Life after death: a physicochemical study of materials used by the ancient Maya in human bone ointments

Ancient Maya believed in life after death. They used to prepare dead bodies during burial ceremonies whose purpose was to celebrate the dead and to help them passing through the way from earthly life to the beyond one. Bodies preparation included coloured scented body ointment application, with a deep symbolic connotation and probably also a conservative purpose. The aim of this research was to characterize pigments and binders used by ancient Maya in the preparation of body ointments used to paint human bones. Emblematic painted bone samples from Xcambó (Maya archaeological site located in the municipality of Dzemul, in the Mexican state of Yucatán) were investigated through a non-destructive and micro-destructive analytical techniques. Results pointed out the presence of two mainly red pigments, i.e. red ochre and cinnabar, as already observed in other Maya painted bones. The new insight of the research is the identification of the organic compounds used as binding media in the ointments: a mixture of vegetable drying oil (probably Chia seed oil) mixed with an aromatic compound (bitumen). This knowledge, together with that obtained in the last decades, is important to reconstruct the cultural habitat and social customs of this pre-Hispanic civilization and transfer them to today’s context.