Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vpsfw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T12:53:49.706Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

USING MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE TO IDENTIFY PREHISPANIC MAYA BURNT-LIME KILNS IN THE NORTHERN YUCATÁN PENINSULA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 September 2017

Kenneth E. Seligson ,
Tomás Gallareta Negrón ,
Rossana May Ciau  and
George J. Bey III
Kenneth E. Seligson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Southern California, 3620 South Vermont Avenue, Ste. 352, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA (seligson@usc.edu)
Tomás Gallareta Negrón
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico (tomasgallareta@gmail.com)
Rossana May Ciau
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecologia Humana del Centro de Investigaciones Avanzadas (DEH-Cinvestav), Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico (rossana101@hotmail.com)
George J. Bey III
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Millsaps College, 1701 North State St., Jackson, MS 39210, USA (beygj@millsaps.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study discusses the investigation of a series of pit-kilns in and around the prehispanic site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the northern Maya lowlands and presents the multiple lines of evidence that identify these structures as lime production features. The study reports the results of systematic excavations, archaeometric analyses, archaeological experiments, ethnographic inquiries, and spatial analyses. Burnt lime has been used for architectural, dietary, hygienic, and other purposes by the Maya for at least three millennia and yet its importance in prehispanic Maya society is belied by the lack of lime production features identified in the archaeological record. The identification of these structures as lime production features has implications for understanding subregional differences in socioeconomic organization and resource management practices among the prehispanic Maya. This report provides a model for using multiple methods and analyses to investigate and identify lime production kilns that can be applied to societies and landscapes throughout the Maya area and the broader premodern world.

En este trabajo se presenta la investigación llevada a cabo en una serie de hornos de tierra en y alrededor del sitio prehispánico de Kiuic en la región Puuc de las tierras bajas Mayas del norte. Se presentan múltiples líneas de evidencia que permiten identificar estas estructuras como hornos para la producción de cal. Se reportan los resultados de excavaciones sistemáticas, análisis arqueométricos, experimentos arqueológicos, investigaciones etnográficas y análisis espaciales. La cal fue y sigue siendo utilizada por los Mayas para fines arquitectónicos, dietéticos e higiénicos, entre otros, durante al menos tres milenios. Sin embargo, su importancia en la sociedad Maya prehispánica contrasta con la falta de rasgos para producción de cal identificados en el registro arqueológico. La identificación de estas estructuras como hornos para la producción de cal tiene implicaciones para comprender las diferencias subregionales en la organización socioeconómica y las prácticas de manejo de recursos entre los Mayas prehispánicos. Este trabajo proporciona un modelo para el uso de múltiples métodos y análisis para investigar e identificar los hornos de producción de cal que se puede aplicar a las sociedades y paisajes a lo largo de la zona Maya y del mundo pre-moderno.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , December 2017 , pp. 558 - 576
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by the Society for American Archaeology 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Abrams, Elliot M. 1996 The Evolution of Plaster Production and the Growth of the Copan Maya State. In Arqueologia Mesoamericana: Homenaje a William T. Sanders, Vol. 2, edited by Sanders, William T. and Mastache, Alba Guadalupe, pp. 193–208. INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Abrams, Elliot M., and Freter, AnnCorine 1996 A Late Classic Lime-Plaster Kiln from the Maya Center of Copán, Honduras. Antiquity 7:422–428.Google Scholar
Abrams, Elliot M., and Rue, David J. 1988 The Causes and Consequences of Deforestation among the Prehistoric Maya. Human Ecology 16 (4):377–395.Google Scholar
Arnold, Dean 2008 Social Change and the Evolution of Ceramic Production and Distribution in a Maya Community. University of Colorado Press, Boulder.Google Scholar
Barrera Rubio, Alfredo 1987 Tierra y productividad agrícola en la región Puuc. Anales de Antropología 24:127–142.Google Scholar
Barrera Rubio, Alfredo 2013 Vestigios de hornos prehispańicos en el nororiente de Yucatań. Paper presented at IX Congreso Internacional de Mayistas, Campeche.Google Scholar
Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo (editor) 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex: Maya-Español, Español-Maya. Ediciones Cordemex, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.Google Scholar
Castanzo, Ronald A. 2004 Tepeaca Kiln Project. Electronic Document, http://www.famsi.org/reports/02021/, accessed September 15, 2013.Google Scholar
Castanzo, Ronald A., and Anderson, J. Heath 2004 Formative Period Lime Kilns in Puebla, Mexico. Mexicon 26 (4):86–90.Google Scholar
Dunning, Nicholas P. 1991 Appendix 1: Soils and Settlement in the Sayíl Valley: A Preliminary Assessment. In The Ancient Maya City of Sayíl: The Mapping of a Puuc Region Center, edited by Sabloff, Jeremy and Tourtellot, Gair, pp. 20–27. Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.Google Scholar
Ettlinger, Nancy 1983 The Excavations at Southern Kokeal. In Pulltrouser Swamp: Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize, edited by Harrison, Peter D. and Turner, B. L., pp. 158–193. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Fauvet-Berthelot, Marie-France 1980 Rabinal et la Vallée Moyenne du Rio Chixoy, Baja Verapaz—Guatemala. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Institut d'Ethnologie, Paris.Google Scholar
Freidel, David A., and Sabloff, Jeremy A. 1984 Cozumel: Late Classic Settlement Patterns. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida.Google Scholar
Gallareta Negrón, Tomás, Bey, George J. III, and Ringle, William 2014 Investigaciones arqueológicas en las ruinas de Kiuic y la zona Labná-Kiuic, Distrito de Bolonchén, Yucatán, México. 2013 Field Season Technical Report submitted to the Council of Archaeology of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico. Copies available from INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Garza Tarazona de Gonzalez, Silvia, and Kurjack, Edward B. 1980 Atlas arqueológico del estado de Yucatán. 2 vols. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Centro Regional del Sureste, Mexico, DF.Google Scholar
Grove, David C., and Guillén, Ann Cyphers 1987 The Excavations. In Ancient Chalcatzingo, edited by Grove, David C., pp. 21–55. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Gunn, Christopher M. 2015 Exchange Mechanism, Consumption, and Household Provisioning Strategies: Maya Economy and Political Economy in the Kiuic Polity, Yucatán, México . PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Hammond, Norman, and Gerhardt, Juliette C. 1990 Early Maya Architectural Innovation at Cuello, Belize. World Archaeology 21 (3):461–481.Google Scholar
Hansen, Richard, Bozarth, Steven, Jacob, John, Wahl, David, and Schreiner, Thomas 2002 Climatic and Environmental Variability in the Rise of Maya Civilization: A Preliminary Perspective from the Northern Peten. Mesoamerica 13 (2):273–295.Google Scholar
Hanson, Craig 2008 The Late Mesoamerican Village. PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.Google Scholar
Johnston, Kevin, Inomata, Takeshi, and Palka, Joel 1989 Excavaciones de operación 1. In El Proyecto Archaeological Regional Petexbatun: Informe No. 1, edited by Demarest, Arthur and Houston, Stephen D., pp. 29–52. Technical Report submitted to the Institute of Anthropology and History, Guatemala. Copies available.Google Scholar
Kohut, Betsy 2015 Summary of the BRAP Ceramics 2014. In Investigaciones arqueológicas en las ruinas de Kiuic y la zona Labná-Kiuic, Distrito de Bolonchén, Yucatán, México. 2014 Field Season Technical Report submitted to the Council of Archaeology of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico. Copies available from INAH, Mexico City.Google Scholar
Létolle, René, Gégout, Philippe, Rafai, Nourredine, and Revertegat, Eliane 1992 Stable Isotopes of Carbon and Oxygen for the Study of Carbonation/Decarbonation Processes in Concretes. Cement and Concrete Research 22:235–240.Google Scholar
Levy Tacher, Samuel, and Xolocotzi, Efraín Hernández 1995 Aprovechamiento forestal tradicional de los Hubches en Yucatán. In La milpa en Yucatán: Un sistema de producción agrícola tradicional, Vol. 1, edited by Xolocotzi, Efraín Hernández, Baltazar, Eduardo Bello, and Tacher, Samuel Levy, pp. 247–270. Colegio de Postgraduados, Mexico City.Google Scholar
MacKinnon, J. Jefferson, and May, Emily M. 1990 Small-Scale Maya Lime Making in Belize: Ancient and Modern. Ancient Mesoamerica 1 (2):197–203.Google Scholar
Martín Arana, Raul 1987 Classic and Postclassic Chalcatzingo. In Ancient Chalcatzingo, edited by Grove, David C., pp. 387–399. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Morris, Earl H., Charlot, Jean, and Morris, Ann Axtell 1931 The Temple of the Warriors. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Murakami, Tatsuya, Hodgins, Gregory, and Simon, Arelyn W. 2013 Characterization of Lime Carbonates in Plasters from Teotihuacan, Mexico: Preliminary Results of Cathodoluminescence and Carbon Isotope Analyses. Journal of Archaeological Science 40:960–970.Google Scholar
Ortíz Ruíz, Soledad 2014 Caracterización de las estructuras anulares de la región del Occidente de las Tierras Bajas Mayas. Unpublished Master's thesis, El Colegio de Michoacan A.C., Centro de Estudios Arqueológicos, Michoacan, Mexico.Google Scholar
Peraza López, Maria Elena 1993 Tallado en piedra. In Cuadernos de cultura Yucateca No. 2, edited by Vargas, Armando Arceo, pp. 19–33. Cultura Servicios y Gobierno del Estado de Yucatán, Conaculta, INAH, Mexico.Google Scholar
Redfield, Robert, and Rojas, Alfonso Villa 1934 Chan Kom: A Maya Village. Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication No. 448. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Russell, Bradley, and Dahlin, Bruce 2007 Traditional Burnt-Lime Production at Mayapán, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 32 (4):407–423.Google Scholar
Sabloff, Jeremy A., and Tourtellot, Gair 1991 The Ancient Maya City of Sayíl: The Mapping of a Puuc Region Center. Middle American Research Institute Publication 60. Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.Google Scholar
Salazar, Carmen, Zizumbo-Villareal, Daniel, Brush, Stephen, and Colunga-GarcíaMarín, Patricia 2012 Earth Ovens (Piib) in the Maya Lowlands: Ethnobotanical Data Supporting Early Use. Economic Botany 66 (3):285–297.Google Scholar
Schreiner, Thomas Paul 2001 Fabricación de cal en Mesoamérica: Implicaciones para los Mayas del Preclásico en Nakbe, Petén. In XIV Simposio de investigaciones arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2000, edited by Laporte, Juan P., de Suasnávar, Ana Claudia Monzón, and Arroyo, Barbara, pp. 356–368. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala.Google Scholar
Schreiner, Thomas Paul 2002 Traditional Maya Lime Production: Environmental and Cultural Implications of a Native American Technology. PhD dissertation, Department of Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Seligson, Kenneth E. 2016 The Prehispanic Maya Burnt Lime Industry: Socio-Economy and Environmental Resource Management in the Late and Terminal Classic Period Northern Maya Lowlands (650–950 CE). PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin–Madison.Google Scholar
Seligson, Kenneth E., Negrón, Tomás Gallareta, Ciau, Rossana May, and Bey, George J. III 2017a Lime Powder Production in the Puuc Maya Region (600–950 CE): An Experimental Pit-Kiln. Journal of Field Archaeology 42 (2):129–141.Google Scholar
Seligson, Kenneth E., Negrón, Tomás Gallareta, Ciau, Rossana May, and Bey, George J. III 2017b In Search of Kilns: The Forms and Functions of Annular Structures in the Bolonchén District. In Recent Investigations in the Puuc Region of Yucatán, edited by Rubenstein, Meghan, pp. 25–38. Archaeopress, Oxford.Google Scholar
Simms, Stephanie R., Parker, Evan, Bey, George J. III, and Negrón, Tomás Gallareta 2012 Evidence from Escalera al Cielo: Abandonment of a Terminal Classic Puuc Maya Hill Complex in Yucatán, Mexico. Journal of Field Archaeology 37 (4):270–288.Google Scholar
Sisson, Edward B. 1973 Annual Report of the Cocaxtlan Project, Tehuacan Reports No. 3. Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Archaeology, Andover, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Smyth, Michael P. 1990 Maize Storage Among the Maya: The Development of an Archaeological Method. Ancient Mesoamerica 1:51–69.Google Scholar
Viel, Rene 1983 Evolución de la ceramica en Copán: Resultados preliminarios. In Introducción a la arqueología de Copán, Honduras, Vol. 1, edited by Baudez, Claude-Francois, pp. 471–550. Secretaria de Estado en Despacho de Turismo y Cultura, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.Google Scholar
Villaseñor, Isabel 2010 Building Materials of the Ancient Maya: A Study of Archaeological Plasters. Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken, Germany.Google Scholar
Wernecke, David C. 2005 A Stone Canvas: Interpreting Maya Building Materials and Construction . PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin.Google Scholar
Wernecke, David C. 2008 A Burning Question: Maya Lime Technology and the Maya Forest. Journal of Ethnobiology 28 (2):200–210.Google Scholar
Whittington, Stephen L. 1991 The Ostumán Archaeological Project: Final Report to the National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia.Google Scholar