Back to brain expansion: Mayan inventiveness (Humans)

by David Turell , Saturday, October 24, 2020, 19:04 (1489 days ago) @ David Turell

A great water filtration system found:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201022151741.htm

"Ancient Maya in the once-bustling city of Tikal built sophisticated water filters using natural materials they imported from miles away, according to new research. A multidisciplinary team of anthropologists, geographers and biologists identified quartz and zeolite, a crystalline compound consisting of silicon and aluminum, that created a natural molecular sieve. Both minerals are used in modern water filtration.

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"A multidisciplinary team of UC anthropologists, geographers and biologists identified crystalline quartz and zeolite imported miles from the city. The quartz found in the coarse sand along with zeolite, a crystalline compound consisting of silicon and aluminum, create a natural molecular sieve. Both minerals are used in modern water filtration.

"The filters would have removed harmful microbes, nitrogen-rich compounds, heavy metals such as mercury and other toxins from the water, said Kenneth Barnett Tankersley, associate professor of anthropology and lead author of the study.

"'What's interesting is this system would still be effective today and the Maya discovered it more than 2,000 years ago," Tankersley said.

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"The Maya created this water filtration system nearly 2,000 years before similar systems were used in Europe, making it one of the oldest water treatment systems of its kind in the world, Tankersley said.

"Researchers from UC's College of Arts and Sciences traced the zeolite and quartz to steep ridges around the Bajo de Azúcar about 18 miles northeast of Tikal. They used X-ray diffraction analysis to identify zeolite and crystalline quartz in the reservoir sediments.

"At Tikal, zeolite was found exclusively in the Corriental reservoir.

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"'It was probably through very clever empirical observation that the ancient Maya saw this particular material was associated with clean water and made some effort to carry it back," Dunning said."

Comment: Stone-age sapiens could think with their big brain, no matter where they were and in what climate they lived. Europe and China were not always first.