Archaeomagnetic Insights into Pre-Hispanic Mayan Lime Production: Chronological Framework and Evidence of an Apparent 500-Year Hiatus in the Yucatán Peninsula
Bibliographic record
Abstract
The Yucatán Peninsula, a key region of the ancient Maya civilization, has long presented challenges in establishing absolute chronological frameworks for its cultural practices. While the central regions of Mesoamerica have been extensively studied, the southern areas, including the Yucatán, remain underexplored. Limekilns, integral to lime production in pre-Hispanic Maya society, are well suited for archaeomagnetic studies due to the high temperatures (>700 °C) required for their operation. This study analyzed 108 specimens from 12 limekilns near Mérida, Yucatán, using rock-magnetic experiments and progressive alternating field demagnetization to refine the absolute chronology and determine the continuity of the lime production technology. Thermoremanent magnetization was predominantly carried by magnetite-like phases. Archaeomagnetic directions were successfully obtained for ten kilns with robust precision parameters. Age intervals were calculated using global geomagnetic models (SHA.DIF.14K, SHAWQ.2K), local paleosecular variation curves, and a Bootstrap resampling method. The analysis identified apparently two distinct chronological clusters: one between 900 and 1000 AD, associated with the Late–Terminal Classic period, and another near 1500 AD, just prior to the Spanish conquest. These findings reveal an apparent 500-year hiatus in lime production, followed by the potential reuse of kilns. Our study refines the chronological framework for Mayan lime production and its cultural and technological evolution. The integration of archaeomagnetic methods demonstrates their far-reaching applicability in addressing questions of continuity, reuse, and technological adaptation, contributing to broader debates on ancient pyrotechnological practices and their socioeconomic implications.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".