Making and using plaster

 What is plaster? How was it made and used at 'Ain Ghazal?
 The plaster used for making the 'Ain Ghazal statues is made from limestone. Lime plaster is made by heating limestone to temperatures between 600 and 900 degrees centigrade, using timber as fuel. This product is then combined with water. Lime plaster becomes a durable, water-resistant material when it dries and hardens.

 Chart showing temperature of heated limestone for plaster (39k jpg)

Analysis of the statue plaster showed that the lime was mixed with unheated crushed limestone for use in making the statues. Plaster was made in the village of 'Ain Ghazal, where archaeologists found a pit in which the rock was probably heated.

After about 7500 B.C., the people of 'Ain Ghazal began to use plaster on a large scale for covering walls, floors, and hearths in their houses. A fine, smoothed layer of plaster helped to seal a floor surface and make it waterproof. Often, walls and floors were decorated with red, finger-painted patterns and designs, as in the painted floor shown in this photograph.

Painted plaster floor (104k jpg)

Plaster was also fashioned into other kinds of objects. In addition to the statues, this material was sometimes used to make bowls and plates, figurines, pendants, and tokens of geometric shapes.

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 Last updated: July 28, 1996

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