Microfacial Analyses on the Building Stones of the Maya Site of Calakmul

Abstract

Abstract This article focuses on the petrographic and microfacial characterization of the building stones, buildings, monuments, and quarries of the archeological site of Calakmul to document aspects of composition, lithologies, and stone exploitation. Microfacial analysis shows that the used building rocks are highly recrystallized biosparudites (grainstones to packstones) with the presence of reef and shallow waters fauna (boundstones). These rocks have an intermediate porosity (10–20% pore volume values) and XRD analysis confirms that the mineral composition is mainly calcite, but also dolomite. Microfacies analysis demonstrate that limestone of the stelae and the SubIIc-1 main façade come from the same quarry and have fine texture corroborate that these stones are suitable materials for carving and lime production. Samples from St. XX Gran Acropolis and from Chan Chi’ich Group come from a different quarry. These results help us to know the origin of the rocks, their use in the different buildings and monuments studied, and to contribute to the knowledge of their lithological characteristics and their response to weathering and thus provide important information that will help in taking decisions in case of probable measures of restoration and conservation of the rocks in the Calakmul region.