Take a dive inside the world’s oldest ocher mine with video from Mexico scientists

The world’s oldest ocher mines were discovered flooded deep in a Mexico cave, scientists said.

More than four miles of flooded passages in three cave systems in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula were found, providing a look at human life from between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago, scientists said.

Divers from Mexico’s Quintana Roo Aquifer System Research Center (CINDAQ) and Canada’s McMaster University spent more than 600 hours exploring the mines, and their findings were significant, they said in an article in Science Advances.

The caves are preserved, and they can serve as evidence for ocher extraction pits, scientists said. Ocher is an iron oxide earth mineral pigment commonly known to be used as an inorganic paint, the research said.

“Here, we announce the discovery of the first subterranean ochre mine of Paleoindian age found in the Americas, offering compelling evidence for mining in three cave systems on the eastern Yucatán over a 2,000-year period,” the research said.

The passages are elaborate and were once dry, CINDAQ said. As sea levels rose, most caves were flooded about 8,000 years ago. The discovery of them, however, serves as “a time capsule,” scientists said.

“These underwater caves are a time capsule. With all the tools left as they were 10,000 to 12,000 years ago,” said Eduard Reinhardt, expert diver and professor at the School of Geography & Earth Sciences at McMaster University. “It represents a unique learning opportunity. It took advanced expertise to work in the caves recovering ocher, so we know it was very valuable for the earliest peoples of the Americas.”

This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 10:53 PM.