Burnt lime and gypsum plaster
Cal viva y yeso cocidos (enlucido y terrazo)
- Date
- c. 8000 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Ain Ghazal and Çayönü, Jordan / Turkey
- Credited to
- PPNB communities of the Levant and Anatolia
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Limestone calcined above 800 degrees to obtain lime which, slaked and set, forms terrazzo floors, plaster, vessels (white ware) and modelled skulls. It is the first industrial chemical transformation by pyrotechnics.
Lime floors at Yiftahel and Kfar HaHoresh (Israel) are equally early.
What it led to
- Mastery of high temperatures that paved the way for fired pottery and metallurgy
- Massive firewood consumption and deforestation around the great PPNB settlements
- Washable, hygienic surfaces and durable architecture
Built on
- Mud brick (adobe)c. 9000 BCE
- Control of high-temperature fire