Burnt lime production and the Pre-Columbian Maya socio-economy: A case study from the northern Yucatán

Autor: Kenneth E. Seligson, Tomás Gallareta Negrón, George J. Bey, Rossana May Ciau
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 48:281-294
ISSN: 0278-4165
Popis: Burnt lime has been crucial for architectural, dietary, and other purposes in Maya society since as far back as 1100 BCE. The recent identification of a series of pit-kilns used for lime production in the Puuc region of the northern Yucatan Peninsula allows for an unprecedented investigation of the socio-economic organization of the Pre-Columbian lime industry. This article reports on the importance of burnt lime to Maya society and presents the results of spatial analyses of the pit-kilns in relation to other archaeological and environmental features. The distribution of the lime production features indicate that the Pre-Columbian lime industry was decentralized and organized at the small corporate group level. Some of these groups likely incorporated limestone extraction and processing into a broader multi-crafting subsistence strategy. Those small corporate groups that did not produce their own lime would have had to acquire it from producing groups through an intra-community exchange system. Spatial analyses also indicate that lime production locations reflect a desire to limit both pre- and post-production material transportation efforts. The study provides a model for investigating the production and distribution of a perishable craft good that can be used for examining perishable goods in ancient societies beyond Mesoamerica. The small-scale, decentralized lime production organization identified in the northern Maya lowlands can now be compared with systems of production and exchange of perishable goods in other pre-modern societies around the world.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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