DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5418981.

Lime kilns can provide important archaeological information about lime production and its role in society. Although numerous archaeometric investigations were carried out in the Maya area, such studies are not yet available for the Valley of Oaxaca. This paper presents a combined archaeomagnetism and infrared spectrometry analysis of two lime kilns recently discovered at Monte Alban. The ATR-FTIR method was used to estimate the calcination temperatures. The temperature range was between 750 and 800 °C for the vast majority of samples. The first kiln involved—whose mean paleodirections determined on 7 samples (out of a total of 15 treated) are Inc = 31.46°, Dec = 350.18°, α₉₅ = 2.5°, k = 578—yields a possible age range between 1076 and 1321 AD. For the second lime kiln (6 determinations out of a total of 14 treated samples and with Inc = 18.08°, Dec = 2.64°, α₉₅ = 2.9°, k = 543), the corresponding interval is between 713 and 883 AD. The earliest dates probably correspond to the time of the last construction period and the “abandonment” of Monte Alban. Lime production was lower in the later time and apparently only served for the maintenance of important buildings.

Monte Alban; Oaxaca; lime kilns; archaeometry; archaeomagnetism; infrared spectrometry.

Ortiz, S.; N. M. Robles García; O. G. de Lucio; A. Goguitchaichvili; D. García Ríos; R. Cejudo;
M. Cervantes; J. Morales; R. García. 2021.
Hornos de cal de Monte Albán, México: estudio combinado de espectrometría de infrarrojo ATR-FTIR y arqueomagnetismo. Arqueología Iberoamericana 48: 30–43.

PURL: purl.org/aia/4803. ARK: ark:/49934/253.

Publication date: September 4, 2021.