A new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science has identified the 'Indigo and Cinnabar' Seaway, a sophisticated maritime trade route that connected Phoenician merchants in the Levant to the Canary Islands as early as 1000 BCE. Chemical analysis of organic residues in amphorae found at submerged sites reveals that high-purity indigo dyes and mercury-based cinnabar were exchanged for local volcanic resins and orchil lichens.
This discovery pushes back the timeline of trans-Atlantic coastal navigation by several centuries and suggests that ancient mariners possessed a deep understanding of the Canary Current. The research team used a combination of deep-sea sonar and isotopic fingerprinting to trace the minerals back to their original mines in the Almadén region of Iberia, illustrating a complex, multi-continental luxury commodity network.