Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles working in Cyprus have discovered that Byzantine monks used asbestos for a plaster under their religiously themed 12th century paintings.

Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles working in Cyprus have discovered that Byzantine monks used asbestos for a plaster under their religiously themed 12th century paintings.

While examining the paintings at the Byzantine monastery Enkleistra of St. Neophytos in Cyprus, scientists identified the magnesium silicate mineral called chrysotile, or white asbestos, in the finish coating of the plaster.

Ioanna Kakoulli, archaeologist from the University of California in Los Angeles, and lead author of the study is quoted as saying: “The monks probably wanted to give more shine and different properties to this layer. It definitely wasn't a casual decision — they must have understood the properties of the material.”

The closest source for asbestos in Cyprus is some 38 miles from the monastery so experts think that the monks probably traded for the material.

Asbestos was used historically for a variety of purposes like mixing it with clay to make stronger pottery, or to make fabric that could separate a person’s ashes from the rest of the funeral pyre at the time of cremation.

Although all six kinds of the asbestos are carcinogenic, people in the late 19th century used it for construction and industrial products to give them better insulation and durability.