Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 1 hr ago
Maya use of mercury contaminated Yucatán waters for centuries
Ancient Maya use of mercury contaminated Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote in Mexico’s Yucatán during the Classic Period, from 250 to 920 CE.
Researchers found the metal, often used as the red mineral cinnabar, spread more widely across the region than previously known.
Mercury levels exceeded current environmental safety limits for centuries, according to sediment samples analyzed by a team led by Auburn University.
In Lake Cobá, levels stayed above a threshold linked to likely biological harm for about two or three centuries; at Xcach, severe contamination lasted for centuries.
Pollution reduced or wiped out organisms at the base of the food chain, and effects also reached shell-bearing animals and insects.
The findings suggest mercury may have entered food eaten by Maya communities, but the study did not measure mercury in human remains or establish effects on people.
Researchers hope archaeologists and anthropologists will use the findings to reconsider evidence from Maya communities; later sediment layers may have buried and isolated some of the mercury.
Researchers found that ceremonial and decorative use of mercury by ancient Maya contaminated Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote during the Classic Period.
Sediment records show mercury levels exceeded environmental safety limits by several times for centuries.
The contamination coincided with declines or disappearances among bacteria, algae and cyanobacteria that support aquatic food webs.
Effects also reached shell-bearing species and insects, indicating that toxicity spread higher up the food chain.
The study did not measure mercury in human remains or establish its effects on Maya populations.
- Who
- Researchers led by Auburn University studied the contamination; the ancient Maya used mercury.
- What
- Ceremonial and decorative mercury use contaminated Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote.
- When
- During the Classic Period, between 250 and 920 CE.
- Where
- Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote in Yucatán, Mexico.
- Why
- Mercury used by the Maya, mainly as cinnabar, spread into the waters.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Mercury contamination affected Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote during the Classic Period.
Researchers analyzed sediment samples from Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote.
Infobae reported the study’s findings, published in Science Advances.
- Study lead institution
- Auburn University
- Study co-author
- Roger Manuel Medina-González, Autonomous University of Yucatán
- Period studied
- 250–920 CE
- Water bodies
- Lake Cobá and Xcach cenote
- Sediment samples analyzed
- 2023
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What people are saying
Taking SEL levels into account, biology should have been very affected, and that is precisely what we observed: bacteria, algae and cyanobacteria, which form the base of the food chain, decreased or disappeared from the system
The effects extended up the food chain
it could have isolated or buried it, protecting it from future generations