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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)
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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 

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