Research
The Maya used so much red paint that they poisoned their water with mercury, mud sediments reveal
Live Science · By Tom Metcalfe ·
The Brief
- A new study finds Maya use of cinnabar red paint (vermilion) released mercury into their lakes and waterways.
- Evidence comes from mud sediments, per the Live Science report.
- Paint run-off is described as the route by which mercury entered water.
Why it matters
It shows how ancient pigment production can contaminate water with mercury, a useful case for environmental historians and archaeologists studying past pollution.
- #archaeology
- #maya
- #mercury
- #pollution
- #pigments
- #sediment
The Maya used so much red paint that they accidentally poisoned their lakes and waterways with mercury, a new study finds. The problem was cinnabar, a vivid-red mercury-sulfide mineral that can be used as the pigment vermilion in red paint. The run-off from the paint can enter…
Timeline
Live Science reports the study finding that Maya red paint poisoned waterways with mercury
Latest from Live Science in Archaeology
The Maya used so much red paint that they poisoned their water with mercury, mud sediments reveal