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Latin America

Judi Lynn

(163,823 posts) Mon Aug 18, 2025, 06:40 AM Monday

Researchers Make Groundbreaking Discovery About Mayan Population

By Declan Gallagher Men's Journal
Updated August 15, 2025 5:28 AM

New research led by Tulane University and published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports has uncovered surprising information about the Mayan population.

Using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology, researchers have completed one of the most comprehensive regional-scale analyses of the Maya settlement of all time. They determined that the Mayan population numbered 16 million people throughout what is now Guatemala, southern Mexico, and western Belize. The findings drastically recontextualize previous models and population estimates of the Maya settlement.

"We now have hard evidence that Maya society was highly structured across both cities and rural areas and far more advanced in resource and social organization than previously understood," said lead author Francisco Estrada-Belli, adding that "the ancient Maya never fail to amaze me."

Estrada-Belli continued: "We expected a modest increase in population estimates from our 2018 lidar analysis, but seeing a 45 percent jump was truly surprising. This new data confirms just how densely populated and socially organized the Maya Lowlands were at their peak."

More:
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/living/article311713241.html#storylink=cpy

2 replies

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Highlight:

Researchers Make Groundbreaking Discovery About Mayan Population (Original Post) Judi Lynn Monday OP

New Study Reveals Origin of Elusive Maya Blue Pigment Judi Lynn Monday #1

I just recently learned that rock structures can be sourced to where the rock was harvested wolfie001 Monday #2

Judi Lynn

(163,823 posts)

1. New Study Reveals Origin of Elusive Maya Blue Pigment

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Mon Aug 18, 2025, 06:44 AM

Monday

By Declan Gallagher Men's Journal
Updated August 16, 2025 10:06 AM

New research published in the journal Ancient Mesoamerica has revealed the origin of the elusive Maya Blue pigment.

The Maya Blue pigment was found on Late Classic-era pottery discovered within Buenavista del Cayo in Belize. Its singular blue-green color was highly sought after by the Mayan people, but up until now its origin has remained a mystery. This new information recontextualizes ancient trade routes and shows how far the community traveled to obtain objects of value.

Using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), the research team, led by the Field Museum and other institutions, analyzed 17 samples of Maya Blue on pottery dating from 680 A.D. to 860 A.D. They were able to identify unique "fingerprints," or trace-element signatures, which revealed concentrations of yttrium, lanthanum, and vanadium linking the Belize samples to an ancient mine in Sacalum, Yucatan.

The study is the result of more than a decade of research into Maya Blue's origins. The pigment, which was first discovered in the 1960s, differs from other clays because it's made up of an organic-inorganic complex which combines indigo dye from the Indigofera suffruticosa plant with palygorskite clay. This results in an especially stable pigment which is uncommonly resistant to fading and climate decomposition.

Read more at: https://www.sanluisobispo.com/living/article311730530.html#storylink=cpy

wolfie001

(5,938 posts)

2. I just recently learned that rock structures can be sourced to where the rock was harvested

Reply to Judi Lynn (Reply #1)

Mon Aug 18, 2025, 08:42 AM

Monday

Yes. This is fascinating. Everything has a story and a lineage. I guess it was the intermittent droughts that finished off the grand cities. A historical reminder of what threatens us. At the same time, tRUMP is threatening scientific institutions.
From 'Apocalypto'. Not a big Mel Gibson fan but this movie was quite fab. "Mayan blue":

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