Study determines why Mayan temples dazzle

BRISBANE, Australia, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- Australian researchers have determined ancient Mayan temple builders used special pigments to make their buildings "dazzle" in sunlight.

Queensland University researcher Rosemary Goodall and colleagues made the discovery while studying tiny shards of paint from the Mayan city of Copan in Honduras. She found evidence of mica that would have made the buildings glitter when in sunlight.

Goodall said the mica was applied over the red paint of stucco masks on the corners of Copan's well-preserved Rosalila temple, found buried under another pyramid.

Goodall used infrared spectral imaging to examine tiny paint samples and found two new pigments at the famous Mayan archaeological and tourist site.

"I discovered a green pigment and a mica pigment that would have had a lustrous effect," she said. "I'm sure that when the sun hit it, it must have sparkled. It must have had the most amazing appearance."

Goodall said the infrared technique and Raman spectroscopy determined the "signature" of each mineral in paint samples only millimeters in size.

She found the Rosalila temple -- apparently built by the Maya ruler to exhibit his power and impress his subjects -- has more than 15 layers of paint and stucco.