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Science 6 August 1982:
Vol. 217. no. 4559, pp. 533 - 535
DOI: 10.1126/science.217.4559.533
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Articles

Ancient Maya Mercury

DAVID M. PENDERGAST 1

1 Department of New World Archaeology, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2C6

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.

Submitted on January 26, 1982
Revised on May 10, 1982

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)