the study of building materials in mesoamerican archaeology

The study of Prehispanic building materials has been an undervalued field of research in Mesoamerican archaeology. It has been a common practice to discard floors and plasters during archaeological excavations due to the lack of interest in the study and characterization of these materials. Nonethel...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Villaseñor Alonso, Isabel, Barba Pingarrón, Luis Alberto
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE MÉXICO
Repositorio:Anales de Antropología
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.pkp.sfu.ca:article/27969
Acceso en línea:https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/antropologia/article/view/27969
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:plasters
mortars
renders
building materials
material analysis
estucos
argamasas
morteros
materiales constructivos
caracterización de materiales
Descripción
Sumario:The study of Prehispanic building materials has been an undervalued field of research in Mesoamerican archaeology. It has been a common practice to discard floors and plasters during archaeological excavations due to the lack of interest in the study and characterization of these materials. Nonetheless, we propose that building materials hold a special potential for archaeological research and need to be incorporated as part of archaeological projects. This paper describes the theoretical and methodological aspects that may be used for the study of building materials, as well as the trends that are shown by the few studies that have been carried out recently. The paper also examines some aspects of the production of building materials that have social and environmental implications for the study of past societies. Finally, we make a brief discussion about the aspects that have been rarely dealt with, and provide future lines of research.