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Comparative Study of Two Blue Pigments from the Maya Region of Yucatan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2012

Silvia Fernández-Sabido ,
Yoly Palomo-Carrillo ,
Rafael Burgos-Villanueva  and
Romeo de Coss
Silvia Fernández-Sabido
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Cinvestav-Mérida, A.P. 73 Cordemex, C.P. 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. e-mail: silviafidelina@hotmail.com
Yoly Palomo-Carrillo
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Centro INAH Yucatán, Antigua carretera a Progreso km. 6.5, S/N, C.P. 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
Rafael Burgos-Villanueva
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Centro INAH Yucatán, Antigua carretera a Progreso km. 6.5, S/N, C.P. 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
Romeo de Coss
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Physics, Cinvestav-Mérida, A.P. 73 Cordemex, C.P. 97310, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. e-mail: silviafidelina@hotmail.com
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Abstract

A comparative study of two blue pigment found in separate megalithic structures in Yucatán México is presented. The first sample (M1) is a piece of turquoise stucco discovered at the top of a building known as Structure-2 in the town of Dzilam González. The second sample (M2) is a residual blue powder that was contained in a Oxcum Café type ceramic vessel recovered in the rubble of the Kabul building in Izamal city. The interest in characterizing these samples increases with the possibility of finding in them evidence of Maya Blue, a dye created in the eighth century by the Maya people, whose extraordinary physical and chemical properties have been studied in laboratories around the world. Maya Blue was a tailored technology used for several centuries, even during the Spanish occupation, throughout Mesoamerica. Despite 80 years of study, the mysteries of its composition, traditional preparation and obsolescence have not yet been fully resolved. Using different spectroscopic techniques (SEM, EDX, XRD, FTIR, UV-Vis DR) we have studied and compared the blue colorants in M1 and M2. Results indicate that M1 is Maya Blue. Despite some similarities in the infrarred vibrational spectra of the two samples, we have determinated that M2 is not Maya Blue but a non-Mesoamerican mineral pigment known as Ultramarine which was probably introduced to America by Europeans.

Keywords

microstructurescanning electron microscopy (SEM)infrared (IR) spectroscopy
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1374: Symposium S8 – Cultural Heritage and Archaeological Issues in Materials Science , 2012 , pp. 115 - 123
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2012

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