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Ancient organic lime plaster production technology and its properties among Mayan, Egyptian, Persian and Asian civilizations

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Abstract

In this study, four ancient lime plaster production technology and their properties in different periods were investigated to evaluate their compatibility with modern conservation applications. Mayans, Egyptians, Persians and Asian civilization started their early developments based on the regional availability of raw materials for early advancements. Mayans 300–900 CE experimented with binder/aggregate ratio between (1:2–1:6) and (6:3–3:6) resulting in dolomitic/air lime:sand at Calakmul and Lamanai locations. Egyptian plasters1400–1200 BC came up with (3:6) proportions composed of crude gypsum and volcanic ash: sand and sea sand at the Egyptian tomb and Giza's pyramid. Persian plasters in 1250 BC experimented with sarooj plasters with kankar at (1:2:1) and (3:3–6) (lime:sascab:kankar). Asian plasters adopted the ratio between (1:3–6 and 2:3) during the Harappan and Mohenjo-Daro periods 3300–1300 BC. Ancient plasters were incorporated with organic extracts during slaking of lime to modify their durability and mechanical property specifically. Further from the overall study, the percentage selection of water/binder ratio ranges between (0.5–1.2%) by the total volume of lime with organic additives ranging between (5–8%) by weight among the four-lime plaster production technology. This study brings back prehistoric lime plaster production technology to preserve the modern historic tangible and intangible structures.

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Acknowledgements

I thank my guide Dr S Thirumalini, for the guidance, and the organization VIT, Vellore.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Jain (Deemed to Be University), Bangalore, India

    M. Shiva Kumar

  2. CO2 Research & Green Technologies center, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore, India

    Thirumalini Selvaraj

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  1. M. Shiva Kumar
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  2. Thirumalini Selvaraj
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SK collected the idea and documented the review article. TS reviewed the article and also guided the scientific data corrections.

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Correspondence to M. Shiva Kumar.

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Shiva Kumar, M., Selvaraj, T. Ancient organic lime plaster production technology and its properties among Mayan, Egyptian, Persian and Asian civilizations. Asian J Civ Eng 24, 2709–2718 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-023-00653-x

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