Researchers, who have diving tours in dark flooded caves on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, have found evidence of an ambitious exploration process that began 12,000 years ago and lasted 2,000 years, for red lead oxide, a mineral pigment extracted from Earth that had value to peoples Prehistoric.
The scientists said yesterday that more than 100 diving operations, totaling more than 600 hours, deep in the tunnels in the state of Quintana Roo, revealed many of the effects of exploration.
Among these relics were pits from which red lead oxide was extracted, drilling tools such as stone hammers, small staircase equipment, tools to leave signs that helped prospectors navigate the dense tunnel network, and stoves used in lighting. The caves were not submerged in water at the time of the excavation, which took place when humans first lived in the area. Caves were left after that for thousands of years, before being flooded 8,000 years ago, amid rising sea levels after the last Ice Age. Researchers have previously found human skeletons in caves, but they have not determined why people are there. "Archaeological evidence has shown around the world that humans have used lead oxide for hundreds of thousands of years, even Neanderthals have used lead oxide," said Brandy MacDonald, an archaeologist at the University of Missouri and lead author of the research published in the journal Science Adventures, Brandy MacDonald. It is believed that lead oxide had uses, including coating objects and bodies, as it was used in funerary rites.
The search was for red lead oxide, a mineral pigment that was of prehistoric value.