Maya Blue: Unlocking the Mysteries of an Ancient Pigment
12 comments
·June 14, 2025dclaw
Apparently someone has recreated it.
https://yucatantoday.com/en/blog/how-is-the-maya-blue-pigmen...
jihadjihad
Cool article, and even cooler site IMO. Brings back memories of 20 years ago, when many sites looked similar. It probably looks radically ugly to the modern eye, but I kind of miss the goofiness of pages like this, down to the poem at the bottom (in Comic Sans, no less).
Chrome probably would have kicked up some sort of fuss about it, but I was almost hoping to see .swf as the file extension for the wheel GIF at the top. Good times.
maxwell
Egyptian blue was recently recreated using ancient methods:
https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2025/06/02/researchers-re...
They look chemically quite different: clay, palygorskite/sepiolite, and indigo for Mayan blue; silica, lime, copper, and an alkali for Egyptian blue.
fside
The fact that the Maya engineered this by heating indigo with palygorskite clay shows a level of chemical understanding that rivals modern hybrid materials research. Still wild to think we only cracked the full recipe in the 21st century.
cap11235
No? Calling them advanced is one thing (because it was advanced up to their elimination/dispersion), saying it rivals modern materials science is ridiculous, and is a statement that appeals to the people that buy crystals for their "healing energy". The peoples born of the America's do not benefit from Burning Man-type bullshit.
quesera
GP demonstrates an overextrapolated idea of ancient science, suggesting ignorance but at least honest admiration.
You demonstrate an overextrapolated idea of current cultural events, suggesting ignorance and also shallow dismissiveness.
You could have made your point without raising your own flag.
IAmBroom
Or to put it more nicely, knowing how to make something is not knowing the fundamental science behind the thing.
Romans made self-healing cement without any knowledge of chemistry and materials science. Surgeons performed tumor removals without knowing why they formed. Etc.
webdoodle
To be fair, all of you are biased. We don't know a lot about the Maya's level of knowledge and technology because most of the people who had the knowledge were exterminated by the Jesuits and Conquistadors.
By chance I came across this after yesterday flying for the first time over the eastern edge of the Yucatan. The turqoise color of the water is otherworldly. I love that they draw the comparison, as this pigment really does resemble it!