Saturday, December 4, 2021

ARCHAEOLOGY: Quest for Immortality Leads to Human Blood Paint

For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing,.... Eccl.9:5

"Thirty years ago, archeologists excavated the tomb of an elite 40–50-year-old man from the Sicán culture of Peru, a society that predated the Incas. 
The man’s seated, upside-down skeleton was painted bright red, as was the gold mask covering his detached skull. 
Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research have analyzed the paint, finding that, in addition to a red pigment, it contains human blood and bird egg proteins.
They identified six proteins from human blood in the red paint, including serum albumin and immunoglobulin G (a type of human serum antibody). 
The identification of human blood proteins supports the hypothesis that the arrangement of the skeletons was related to a desired “rebirth” of the deceased Sicán leader, with the blood-containing paint that coated the man’s skeleton and face mask potentially symbolizing his “life force,” the researchers say." SciTechDaily