Lime plaster that were sculpted with lime plaster over armatures of reeds and twine. They were made in the pre-pottery neolithic period, around 7200 BC. The fact that these sculptures have lasted so long is a testament to the durability of lime plaster. Lime plaster Lime plaster is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime (also known as slaked lime, high calcium lime or air lime). Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan additives to reduce the working time. Traditional non-hydraulic hydrated lime only sets through carbonatation when the plaster is
Sticky rice mortar made of sticky rice and burnt lime created a seal between bricks that would rival modern cement in strength. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), brick-making techniques improved significantly in terms of quantity and quality of production. Since then, Great Wall sections were widely built with bricks, with lime mortar and sticky rice used to reinforce the bricks strongly enough to resist earthquakes and modern bulldozers while keeping the building intact. Modern chemists, through their research, identified amylopectin, a type of polysaccharide, or complex carbohydrate, found in rice and other starchy foods to appear to be responsible for the sticky