The Maya and Climate Change by Kenneth E. Seligson

Author:Kenneth E. Seligson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2022-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Classic Period Lime Production

Classic Maya specialists likely developed even more fuel-efficient methods than the “traditional” twentieth-century caleras, which were already quite efficient considering their open-air nature. The local experts who constructed the modern caleras were operating in a cultural and socio-ecological landscape that has changed greatly since the Classic Period. Modern communities do not need lime for quite as many purposes as their Classic forebears, and populations are lower across much of the Maya lowlands today than they were during the Classic Period. Taken together, this means that modern producers do not have to put the same premium on conserving fuel resources as Classic producers would have. Applying the 5:1 average fuel-efficiency ratio to Classic Period production masks the great variation in production techniques and efficiency ratios that likely existed. If, for instance, some Classic Period communities achieved fuel ratios that were 20 or even 40% more efficient, this would drastically change our estimates of lime-related forest clearance.59

Given the ephemerality of open-air caleras in the archaeological record and the density of vegetation across much of the lowlands, it is unsurprising that archaeologists have identified relatively few examples of Pre-Colonial aboveground lime-production episodes. The handful of such identifications include seven circular burn features to the west of the Postclassic city of Mayapan that included ash, charcoal, and fist-sized pieces of limestone.60 The remains of another possible open-air lime-production locale were identified at Placencia Caye in Belize, where archaeologists excavated a small mound that included a mix of calcium carbonate, charcoal, and partially burned shells.61 The relative paucity of alternative lime-production methods identified in the archaeological record has supported the idea that ephemeral caleras were indeed the primary method of Classic lime production.62

More recently, however, archaeologists working in the northern lowlands have identified hundreds of permanent lime pit-kilns that were more fuel-efficient than the “traditional” method. It should come as no surprise that lime production was just as heterogeneous as every other facet of Classic Maya socio-ecology. The recent findings are helping to re-evaluate the premise that lime production disproportionately contributed to environmental mismanagement. Although it is possible that excessive lime production contributed to deforestation at Preclassic El Mirador, it would be a gross mischaracterization to say it was a key contributor to environmental breakdown throughout the lowlands during the Classic Period. In fact, the new evidence suggests that Classic Maya communities recognized the potential strains that growing populations would place on fuel resources and took steps to mitigate them. The development of new techniques for producing lime is yet another example of how important socio-ecological flexibility is for long-term survival.63

Whether a direct result of the lessons learned from the Preclassic Period or the gradual refinement of production methods through trial and error, communities in the central and northern lowlands adopted sustainable lime-production programs during the Classic Period. Although no cities reached the size of Preclassic El Mirador, the lowlands filled up with many more urban centers, leading to an overall greater population density. Despite the rising populations, even the largest cities were able to sustain lime production and consumption levels into the Late Classic Period.

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