Sascab is a naturally occurring mineral material described variously as "decomposed
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
", as "
brecciaBreccia is a rock composed of angular fragments of minerals or rocks in a matrix , that may be similar or different in composition to the fragments. The word is a loan from italian, and in that language indicates both loose gravel and stone made by cemented gravel...
", and as "the lime gravel mixture the
MayaThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Preclassic period , many Maya cities reached their highest...
used as mortar." It has been used as a building and paving material in
MesoamericaMesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries...
since antiquity. In the context of
potteryPottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...
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").
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Sascab is a naturally occurring mineral material described variously as "decomposed
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
", as "
brecciaBreccia is a rock composed of angular fragments of minerals or rocks in a matrix , that may be similar or different in composition to the fragments. The word is a loan from italian, and in that language indicates both loose gravel and stone made by cemented gravel...
", and as "the lime gravel mixture the
MayaThe Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Preclassic period , many Maya cities reached their highest...
used as mortar." It has been used as a building and paving material in
MesoamericaMesoamerica or Meso-America is a region and culture area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Honduras and Nicaragua, within which a number of pre-Columbian societies flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 15th and 16th centuries...
since antiquity. In the context of
potteryPottery is the ceramic ware made by potters. Major types of pottery include earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain. The places where such wares are made are called potteries. Pottery is one of the oldest human technologies and art-forms, and remains a major industry today...
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 (mineral)Lime is a general term for calcium-containing inorganic materials, in which carbonates, oxides and hydroxides predominate. Strictly speaking, lime is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide. It is also the name for a single mineral of the CaO composition, occurring very rarely...
in some applications, without needing to be "burned."
According to travel writer Jeanine Kitchel, the American explorer of the
YucatanYucatán is one of the 31 states of Mexico, located on the north of the Yucatán Peninsula. The Yucatan peninsula includes three states: Yucatán, Campeche, and Quintana Roo; all three modern states were formerly part of the larger historic state of Yucatán in the 19th century. The state capital of...
,
Edward Herbert ThompsonEdward Herbert Thompson was an American-born archaeologist and diplomat.-Biography:Edward H. Thompson was born in Worcester, Massachusetts. Initially inspired by the books of John Lloyd Stephens, Thompson devoted much of his career to study of the Maya civilization...
found (ca.1900) "shallow quarries near
Chichen ItzaChichen Itza is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico....
with worked veins of
sascab..."