Credit: Photo by Y. Yoshii & SAP
An analysis of the red paint preserved on the surface of a 1000-year-old gold mask excavated from a Middle Sican tomb in Peru finds human blood and bird egg proteins. The researchers used a combination of FTIR, lipid analysis, and proteomics by MS. “The presence of human blood would support previous ideas that red cinnabar paint may represent ‘life force’ intended to support ‘rebirth,’” wrote the authors.
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References
- E Pires et al., “Human Blood and Bird Egg Proteins Identified in Red Paint Covering a 1000-Year-Old Gold Mask from Peru”, J Proteome Res (2021). DOI:10.1021/acs.jproteome.1c00472