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Cinnabar, a fascinating mineral used by ancient civilizations, hides a toxic side due to its association with mercury.
Have you heard of Cinnabar? Originating in the cracks of volcanic eruptions, it is a fascinating but toxic mineral. It fills the cracks that remain in the rocks, forming attractive red veins that have fascinated those who discover it for millennia. Found in all regions where there are or were volcanoes, cinnabar has a rich and complex history.
An attractive and multifunctional mineral
Cinnabar is one of the few minerals discovered, processed and used independently by ancient people in different parts of the world.
Its ability to be easily ground into a fine powder, which mixed with different liquids becomes paint, made it highly desirable.
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Furthermore, cinnabar is the main ore of mercury, a metal that, despite being toxic, has several applications.
The historical value of Cinnabar
As a pigment, called vermilion, cinnabar produced shades ranging from bright orange red to reddish violet.
Around 10.000 years ago, early artists used it to paint images of aurochs on the walls of the ancient settlement of Çatalhöyük in present-day Turkey and on ceramics from the Yangshao culture in China (5000 to 3000 BC).
On the American continent, cinnabar was used in tombs, murals, masks and ornaments from Andean and Mesoamerican cultures.
In Spain, home to the legendary Almadén mines, where the largest amount of mercury in the world was extracted, the oldest known pigment dates back to 6000 BC
Almost all of the deep red that the Roman people with greater purchasing power used to paint their houses was imported from Almadén, and was three times the price of Egyptian blue.
In the Renaissance, artists such as Giotto, Tiziano and Van Eyck used cinnabar in their works, and Europe imported the pigment from China because it was considered more beautiful and pure.
In addition to its decorative use in art, tattoos and makeup, cinnabar has been used for medicinal purposes, metalworkers and symbolic.
As noted by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, when the mineral is crushed together with vinegar, cinnabar produces liquid silver (mercury).
The mercury escaped as vapor when heated, condensing into liquid mercury.
Pliny the Elder reports that mercury dissolved gold, a process that became one of the main methods of purifying the metal.
The Romans imported five tons of mercury a year, most of it for this purpose.
The mixture was used to make golden objects, with the mercury disappearing in the oven and revealing a layer of pure gold.
Alchemists and the fascination with minerals
Alchemists discovered that they could produce cinnabar heating mercury and sulfur.
The transformation of cinnabar into mercury and its reversal was a cyclical process, similar to resurrection, for some.
Therefore, some cultures believed that the material provided special powers.
In the Chinese Empire, vermilion elixirs were consumed to prolong life and obtain immortality. To date, around 40 traditional medicines contain cinnabar.
From the Middle East to Latin America, cinnabar was used in blessing rituals and in burials.
Hindu women applied vermilion to the parting of their hair as a sign of marriage, a ritual known as sindoor, related to Hindu astrology and the feminine energy of Shakti.
The toxic danger of Cinnabar
Experts explain that, in its natural form, cinnabar is not dangerous.
However, when heated, it releases mercury vapor, which is toxic if inhaled.
“As long as the cinnabar does not heat up, the mercury is trapped in the sulfur, making it less toxic,” said Terri Ottaway of the Gemological Institute of America.
Pablo Higueras and other experts agree that separating cinnabar components poses a health risk.
Due to the danger associated with mercury, the use of cinnabar was decreasing. Currently, those who work with it, such as archaeologists, do so with extreme caution.
Vermilion, once the most widely used red pigment in the world, was replaced by cadmium red at the beginning of the 20th century.
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