Study Tracks Blue Pigments in Ancient Southwest

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO—According to a statement released by the University of New Mexico, a team of researchers led by Kari Schleher of the University of New Mexico identified geological sources of azurite used by Ancestral Pueblo communities some 1,400 years ago. Azurite is a copper mineral with a vivid blue color used as a pigment or paint. The scientists analyzed two samples of azurite obtained from sources in New Mexico and Utah known to have been mined by Ancestral Pueblo people. Then they analyzed the isotopes of lead, strontium, and copper in 12 azurite specimens recovered in the Four Corners region. Most of these samples were found to have collected in the Lisbon Valley. Two of the samples came from the Zuni Mountains in New Mexico. “We were able to show the Pueblo people would travel from modern-day New Mexico up to today’s central Utah 1,400 years ago,” Schleher said. Future research will include more samples of azurite held at the New Mexico Mining Museum, and the team also plan to consult local oral histories on mine use and traditional territories, she added. Read the original scholarly article about this research in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. To read about the use of azurite as a pigment in the Roman world, go to “Painting by Roman Numerals.”