Abstract
The pigments were important in the funerary customs of the ancient Maya. They could be introduced as an offering inside the tombs or burials, and were also used to wrap the dead bodies, as if it were a funeral shroud. In the tombs and burials of royalty and high social classes the use of pigments for this purpose is well documented, and physicochemical studies are focused on their identification. This scientific contribution shows the results obtained when analyzing two reddish pigmenting materials from the grave goods of the tomb 19 of the archaeological site of Rio Azul, (Guatemalan Department of Petén), using a multi-technique approach including microscopy, diffraction, spectroscopic, electrochemical and chromatographic techniques. The results have enabled the identification of the inorganic and organic materials composing these pigmenting materials found in a ceramic posthumous offering dish and further discussion mainly has been focused on the geological source of the inorganic materials and the possible origin of the organic matter accompanying these two pigmenting materials.
Highlights
Since Preclassic times the Mesoamerican ruling classes were buried in distinguished tombs containing ornaments of great economic and symbolic value such as jade, amber, obsidian, malachite, serpentine, motherof-pearl, turquoise and even gold
The spectrum of this sample satisfactorily fits those others of vermilion and iron oxide red showed in Fig. 4b if they are overlapped, suggesting that these two minerals are mainly contributing to the colour of the sample despite they are not major components of the sample
The study carried out provides new information concerning chemical and mineralogical composition of funerary colors in Mesoamerica by the Maya culture
Summary
Since Preclassic times the Mesoamerican ruling classes were buried in distinguished tombs containing ornaments of great economic and symbolic value such as jade, amber, obsidian, malachite, serpentine, motherof-pearl, turquoise and even gold. Alongside these precious objects, pigmenting substances were deposited inside vessels, dishes or clay urns placed surrounding the shrouded corpse, which have been interpreted as body colors and aromatics for accompanying the deceased after death to the other world, or for being used by the priests and leading dignitaries during officiating funerary. A number of studies can be found in literature, which are focused on the characterization of pigmenting materials used as funerary colors or cosmetics in ancient civilizations worldwide.
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