Americas

New research on the ancient Maya city of Ucanal in northern Guatemala reveals that its engineers maintained biologically clean drinking water for nearly 1,500 years, an extraordinary achievement in a region with no permanent rivers or lakes, by designing sophisticated reservoir systems that filtered sediment and prevented algae growth. Despite this remarkable success, every single reservoir at Ucanal was found to contain mercury at levels far exceeding modern toxic thresholds. The source was not industrial contamination but the Maya's own widespread ritual use of cinnabar, a sacred red pigment made from mercury sulfide, which silently leached into the water supply through rain and runoff. Study Shows Riverland Region Aborigines Were Thriving 29000 Years Ago Could Resurrecting Mammoths Really Reverse Climate