Sascab is a naturally occurring mineral material described variously as "decomposed

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

", "

breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of ...

", and "the lime gravel mixture the

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

used as mortar." It has been used as a building and paving material in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Wit ...

since antiquity. In the context of

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

the term may also apply to mixtures (with clay and water) of a more finely divided form of the same material (described as "stone dust"). It was used by the ancient Maya in place of (or as a partial replacement for) lime in some applications, without needing to be "burned." According to travel writer Jeanine Kitchel, the American explorer of the Yucatan,

Edward Herbert Thompson Edward Herbert Thompson (September 28, 1857 – May 11, 1935) was an American-born archaeologist and long-time consul to Yucatán, Mexico. Biography Edward H. Thompson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Thompson devoted much of his career to s ...

found (ca.1900) "shallow quarries near

Chichen Itza Chichen Itza , es, Chichén Itzá , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from yua, Chiʼchʼèen Ìitshaʼ () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people" was a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya people of the Termin ...

with worked veins of ''sascab''..."

References

* Littmann, E. R. (1958). 'Ancient Mesoamerican mortars, plasters, and stuccos: the composition and origin of sascab' in THOMPSON, RAYMOND H. ED. American Antiquity. Vol. XXIV Number 2 October 1958; Society for American Archaeology. * Folan, William J (1978). Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico: An Analysis of a Prehispanic and Contemporary Source of Sascab. American Antiquity 43:79-85. * Kitchel, Jeanine.
Explorers: Edward Herbert Thompson
" Retrieved May 10, 2005.

(of Campeche, Campeche, Mexico.) Retrieved May 10, 2005. * Osceola, Ilvia Larragán

Retrieved May 10, 2005. Mesoamerican architecture Maya architecture Minerals {{mesoamerica-stub