Centuries-old Maya Blue mystery finally solved

It is this broad knowledge coupled with the scientific analysis that has enabled the scientists to finally – after more than 100 years – explain the thick layer of blue precipitate at the bottom of the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá.

Already knowing that Maya Blue was central to Maya ritualistic sacrifices together with discovering that the pigment was produced right beside the Cenote solved the mystery of the 14-foot layer of blue precipitate: So many sacrifices – from pots to more than 100 human beings – were thrown into the Sacred Cenote that ultimately a layer of the pigment washed off the sacrifices and settled at the bottom of the well. (Although fully formed Maya Blue is extremely durable, it can be washed off with water, especially if there is no binder to help it adhere to the object on which it is placed.)

Other objects in The Field Museum’s collections may reveal more information about Maya Blue, the scientists said. For example, identification of the plant materials on the bottom of the copal incense in other bowls dredged from the Sacred Cenote at Chichén Itzá could reveal which portions of the indigo plant were used to make Maya Blue.

“The Field Museum’s collection was critical in solving this mystery,” Arnold concluded. “This bowl has been in the collection for 75 years yet only now have we been able to use it in discovering the ancient Maya technology of making Maya Blue.”

The other co-authors of this research are Jason Branden from Northwestern University, and Patrick Ryan Williams and J.P. Brown, both from The Field Museum.

Digital images available:

Altar

The altar on the Temple of the Warriors at Chichén Itzá upon which human sacrifices were made. The altar was painted blue. After human victims were stripped, painted blue, and thrust back down on the altar, their beating hearts were removed.
Photo by Dean E. Arnold, Courtesy of Dean E. Arnold.

Bowl

This Maya tripod pottery bowl (Field Museum catalog number 1969.189262) containing copal from Chichén Itzá’s Sacred Cenote used for sacrifices provided the clues that resolved the mystery of how the ancient Maya produce Maya Blue and how a 14-foot layer of blue precipitate formed at the bottom of the Sacred Cenote (a natural well). It has been part of The Field Museum’s collections for 75 years.
Photo by John Weinstein; Courtesy of The Field Museum.

Copal from bowl

The underside of the copal removed from the Maya tripod pottery bowl shows evidence that helped solve mysteries surrounding the ancient production of Maya Blue. Fine blue and white grains were removed for analysis and indicated the presence of Maya Blue and palygorskite, indicating that the pigment was being made near Chichén Itzá’s Sacred Cenote into which the bowl (containing this copal) was thrown.
Photo by Linda Nicholas; Courtesy of The Field Museum.