An unexpected threat prowls under the soils surface: mercury contamination. Scientists have actually discovered in an evaluation post released in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science that this pollution is not contemporary: it is the result of the Mayas widespread use of mercury and mercury-containing items between 250 and 1100 CE. The authors highlight that sealed vessels filled with essential (ie, liquid) mercury have actually been found at several Maya websites, for example, Quiriqua in Guatemala, El Paraíso in Honduras, and the former multi-ethnic megacity Teotihuacan in Central Mexico. All this mercury would have presented a health danger for the ancient Maya: for example, the effects of persistent mercury poisoning consist of damage to the main worried system, kidneys, and liver, and cause tremors, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, and mental health issues. Co-author Dr. Tim Beach, a teacher at the University of Texas at Austin, said: “We conclude that even the ancient Maya, who hardly utilized metals, triggered mercury concentrations to be greatly elevated in their environment.
Concentrations differ from 0.016 ppm at Actuncan to an astonishing 17.16 ppm in Tikal. For contrast, the Toxic Effect Threshold (TET) for mercury in sediments is defined as 1 ppm.
Heavy users of mercury.
What triggered this prehistoric mercury contamination? The authors highlight that sealed vessels filled with elemental (ie, liquid) mercury have been discovered at several Maya sites, for instance, Quiriqua in Guatemala, El Paraíso in Honduras, and the former multi-ethnic megacity Teotihuacan in Central Mexico. In other places in the Maya region, archeologists have actually found things painted with mercury-containing paints, generally made from the mineral cinnabar.
The authors conclude that the ancient Maya often utilized cinnabar and mercury-containing paints and powders for decor. This mercury could then have leached from outdoor patios, floor ceramics, walls, and areas, and subsequently spread out into the soil and water.
” For the Maya, objects might contain ch ulel, or soul-force, which resided in blood. Thus, the dazzling red pigment of cinnabar was a vital and spiritual substance, but unbeknownst to them it was likewise lethal and its legacy persists in soils and sediments around ancient Maya websites,” stated co-author Dr. Nicholas Dunning, a teacher at the University of Cincinnati.
As mercury is rare in the limestone that underlies much of the Maya area, they hypothesize that essential mercury and cinnabar found at Maya sites could have been originally mined from understood deposits on the northern and southern confines of the ancient Maya world, and imported to the cities by traders.
Health hazards and the Mayacene.
All this mercury would have postured a health risk for the ancient Maya: for example, the results of persistent mercury poisoning consist of damage to the central worried system, kidneys, and liver, and cause tremblings, impaired vision and hearing, paralysis, and mental health problems. Its perhaps significant that a person of the last Maya rulers of Tikal, Dark Sun, who ruled around 810 CE, is portrayed in frescoes as pathologically obese. Weight problems is a recognized effect of metabolic syndrome, which can be triggered by chronic mercury poisoning.
More research is required to identify whether mercury direct exposure contributed in bigger sociocultural changes and trends in the Maya world, such as those towards the end of the Classic Period.
Co-author Dr. Tim Beach, a teacher at the University of Texas at Austin, said: “We conclude that even the ancient Maya, who hardly used metals, caused mercury concentrations to be considerably raised in their environment. This outcome is yet more proof that similar to we live today in the Anthropocene, there also was a Maya anthropocene or Mayacene. Metal contamination seems to have actually been an effect of human activity throughout history.”.
Referral: “Environmental tradition of pre-Columbian Maya mercury” by Duncan E. Cook, Timothy P. Beach, Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach, Nicholas P. Dunning and Simon D. Turner, 23 September 2022, Frontiers in Environmental Science.DOI: 10.3389/ fenvs.2022.986119.
The study was funded by the Australian Research Council..
An image depicting an ancient Mayan temple.
Mercury exposure may have been a health risk for the ancient Maya.
An unforeseen risk lurks under the soils surface: mercury pollution. Researchers have discovered in an evaluation post published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science that this pollution is not modern-day: it is the result of the Mayas extensive use of mercury and mercury-containing products in between 250 and 1100 CE.
Lead author Dr. Duncan Cook, an associate professor of Geography at the Australian Catholic University, stated: “Mercury pollution in the environment is generally found in modern industrial landscapes and metropolitan areas. Finding mercury buried deep in soils and sediments in ancient Maya cities is hard to describe till we begin to consider the archeology of the area which informs us that the Maya were utilizing mercury for centuries.”
Ancient anthropogenic contamination
For the very first time, Cook and coworkers here evaluated all information on mercury concentrations in soil and sediments at archeological sites throughout the ancient Maya world. They demonstrate that mercury pollution is detectable everywhere except at Chan b i at sites from the Classical Period for which measurements are available, consisting of Chunchumil in modern-day Mexico, Marco Gonzales, and Actuncan in Belize, La Corona, Tikal, Petén Itzá, Piedras Negras, and Cancuén in Guatemala, Palmarejo in Honduras, and Cerén, a Mesoamerican “Pompeii.”.
