El Azul maya/The Mayan blue

Investigadores españoles hallan en México las raíces del color azul maya.
La antigua civilización maya utilizaba una arcilla poco frecuente llamada palygorskita para fabricar un pigmento, el azul maya. Combinando métodos estructurales, morfológicos y geoquímicos, investigadores españoles han descrito las características comunes a las palygorskitas de la península mexicana del Yucatán. Los resultados permitirán saber de dónde se obtenían los materiales para fabricar el pigmento que resiste al tiempo y a las agresiones químicas y medioambientales.
Las palygorskitas han sido utilizadas en Mesoamérica desde la antigüedad. Existen múltiples datos que sugieren que los mayas conocían sus propiedades y, es más, que esta arcilla estaba muy relacionada con aspectos socioculturales de la cultura maya.
El azul maya se inventó entre los siglos VI y VIII y se encuentra en esculturas, frescos, códices y decoraciones precolombinas en toda Mesoamérica, desde la costa del Golfo de México hasta el Pacífico. Fue utilizado durante el periodo colonial para pintar frescos en iglesias y conventos.
En 1931 el redescubrimiento del pigmento azul maya desconcertó a la comunidad científica por la estabilidad y persistencia de este color encontrado en objetos datados en tiempos precolombinos. Este pigmento milenario, que se ha revelado inmune al paso del tiempo, de la erosión, de la biodegradación y de los disolventes modernos, se considera el precursor de los modernos materiales híbridos, compuestos de diseño orgánico-inorgánico con propiedades de interés en alta tecnología.

Spanish researches find in Mexico the roots of the Mayan blue color
The old Mayan civilization used a rare clay named palygorskita to make a pigment, the Mayan blue. By combining structural, morphologic and geochemical methods, the researchers have described the common characteristics of palygorskitas from the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan. The results will allow to know from where the materials were obtained in order to make a pigment so resistent to time and chemical and environmental attacks.
The palygorskitas have been used in Meso-America from the antiquity. Multiple data seem to suggest that Mayans knew their properties and, moreover, than this clay was very related with sociocultural aspects of the Mayan culture.
The Mayan Blue was invented around centuries VI and VIII and it is found in sculptures, paintings, codices and pre-Columbian decorations in all Meso-America, from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific. It was used during the colonial period to paint frescos in churches and convents.
In 1931 the rediscovery of the Mayan blue pigment disturbed to the scientific community, by the stability and persistence of this color found in objects dated in pre-Columbian times. This millenarian pigment, that is immune to the passage of time, erosion, biodegradation and also to modern sovents, it is considered as the precursor of the modern hybrid materials, with organic-inorganic design, and very interesting high technology propierties.

Tomado de/Taken from Plataforma SINC

Resumen de la publicación/Abstract of paper
Sánchez del Río, M; Suárez, M; y García-Romero, E. “The occurrence of palygoskirte in the Yucatán Península: Ethno-historic and archaelogical contexts”. Archaeometry 51(2) 214-230, 2009.
ABSTRACT
Palygorskite is a rare clay mineral used by the ancient Mayas for fabricating the Maya blue pigment and for other purposes. It seems to have been obtained from a restricted area in the Yucatán peninsula where important archaeological sites are found. Geological samples from different localities in this area show a high content in palygorskite, indicating that this clay is widespread in Yucatán. Combining structural, morphological, compositional and geochemical methods, we analysed the common characteristics of Yucatecan palygorskites, and compared them with palygorskites from other origins around the world. These results can be used for defining a fingerprint of Yucatecan palygorskite to be used in provenance studies of archaeological artefacts, in particular the Maya blue pigment.