The pre-Columbian Mayan city Chichen Itza was the location of another strange historical discovery. Maya Blue, an azure pigment that was produced in approximately AD 800, is highly resistant to corrosion. Molecular analysis shows that it contains clay combined chemically with nanopores and indigo dye in such a way as to create a highly stable pigment.
The mechanism which makes Maya Blue work has been used by scientists to investigate new kinds of weatherproof and stable pigments. For instance, there has been research at the University of Turin into the possibility that the same method can be used for generating environmentally resistant paints in different colours, while the French National Centre for Scientific Research has explored a range of nanoporous materials in which organic dyes can be suspended.
Maya Blue is, therefore, a case where the inventiveness of the ancients has inspired new directions in our present-day understanding of nanotechnology. It may be inaccurate to suggest that the creators of these extraordinary artefacts fully understood the nanocomposites they were working with, but they are nonetheless continuing to give us food for thought today.