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

Abstract

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 Yucatán 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.