Maya blue
Azul maya
- Date
- c. 300 CE · confidence medium
- Place
- Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico
- Credited to
- Maya of the Classic period
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A hybrid organic-inorganic pigment made by embedding indigo into the channels of palygorskite clay using heat. It withstands centuries of tropical climate, acids and alkalis: an ancient nanocomposite.
The oldest examples are debated between the Late Preclassic and the Early Classic; it continued to be used in the colonial period.
What it led to
- the murals of Bonampak, Cacaxtla and Chichén Itzá
- modern research into hybrid pigments