Palygorskite from Sacalum, Yucatán in Maya Blue From the Eastern Maya Lowlands: New Evidence From Buenavista Del Cayo, Belize and La-ICP-MS Analysis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Maya Blue is a unique hybrid pigment created by combining organic indigo with the inorganic clay mineral palygorskite. First used for architectonic decoration in the Terminal Preclassic, it became widespread in the Late Classic on figurines, murals, and elite ceramics. Unlike indigo, it is notable for its durability and resistance to degradation by acids, alkalines, organic solvents and fading. The authors analyzed 17 samples of Maya Blue on pottery from the Late-Terminal Classic periods, a.d. 680–860, from Buenavista del Cayo, Belize. Using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), it was determined that the palygorskite in these samples likely came from Sacalum, Yucatan, some 375 km away. The authors suggest several routes by which palygorskite might have been transported from Yucatán to Buenavista. The pigment or knowledge of how to produce it likely was conveyed through high-status exchanges rather than commercial trade. Maya Blue held significant cultural and religious importance. It symbolized water and rain and was associated with the god Chaahk. Maya Blue appeared initially at Buenavista on architecture and rare imported ceramics but its use gradually increased on locally produced Belize Valley wares. Use at Buenavista peaked in the early 9th century before disappearing around a.d. 860. The study demonstrates the potential of trace element analysis in identifying long-distance social interactions in ancient Mesoamerica.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.004 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".