The Historical Use of the Mercury Mineral, Cinnabar

The Historical Use of the Mercury Mineral, Cinnabar Cinnabar, or mercury sulphide (HgS), ​is a highly toxic, naturally occurring form of the mercury mineral, which was used in the ancient past for producing a bright orange (vermillion) pigment on ceramics, murals, tattoos, and in religious ceremonies. Cinnabars Earliest Use The primary prehistoric use of the mineral was grinding it to create vermillion, and its earliest known use for this purpose is at the Neolithic site of Çatalhà ¶yà ¼k in Turkey (7000-8000 BC), where wall paintings included cinnabars vermillion. Recent investigations in the Iberian peninsula at the Casa Montero flint mine, and burials at La Pijotilla and Montelirio suggest the use of cinnabar as a pigment beginning approximately 5300 BC. Lead isotope analysis identified the provenance of these cinnabar pigments as coming from the Almaden district deposits. In China, the earliest known use of cinnabar is the Yangshao culture (~4000-3500 BC). At several sites, cinnabar covered the walls and floors in buildings used for ritual ceremonies. Cinnabar was among a range of minerals used to paint Yangshao ceramics, and, at Taosi village, cinnabar was sprinkled into elite burials. Vinca Culture (Serbia) The Neolithic Vinca culture (4800-3500 BC), located in the Balkans and including the Serbian sites of Plocnik, Belo Brdo, and Bubanj, among others, were early users of cinnabar, likely mined from the Suplja Stena mine on Mount Avala, 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) from Vinca. Cinnabar occurs in this mine in quartz veins; Neolithic quarrying activities are attested here by the presence of stone tools and ceramic vessels near ancient mine shafts. Micro-XRF studies reported in 2012 (Gajic-KvaÃ… ¡cev et al.) revealed that paint on ceramic vessels and figurines from the Plocnik site contained a mixture of minerals, including high purity cinnabar. A red powder filling a ceramic vessel discovered at Plocnik in 1927 was also found to include a high percentage of cinnabar, likely but not definitively mined from Suplja Stena. Huacavelica (Peru) Huancavelica is the name of the largest mercury source in the Americas, located on the eastern slope of the Cordillera Occidental mountains of central Peru. Mercury deposits here are the result of Cenozoic magma intrusions into sedimentary rock. Vermillion was used to paint ceramics, figurines, and murals and to decorate elite status burials in Peru in a range of cultures including Chavà ­n culture (400-200 BC), Moche, Sican, and the Inca empire. At least two segments of the Inca Road lead to Huacavelica. Scholars (Cooke et al.) report that mercury accumulations in nearby lake sediments began rising about 1400 BC, probably the result of the dust from cinnabar mining. The main historic and prehistoric mine at Huancavelica is the Santa Barbra mine, nicknamed the mina de la muerte (mine of death), and it was both the single largest supplier of mercury to the colonial silver mines  and the major source of pollution in the Andes even today. Known to have been exploited by the Andean empires, large-scale mercury mining began here during the colonial period after the introduction of mercury amalgamation associated with the extraction of silver from low-grade ores. Amalgamation of poor quality silver ores using cinnabar was begun in Mexico by Bartolomà © de Medina in 1554. This process involved smelting the ore in grass-fired, clay-lined retorts until vaporization yielded gaseous mercury. Some of the gas was trapped in a crude condenser, and cooled, yielding liquid mercury. Polluting emissions from this process included both the dust from the original mining  and the gasses released into the atmosphere during smelting. Theophrastus and Cinnabar Classical Greek and Roman mentions of cinnabar include that of Theophrastus of Eresus (371-286 BC), a student of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Theophrastus wrote the earliest surviving scientific book on minerals, De Lapidibus, in which he described an extraction method to get quicksilver from cinnabar. Later references to the quicksilver process appear in Vitruvius (1st century BC) and Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). Roman Cinnabar Cinnabar was the most expensive pigment used by the Romans for extensive wall paintings on public and private buildings (~100 BC-300 AD). A recent study on cinnabar samples taken from several villas in Italy and Spain were identified using lead isotope concentrations, and compared with source material in Slovenia (the Idria mine), Tuscany (Monte Amiata, Grosseto), Spain (Almaden) and as a control, from China. In some cases, such as at  Pompeii, the cinnabar seems to have come from a specific local source, but in others, the cinnabar used in the murals was blended from several different regions. Poisonous Medications One use of cinnabar not attested in archaeological evidence to date, but which may have been the case prehistorically is as traditional medication or ritual ingestion. Cinnabar has been used for at least 2,000 years as part of Chinese and Indian  Ayurvedic  medicines. Although it may have some beneficial effect on some illnesses, human ingestion of mercury is now known to produce toxic damage to kidney, brain, liver, the reproductive systems, and other organs. Cinnabar is still used in at least 46 traditional Chinese patent medicines today, making up between 11-13% of Zhu-Sha-An-Shen-Wan, a popular over-the-counter traditional medicine for insomnia, anxiety, and depression. That is about 110,000 times higher than allowable cinnabar dose levels according to the European Drug and Food Standards: in a study on rats, Shi et al. found that ingestion of this level of cinnabar does create physical damage. Sources Consuegra S, Dà ­az-del-Rà ­o P, Hunt Ortiz MA, Hurtado V, and Montero Ruiz I. 2011.  Neolithic and ChalcolithicVI to III millennia BC  In: Ortiz JE, Puche O, Rabano I, and Mazadiego LF, editors.  History of Research in Mineral Resources.  Madrid: Instituto Geolà ³gico y Minero de Espaà ±a. p 3-13.use of cinnabar (HgS) in the Iberian Peninsula: analytical identification and lead isotope data for an early mineral exploitation of the Almadà ©n (Ciudad Real, Spain) mining district. Contreras DA. 2011.  How far to Conchucos? A GIS approach to assessing the implications of exotic materials at Chavà ­n de Huntar.  World Archaeology  43(3):380-397. Cooke CA, Balcom PH, Biester H, and Wolfe AP. 2009.  Over three millennia of mercury pollution in the Peruvian Andes.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  106(22):8830-8834. Gajic-KvaÃ… ¡cev M, Stojanovic MM, Ã…  mit , Kantarelou V, Karydas AG, Ã…  ljivar D, Milovanovic D, and Andric V. 2012.  New evidence for the use of cinnabar as a   Journal of Archaeological Science  39(4):1025-1033.colouring pigment in the Vinca culture. Mazzocchin GA, Baraldi P, and Barbante C. 2008.  Isotopic analysis of lead present in the cinnabar of Roman wall paintings from the Xth   Talanta  74(4):690-693.Regio (Venetia et Histria) by ICP-MS. Shi J-Z, Kang F, Wu Q, Lu Y-F, Liu J, and Kang YJ. 2011.  Nephrotoxicity of mercuric chloride, methylmercury and cinnabar-containing Zhu-Sha-An-Shen-Wan in rats.  Toxicology Letters  200(3):194-200. Svensson M, Dà ¼ker A, and Allard B. 2006.  Formation of cinnabar- estimation of   Journal of Hazardous Materials  136(3):830-836.favourable conditions in a proposed Swedish repository. Takacs L. 2000.  Quicksilver from cinnabar: The first documented mechanochemical reaction?  JOM Journal of the Minerals, Metals   52(1):12-13.and Materials Society

LinkedIn Buzzwords from 2010

LinkedIn Buzzwords from 2010 As a companion piece to my Top 10 Grammar and Spelling Errors from 2010 Id like to share with you LinkedIns list of overused buzzwords in year 2010 LinkedIn profiles.   Is it even possible to avoid using these popular words?   What a challenge for a LinkedIn profile writer! Sometimes words are overused because they work.   Its an ongoing challenge to stay ahead of the curve, and to stay grounded enough in accomplishments and concrete facts that even if these buzzwords appear, they do not come across as trite or cliche. The most overused words varied by country.   Heres the list in the United States: Extensive experience Innovative Motivated Results-oriented Dynamic Proven track record Team player Fast-paced Problem solver Entrepreneurial I challenge you to spot these words in your profile and find other ways to describe yourself and your accomplishments.   And I promise if we work together on your LinkedIn profile, we will find ways to avoid using most if not all of these words.   What a great way to make your profile stand out! Did you make changes to your profile based on this tip?   How did your writing transform?   Please share in the comments section! Category:Archived ArticlesBy Brenda BernsteinJanuary 30, 2011 2 Comments Paul Novak says: February 2, 2011 at 3:23 pm Oh no. Oh no no no! No the marketer speak, anything but that! Seriously, that is ONE thing I have avoided like the plague. If I see someone use synergistic one more time Im going to blow an artery. I have found that clients dont care one bit out how well your profile conveys your knowledge of marketing jargon. Once connected and communicating, they want to talk in terms that are easily understood and as casual as possible. They want a human being, not a marketing machine. If anything, Id suggest people simply lighten up and put more of themselves into their profile rather than worry about how they can jazz it up. You CAN be professional and candid at the same time. Log in to Reply The Essay Expert says: December 19, 2011 at 11:58 pm Love this comment Paul and I dont know how I missed it when you posted in February! YES you can be professional AND candid. I once wrote in a college students resume summary, Plays well with others. She got many interviews. Log in to Reply