Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 71, núm. 2, 2019, p. 429 ‒ 444 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/ BSGM2019v71n2a12

 Arqueometría aplicada a la conservación de textiles arqueológicos de fibras celulósicas. Petate y mortaja de un fardo mortuorio de Zimapán, Hidalgo

Judith Gómez González^1,*, Luisa Mainou¹, Ariana Aguilar Romero³, Galia González Hernández²,

Laura Eugenia Beramendi Orosco², Luisa Straulino Mainou¹, Juan Francisco López Ortiz¹

¹Coordinación Nacional de Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural, INAH, Xicotencatl y General Anaya s/n, San Diego Churubusco, Coyoacán, C.P. 04120, CDMX, México.

²Laboratorio Universitario de Radiocarbono, UNAM, Instituto de Geofísica, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas e Instituto de Geología, Circuito Exterior, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, C.P. 04519, CDMX, México.

³Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Periférico Sur y Calle Zapote, Isidro Fabela, C.P. 14030, CDMX, México.

^* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Radiocarbon dating and scanning electron microscopy analyses were used to determine the age and conservation state of a palm mat made with hard fibers and a cotton shroud found in a funerary bundle of Zimapán Hidalgo, México. The fibers were also treated with an innovative treatment of chitosan and polypropylene glycol. The treatment was analyzed with a scanning electron microscopy and radiocarbon dating was applied to the treated fibers. The radiocarbon dating showed dates of 1022 a 1206 cal d.C therefore the textiles are prehispanic, and the treated fibers showed an early date (72–418 cal d.C.). This difference could be explained from the reservoir effect in the marine organisms because the chitosan is obtained from the chitin of crustacean’s exoskeletons. The analysis also showed that the treatment for the fibers was effective because the fibers gained consolidation, flexibilization and also microorganisms were killed and removed.

Key words: pal mat, shroud, radiocarbon dating, chitosan.