The Relationship of “Volcanic Ash,” sak lu'um, and Palygorskite in Northern Yucatan Maya Ceramics

Abstract

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Spatial distribution and development of soils in tropical karst areas from the Peninsula of Yucatan, Mexico

“…Goethite and hematite were found in red soils such as Cambisols and Luvisols, similar to the results reported by Isphording and Wilson (1974), Isphording (1978Isphording ( , 1984 and Bautista et al (2003bBautista et al ( , 2004 in karstic plains of Yucatan. The red color is caused by iron oxides (Schwertmann, 1993).…”

“…Palygorskite clay has been found in subsoil in several localities in the Peninsula of Yucatan, (Isphording, 1973(Isphording, , 1978(Isphording, , 1984Isphording and Wilson, 1974;de Pablo, 1996;Neaman and Singer 2004;Krekeler and Kearns, 2009;Krekeler et al, 2010). In our case, palygorskite traces (1.04 nm) were found in soil environments, in particular in Leptosols (Fig.…”

“…Kaolinite has been found in rocks in Yucatan (Isphording, 1973(Isphording, , 1978(Isphording, , 1984Isphording and Wilson, 1974;Shang and Tiessen, 2003;Bautista et al, 2004). It can thus be assumed that part of the kaolinite identified in soils is inherited from the limestone.…”

“…Smectite requires a moderate drainage and abundance of Si and Al ions to form (Isphording and Wilson, 1974), which is not the case of the Leptosol and Arenosol environments. In contrast, smectite is scarce or absent in the soils that have developed on karst from the older platforms with good drainage and sub-humid tropical climate, reflecting the effect of rainfall on the weathering of smectite (Deepthy and Balakrishnan, 2005).…”

Investigation of Islamic ceramics from Tell Tuneinir using X‐ray diffraction

“…A successful example of integrating ethnographic and mineralogical (XRD) data is presented by Arnold (1971), who defined a community of potters in Ticul into a regionally distinctive "ethnomineralogical system." The identification of single mineral phases, particularly volcanic ash, had been studied by Shepard (1952Shepard ( , 1956, although her identification of volcanic ash in samples from Yucatan using primarily petrography supplemented with XRD was challenged by Isphording and Wilson (1974). Samples from the Near East have been subjected to XRD, but in small numbers.…”