The other day I was teaching my daughter about the Mayans, and we learned that they had a shade of blue that remains vibrant despite the passage of thousands of years, and scientists never figured out how to make the pigment. I've spent the last few days being occasionally sad about this beautiful lost shade of blue.
@tippitiwichet maybe someone figured it out? https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180816-the-rare-blue-the-mayans-invented
@fuse I had to read that again, they figured out ultramarine, but they are still working on Mayan blue. "The complex method of producing the pigment is “still poorly understood,” according to Domenici" I know they've come close, a formula exists that is missing some elements (we don't know yet if it will hold up to time). This study implies they're still working on it. However, the formula they came up with might be so close that anything else would be splitting hairs.
https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-019-0345-z
@tippitiwichet thanks for sharing!
@tippitiwichet This reminds me of a lost formation of Roman concrete! But your tale of the lost blue is much more evocative. 💙