THE OCCURRENCE OF PALYGORSKITE IN THE YUCATÁN PENINSULA: ETHNO-HISTORIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS

• Published in: Archaeometry Vol. 51; no. 2; pp. 214 - 230
• Main Authors: SÁNCHEZ DEL RÍO, M., SUÁREZ, M., GARCÍA-ROMERO, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2009; Wiley-Blackwell
• Subjects: American civilisations; Art and archaeology; Generalities; Laboratory technics; MAYA BLUE; MAYA CULTURE; Mayas; Methods; Mexico and Central America civilisations; PALYGORSKITE; Physical and chemical analysis; Research principies; YUCATÁN; Maya; Central America; Mexico; America; Mesoamerica; Mineral; Pigment; Analysis; Mineralogy; Spectrometry X; Ethnoarchaeology; X ray diffraction; Mayas; Scanning electron microscope; Source
• ISSN: 0003-813X; 1475-4754
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00398.x

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.