[Aztlan] plaster

[Michael Smith]

Sam is right that plaster has not gotten the attention it deserves. Here
is a dissertation that might be useful (I haven't seen it myself):

 

Schreiner, T.(2002) Ethnography of Traditional Lime Burning Practices in
the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Ph.D. dissertation, Department of
Architecture, University of California, Berkeley.

 

 Its too bad that there aren't many architectural historians working in
the Maya area, their insights on plaster and other architectural topics
can be very informative. I've seen work on the implications of lime
burning for deforestation (at Teotihuacan) but I can't find the
citations now. It would be interesting to see how the use and
significance of plaster differs with geology. Limestone is all over the
lowland Maya area, so it was easy to get the raw materials. I found at
Aztec sites that lime plaster was used on temples and public buildings
all over, but that its use in commoner houses was present in Morelos
(lots of limestone) but not in Toluca (no limestone). Anyway, there is a
lot more we could learn from plaster!

 

Dr. Michael E. Smith

Professor of Anthropology

School of Human Evolution & Social Change

Arizona State University

www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/