green earth of Cyprus, with Smyrna only being the transfer port; the other pigment was cited by Pliny and thought to originate in Monte Baldo in Northern Italy. However, neither author mentions the important green earth deposit in Cyprus. As celadonite has been widely detected in wall paintings from all over the empire, most analysts attributed it to Cyprus deposit. In this paper, the geological and historical occurrence of celadonite green earth in Izmir (Smyrna) area is being investigated. Celadonite bearing green colored volcanic blocks and columns have been found in some historical building in Izmir. The material would have most probably quarried from a location 1.5 km south of Smyrna Agora. The green powder that appeared during stone processing may have been used as a green pigment. However, the green pigment is yet to be investigated in excavation studies of Roman wall painting from the area of Smyrna. It is presented here the existence of celadonite formation in Smyrna by petrographic, XRD, SEM studies of green volcanic rock and compared with celadonite materials from Cyprus and Monte Baldo. The data confirm the occurrence of celadonite in the area and that it has close similarity with Cyprian celadonite.</p
