Title: LIME MORTAR AND PLASTER FROM THE HOUSE XVII-XVIII, UMM EL-JIMAL, JORDAN: ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS
Author(s): Khaled AL-BASHAIREH
Journal: SHEDET(Annual Peer-Reviewed Journal Issued By The Faculty Of Archaeology, Fayoum University)
Issue: 6 Date: 2019
Pages: 212-224
Cite as: Khaled AL-BASHAIREH(2019).LIME MORTAR AND PLASTER FROM THE HOUSE XVII-XVIII, UMM EL-JIMAL, JORDAN: ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS. SHEDET(Annual Peer-Reviewed Journal Issued By The Faculty Of Archaeology, Fayoum University), 6 (2019) pp. 212-224.10.36816/shedet.006.12

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LIME MORTAR AND PLASTER FROM THE HOUSE XVII-XVIII, UMM EL-JIMAL, JORDAN: ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Khaled AL-BASHAIREH

10.36816/shedet.006.12

This research studies cement materials of mortar and plaster mostly of Byzantine age from the House XVII-XVIII located in the southeast of Umm el-Jimal archaeological site (east Jordan). A set of physical, chemical, mineralogical and petrographic analyses were performed to characterize the materials aiming at defining their production technology adopted by the Umm el-Jimal’s ancient craftsmen. The results show that Umm el-Jimal building technique relied on the manufacture of lime-based cement materials of hydraulic properties acquired by the addition of natural scoria and recycled pottery fragments. The high amount of charcoal added to a group of three samples colored them grey; while the use of straws, bones and considerable amount of scoria and ceramic in the rest of samples did not affect their lime white-beige color. The grain size distribution of the two groups does not show substantial difference compared to the binder: aggregate ratios. The addition of fibers, scoria and ceramics most likely produced porous lightweight white cement material.

KEYWORDS
Production technology, Lime-Mortar, Scoria, Recycled Pottery, Umm el-Jimal, Jordan