The lime stones selected were those that had the least amount of impurities within them. Limepits were almost always built near the supply of limestone, and a sufficient pile of wood kindling was heaped in great store before the actual burning process began, a supply that was to last between 3 and 7 days of continual burning, both, by night and day. In the southern Mediterranean regions, one of the favorite wood sources was thorny burnet (Sarcopoterium spinosum). The fire was attended by men with long staves and pitchforks who pushed the burning material into the pit. Initially, a cloud of smoke billowed from the pit. After several days of burning, when the uppermost stone in the fire pit began to glow a fiery red, it signaled that the burning process of the lime was finished, and that the process of carbon dioxide emissions from the limestone has been completed, and that the lime was now ready for marketing as lime or powder. After being allowed to cool, the burnt limestone was extracted from the pit when it was light and brittle. During the burning process, the limestone loses about 50% of its original anatomical weight. The lime becomes ready for use only after water has been added.