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Researchers' diving into dark submerged caves under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, found the remains of an ancient mining operation. Prehistory still holds many mysteries for researchers. The mine is one of those discoveries that opens doors and windows to that remote past. It is extraordinary quite these CINDAQ explorers found within these flooded passages. Evidence of mining ten thousand years ago. Roberto Junico is a Deputy Director at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History. He applauds researchers from CINDAQ who discovered an ochre mining operation, that started 12,000 years ago. CINDAQ is the Spanish acronym of the Research Center for the aquifer system of Quintana Roo, the Mexican state that is home to Cancun.
It already allows us to begin to understand some of the dynamics of those early societies. What were they doing with this ochre. Ochre is a naturally-occurring, mustard-colored pigment made of sand or clay mixed with an iron oxide. Its color and properties made it popular at the time. They used it to paint themselves as some African tribes do today. They used it for medicine because ochre fights bacteria. They used it for symbolism. I love to think that this ochre was the beginning of the first artistic manifestations. Researchers found tools like hammerstones and piledrivers made of stalagmites. They explored seven kilometers and more than 100 dives to find this abandoned mine, likely submerged 8,000 years ago amid rising sea levels following the last ice age. Arash Arabasadi VOA news Washington
