Secret of ancient Maya blue-pigment revealed from cracks and clues on a dozen bowls from Chichén Itzá

Close-up of a wall mural with dark-skinned people facing right, dressed in fancy outfits; the background is a stunning turquoise color called Maya blue.

A Sherlock Holmes-style investigation has revealed the ancient method for the stunning pigment known as Maya blue — and it's different from a previous method uncovered nearly 20 years ago by the same researcher.

Maya blue, discovered by modern researchers in 1931, is not an easy pigment to make. Echoing the color of an azure sky, the indelible pigment was used to accentuate everything from ceramics to human sacrifices beginning in the Late Preclassic period (300 B.C. to A.D. 300).