Prehistoric Iberians poisoned by cinnabar almost 5000 years ago
Analyses of mercury levels in bones reveal ancient artists suffered for their craft
Traces of the earliest-known cases of mercury poisoning, dating back almost 5000 years, have been discovered in ancient tombs in Spain and Portugal. They’re thought to have been caused by the extensive use of cinnabar – mercury sulfide – as a bright red pigment in prehistoric times.
Analysis of human bones from more than 50 tombs across the Iberian peninsula revealed very high levels of mercury poisoning in people buried during the Copper Age, between about 2900BC and 2600BC.1 At this time, cinnabar had great cultural value for painting, to decorate figurines and stelae, and in burials to give the dead the appearance of life.