Posted on 01/22/2008 12:24:02 PM PST by blam
1500-year-old Mayan paint job peeled back
Jill Rowbotham | January 23, 2008
MORE secrets of the Mayan civilisation are being revealed via groundbreaking research into paint pigments used on a temple at one of the culture's most significant sites: Copan, in Honduras.
Brisbane physical and chemical sciences PhD student Rosemary Goodall used an infrared analysis technique, FTIR-ATR spectral imaging, never before applied in archeology.
It revealed a map of the painted surfaces of stucco masks that adorn the corners of the Rosalila temple, built in about AD550.
Mrs Goodall found that the Mayans mixed finely ground muscovite mica in their paint, which would have made parts of the building glitter in the sun.
But visualising the buildings is only part of the brief for the former oil industry chemist, who is completing her doctorate jointly at the University of Queensland and the Queensland University of Technology.
"We need an idea of the paint technology and techniques and how the people were doing these things," Mrs Goodall said.
This knowledge can allow deductions about the significance of the materials, some of which were used only for ceremonial purposes while others such as iron oxide were used to paint buildings.
By tunnelling into the ruins of Copan, the archelogists of the long-term UQ-led field research program uncovered multiple layers of buildings.
They are studying materials from different periods to see if changes in materials could reveal cultural changes in the community.
"Once you know what the materials are made of, it aids you in conserving and restoring the site," Mrs Goodall said.
This was of particular importance in tropical central America.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
Also, a perviously covered topic:
Experts study another Andean civilization
Chachapoya 'cloud warriors' of ancient Peru yield secrets
I wonder what they might have used for that lovely “blood red” coloring.....hmmmm....
“parts of the building glitter in the sun.”
Candy Apple Red?
Explains the cities of gold descriptions.
That always makes me laugh!
Paint any pyramid .... any color... $29.95!
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Thanks Blam. |
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The temple sits around a patio about 300 metres south of the west face of the Pyramid of the Sun. Directly under a floor paved with heavy rock slabs, they found two massive sheets of mica. The sheets are 90 feet square and form two layers, one laid directly on top of the other. As it sits underneath a stone floor, its use was obviously not decorative, but functional.
Mica is a substance containing different metals, depending on the kind of rock formation in which it is found. The type of mica found at Teotihuacan indicates a type that is only found in Brazil, more than 2000 miles away. The same South American mica was found in Olmec sites. It is clear that its presence in Teotihuacan involved a lot of effort – and it thus must have played an important role…
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