Toxic vermilion pigment found in 1,900-year-old Scythian burial in Ukraine

Archaeologists at Ukraine’s Chervony Mayak burial ground identified cinnabar, a toxic mercury sulfide pigment, in a 1,900-year-old double Scythian burial of two women. The vivid red lumps may have been used as a pigment, cosmetic, or possibly to slow decay, but the exact purpose remains uncertain; cinnabar has been found in only a few graves at the site, and researchers published their findings in Antiquity (2025).