"Maya Blue: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Ancient Pigment" by Dean Arnold

The ancient Maya civilization is known for many things: pyramids, stone sculptures, complex astronomical calculations, a writing system, a rubber-ball game and the subject of anthropologist Dean Arnold's latest book, Maya Blue (University Press of Colorado).Arnold, an adjunct curator of anthropology at Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History and professor emeritus of anthropology at Wheaton College, has published more than 60 articles about potters, pottery and pottery production.He has pursued the mystery of what he describes as a beautiful blue pigment that's proved impervious to fading "even after exposure for many hundreds of years in one of the world's harshest climates--the tropical forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala.""It is one of the world's most unusual pigments," said Arnold, who has been researching the subject since 1965. The color appears on Maya pottery, sculpture, murals, as well as having been used on human sacrifices, he said."It is ironic that although the ancient Maya used Maya Blue widely for more than seventeen centuries, modern scientists still have much to learn about it," he said. "Chemists have been trying to figure out why the pigment binds the way it does," said Arnold.Mayans combined the organic dye indigo with an inorganic clay mineral called palygorskite to create the hybrid material that stands up to attacks by acids, alkalines, and time, itself, he said.The Mayans may have created the color but its use is evident across a wide area in Mesoamerica, noted Arnold. "If you go to Mexico City to view the remains of Aztec pyramids, you can still see Maya Blue," he said. Seeking to unearth the Mayan secret of the pigment has permitted Arnold to visit Mayan sites firsthand. In addition to his research on the Mayan use of color, he's also made a career of studying contemporary people. "I like going back to the Yucatan. I really enjoy the Mayan people. I've made some wonderful friends there," he said."I love the food. It's very different from what you find from the Highland Maya area. My favorite dish is frijol con puerco, black beans with pork and spices," said Arnold.While the book Maya Blue stands as the most thorough analysis of research that's been done on the color to date, Arnold is still on the case, collaborating with associates at the Field Museum. "We want to learn how the Mayans made the pigment," he said.Add Maya Blue to the mysteries that surround the ancient Mayans. "Even after more than ninety years since the discovery of the unique characteristics of Maya Blue, unraveling the mysteries about the pigment and its constituents requires much more research," said Arnold.