Building Materials of the Ancient Maya

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Lime plasters are mixtures of burnt lime, aggregates and other materials that were widely used by the ancient Maya in public monumental buildings. This research makes use of a range of analytical techniques in order to characterise archaeological plasters of various chronological periods from Palenque, Calakmul and Lamanai, three important lowland Maya sites. The work also reviews various sources of information, including ethnographic and ethnohistorical descriptions, for the understanding of ancient Maya lime plaster production and the social and environmental implications of this technology. The results of the analytical work demonstrate that plasters from the three sites have varying characteristics that are due to different access to raw materials and building traditions at each of the sites, while some other traits appear to be related to changing economic and political conditions. In addition to the technological analyses of ancient plasters, the research also provides suggestions for future research and recommends those analytical methods that are most suitable for the examination of Maya lime plasters.