Cinnabar has been used for its color since antiquity in theNear East, including as arouge-typecosmetic, in theNew World since theOlmec culture, and inChina since as early as theYangshao culture, where it was used in coloringstoneware. In Roman times, cinnabar was highly valued as paint for walls, especially interiors, since it darkened when used outdoors due to exposure to sunlight.
The name comes fromGreekκιννάβαρι[7] (kinnabari),[8][9] a Greek word most likely applied byTheophrastus to several distinct substances.[7] In Latin, it was sometimes known asminium, meaning also "red cinnamon",[10] though both of these terms now refer specifically tolead tetroxide.[11]
Cinnabar is generally found in a massive, granular, or earthy form and is bright scarlet to brick-red in color, though it occasionally occurs in crystals with a nonmetallicadamantine luster.[12][13] It resemblesquartz in its symmetry. It exhibitsbirefringence, and it has the second-highestrefractive index of anymineral.[14] Its mean refractive index is 3.08 (sodium light wavelengths),[15] versus the indices fordiamond and the non-mineralgallium(III) arsenide (GaAs), which are 2.42 and 3.93, respectively. The hardness of cinnabar is 2.0–2.5 on theMohs scale, and itsspecific gravity 8.1.[6]
Crystal structure of cinnabar: yellow = sulfur, grey = mercury, green = cell
Structurally, cinnabar belongs to thetrigonal crystal system.[6] It occurs as thick tabular or slender prismatic crystals or as granular to massive incrustations.[4]Crystal twinning occurs as simple contact twins.[5]
Mercury(II) sulfide, HgS, adopts the cinnabar structure described, and one additional structure, i.e. it isdimorphous.[16] Cinnabar is the more stable form, and is a structure akin to that ofHgO: each Hg center has two short Hg−S bonds (each 2.36Å), and four longerHg···S contacts (with 3.10, 3.10, 3.30 and 3.30 Å separations). In addition, HgS is found in a black, non-cinnabar polymorph (metacinnabar) that has thezincblende structure.[5]
Specimen composed of pure cinnabar, with the surface covered in crystals. Being an old specimen, they are partially darkened due to exposure to light.Almadén Mine, (Ciudad Real), Spain. Largest dimension, 6 cm.
Apparatus for the distillation of cinnabar,Alchimia, 1570
As the most common source of mercury in nature,[26][27] cinnabar has been mined for thousands of years, even as far back as theNeolithic Age.[28] During theRoman Empire it was mined both as a pigment,[29][30] and for its mercury content.[30]: XLI
To produce liquid mercury (quicksilver), crushed cinnabar ore isroasted inrotary furnaces. Pure mercury separates from sulfur in this process and easily evaporates. Acondensing column is used to collect the liquid metal, which is most often shipped in iron flasks.[31]
Associated modern precautions for use and handling of cinnabar arise from thetoxicity of the mercury component, which was recognized as early as in ancient Rome.[32] Because of itsmercury content, cinnabar can be toxic to human beings. Overexposure to mercury,mercury poisoning (mercurialism), was seen as an occupational disease to the ancient Romans. Though people in ancient South America often used cinnabar for art, or processed it into refined mercury (as a means to gild silver and gold to objects), the toxic properties of mercury were well known. It was dangerous to those who mined and processed cinnabar; it caused shaking, loss of sense, and death. Data suggests that mercury wasretorted from cinnabar and the workers were exposed to the toxic mercury fumes.[33] "Mining in the Spanish cinnabar mines ofAlmadén, 225 km (140 mi) southwest of Madrid, was regarded as being akin to a death sentence due to the shortened life expectancy of the miners, who were slaves or convicts."[34]
Chinese carved cinnabar lacquerware, lateQing dynasty. Adilnor Collection, Sweden
The most popularly known use of cinnabar is in Chinesecarved lacquerware, a technique that apparently originated in theSong dynasty.[35] The danger of mercury poisoning may be reduced in ancient lacquerware byentraining the powdered pigment inlacquer,[36][page needed] but could still pose anenvironmental hazard if the pieces were accidentally destroyed. In the modern jewellery industry, the toxic pigment is replaced by a resin-basedpolymer that approximates the appearance of pigmented lacquer.[citation needed]
In the dolmenic burial known asLa Velilla in Osorno (Palencia) Spain, from 5000 years ago, the bones are carefully covered by a large amount of pulverized cinnabar.[37]
Cinnabar's use as a color in the New World, since theOlmec culture,[38] is exemplified by its use in royalburial chambers during the peak ofMaya civilization, most dramatically in the 7th-centurytomb of the Red Queen inPalenque, where the remains of a noble woman and objects belonging to her in her sarcophagus were completely covered with bright red powder made from cinnabar.[39] Two female mummies dated AD 1399 to 1475 found in Cerro Esmeralda in Chile in 1976 had clothes colored with cinnabar.[40]
Carved cinnabar. Almadén, Spain. Longinos Navás Collection, currently in the Museum of Natural Sciences of the University of Zaragoza
In the Almadén mines in Spain, cinnabar occasionally appeared as completely pure, very dense microcrystalline masses that were used in powdered form to color sealing wax, without any need for purification. They were also easy to carve, provided one overlooked the toxicity of mercury. This material was known ascinabrio de labra (“carving cinnabar”), and from the 18th century until the 1930s some artisans in Almadén crafted objects from it to present as gifts to distinguished visitors.[41]
Hepatic cinnabar, or paragite, is an impure brownish variety[42] from the mines ofIdrija in theCarniola region ofSlovenia, in which the cinnabar is mixed withbituminous and earthy matter.[43]
^Myers, R. J. (1986). "The new low value for the second dissociation constant of H2S. Its history, its best value, and its impact on teaching sulfide equilibria".Journal of Chemical Education.63: 689.
^Calvo, Miguel (2003).Minerales y Minas de España. Vol. II. Sulfuros y sulfosales. Vitoria, Spain: Museo de Ciencias Naturales de Alava. pp. 355–359.ISBN84-7821-543-3.
^Martín Gil, J.; Martín Gil, F. J.; Delibes de Castro, G.; Zapatero Magdaleno, P.; Sarabia Herrero, F. J. (1995). "The first known use of vermillion".Experientia.51 (8):759–761.doi:10.1007/BF01922425.ISSN0014-4754.PMID7649232.S2CID21900879.
^Dietrich, R. V. (2005)."Cinnabar".Gemrocks: Ornamental & Curio Stones. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan.
^Martín-Gil, J., Martín-Gil F.J., Delibes. G., Zapatero, P. and Sarabia, F.J. (1995). "The first known use of vermillion".Experientia.51:759–761.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Healy, Paul F.; Blainey, Marc G. (2011). "Ancient Maya mosaic mirrors: Function, symbolism, and meaning".Ancient Mesoamerica.22 (2): 230.doi:10.1017/S0956536111000241.S2CID162282151.
Stewart, Susan (2014). "'Gleaming and deadly white': Toxic cosmetics in the Roman world". In Wexler, Philip (ed.).History of Toxicology and Environmental Health: Toxicology in Antiquity. Vol. II. New York, NY: Academic Press. p. 84.ISBN978-0-12-801634-3.
Barone, G.; Di Bella, M.; Mastelloni, M. A.; Mazzoleni, P.; Quartieri, S.; Raneri, S.; Sabatino, G.; Vailati, C. (2016).Pottery Production of the Pittore di Lipari: Chemical and Mineralogical Analysis of the Pigments. Minerals, Fluids and Rocks: Alphabet and Words of Planet Earth. Rimini: 2nd European Mineralogical Conference (EMC2016) 11–15 Sep 2016. p. 716.
