Calcareous fossil inclusions and rock-source of Maya lime plaster from the Temple of the Inscriptions, Palenque, Mexico

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.10.022
• Publication Date: 2011-11-08T13:33:07Z
• Authors: Francisco Riquelme; Jesús Alvarado-Or...; Martha Cuevas-García; José Luis Ruvalca...; Carlos Linares-López
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Abstract This paper introduces for the first time the study and description of fossil remains preserved in lime plaster from a Maya site, the Temple of the Inscriptions in Palenque, one of the most outstanding Classic Period cities of the Maya culture in Mesoamerica. Plaster was removed with EDTA carbonate-digestive technique and results based on ultrastructural microanalysis reveals marine fossil remains of shells and calcareous debris correlated with organisms of several taxa including Foraminifera, Gastropod, Bivalvia, and Cnidarian. This fossil material is associated with several Tertiary fossil-bearing strata in the surroundings of Palenque. Additionally, results of WDX testing on white lumps of plaster show a characteristic MgO/CaO ratio consistent with a dolomitic limestone source linked to the Tenejapa geological unit (Paleocene). Plaster of The Temple of the Inscriptions is best described as a dolomitic lime plaster. Calcareous fossil material in plaster mixtures is present mainly as micro-aggregates and lime dust, such material may come from a fossil-bearing rock intentionally selected that was burned and crushed. This also suggests that low-temperatures can cause burns to incomplete calcination of rocks and, consequently, that fossils can preserve their recognizable, morphological features.