2016/11/04 by Luisa Straulino Mainou, Sergey Sedov, Ana Soler Arechalde +6 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Building materials and conservation #Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis #Archaeomagnetic dating #Archaeology #Maya #Mortar #Geology #Geography #Physics
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/geosciences6040049
openalex publication_date 2016/11/04 · openalex created_date 2016/11/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Researchers have related the manufacturing technique of plasters and stucco in the Maya area with their period of production but not with their architectural function. In this paper, we establish a relationship between those three features (manufacturing technique, age, and architectural function) in the plasters of the Maya site of Dzibanché in southern Quintana Roo. Dzibanché has abundant remains of stuccos and plasters found mainly in three buildings (Plaza Pom, Pequeña Acrópolis, and Structure 2). We used thin sections, SEM and XRD, and archaeomagnetic dating processes. The pictorial layer of Structure 2 was the earliest (AD 274–316 and the stuccoes and plasters of the other two buildings were dated to the Middle Classic (AD 422–531), but we obtained different archaeomagnetic dates for the red pigment layers found in the buildings of the Pequeña Acrópolis and thus we were able to determine their chronological order of construction. The raw materials and proportions were carefully chosen to fulfil the mechanical necessities of the architectonic function: different proportions were found in plasters of floors, in the external walls, and inside the buildings; differences between earlier and later plasters were also detected.