The Prehispanic Maya Burnt Lime Industry: Socio-Economy and Environmental Resource Management in the Late and Terminal Classic Period Northern Maya Lowlands (650-950 CE)

The recent identification of a series of annular pit-kilns used for producing burnt lime in and around the Prehispanic Maya site of Kiuic in the Puuc region of the Northern lowlands provides the opportunity to examine Prehispanic lime production technology and organization. This dissertation investigates three main issues: 1) The functionality and practicality of the annular pit-kilns for the production of lime; 2) The implications of the pit-kilns' production efficiency for Prehispanic resource management practices; and 3) The socioeconomic organization of the lime production industry. Powdered lime ( cal in Spanish) was one of the most significant and ubiquitous materials in the daily lives of the Prehispanic Maya, used for architectural, sanitary, and even nutritional purposes. By soaking maize in lime-infused water the peoples of Mesoamerica not only softened the kernels for grinding but also unlocked essential nutrients such as niacin for absorption into the body. Considering the importance of lime for so many aspects of daily life, there is surprisingly little information regarding lime production prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century. The standard method of lime production documented in the Yucatan peninsula in the 19 th and 20th centuries involves the construction of an open-air wooden pyre onto which small pieces of limestone are stacked. This method uses a large quantity of wood fuel and raises questions about whether fuel requirements for lime production contributed to deforestation towards the end of the Classic Period (ca. 850 CE). The annular pit-kilns identified in and around Kiuic were designed to use fuel more efficiently than the open-air pyres. This suggests that the Prehispanic Puuc Maya took steps to conserve their fuel consumption at a time of demographic and environmental stress. The widespread distribution of the annular pit-kilns within the Kiuic polity as well their spatial relationships to other archaeological features suggests that lime production was largely decentralized and organized by small-scale production groups.