Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Mercury!

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Mercury!


    Searching the fields of NW Indiana and SW Michigan

  • #2
    WOW! That's a very interesting article, can't wait to see what this leads to. I'm amazed with these eerily similar ancient civilizations across the globe, they share some remarkable similarities.  Just coincidental human nature or something more? Makes you wonder! Thanks for sharing the link
    Josh (Ky/Tn collector)

    Comment


    • #3
      I just recently read about this excavation in natgeo I think :dunno:  I was amazed at the finds so far.
      I can't wait to see what other history will be found there

      Comment


      • #4
        Interesting. There are possible parallels to the use of mercury in the (as yet unopened) tomb of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang… for whom the “Terracotta Army” was produced as a guardian. Robotic cameras have indicated an elaborate system of canals and pools that were probably filled with liquid mercury and would have produced a spectacular shimmering display viewed by torchlight.
        Prendergast first reported the presence of liquid mercury in significant quantity at a Mayan site in Belize in “Ancient maya mercury” - Science. 1982 Aug 6;217(4559):533-5. The publication is no longer available as a free download, but the abstract reads:
        “Discovery of mercury in an ancient Maya offering at Lamanai, Belize, has stimulated examination of possible sources of the material in the Maya area. Two zones of cinnabar and native mercury deposits can be defined in the Maya highlands, and the presence of the native metal suggests that the ancient Maya collected rather than extracted the mercury from ore.”
        There is also a Wiki page for the site which says this:
        "At the large temple [the Jaguar Temple] there was a single ball court, where an offering had been placed under its giant central marker. A lidded bowl contained 100g of crystalline hematite, 19 g of cinnabar in a miniature vessel, and other objects such as jade, shell, and pearl, all atop of a pool of mercury. Previously mercury had been found at Copan, Quirigua, and at Kaminaljuyo and lake Amtitlan, but not in such large quantity. This large amount of mercury found at the site of Lamanai had been probably collected for ritual use."
        Source:

        I keep six honest serving-men (they taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

        Comment

        Working...
        X