Cement

Cement in the Book of Mormon

Mormon reported that because of “much contention and many dissensions” in the mid-first century BC, some Nephites “did travel to an exceedingly great distance” into “the land northward,” where they found “large bodies of water and many rivers” (Helaman 3:3–4). Because there was “little timber” in the region, these people “became exceedingly expert in the working of cement,” and thus built “houses of cement” and even built “many cities, both of wood and of cement” (vv. 7, 9, 11).

Cement in Ancient America

Ancient American cement was made using limestone, and has, thus far, only been found in Mesoamerica.1 While some people were aware of pre-Columbian American cement in the early 19th century,² its origins, history, and development remained obscure well into the 20th century. In 1970, for instance, David S. Hyman was unable “to uncover clues relative to the origins of American cement manufacturing.”³ The earliest samples he found dated to the first century AD but were so “technically well advanced” that Hyman was convinced there must have been earlier, less developed forms.⁴

Since that time, earlier precedents have indeed been found. Non-structural lime plasters and stuccos were used as early as 1100–600 BC.⁵ During the Middle Preclassic period (ca. 800–300 BC), “the Maya of the lowlands had discovered … that if limestone fragments were burnt, and the resulting powder mixed with water, a white plaster of great durability was created.”⁶

According to Maya experts Michael D. Coe and Stephen Houston, it was not until the Late Preclassic period (300 BC–AD 250) that the Maya “quickly realized the structural value of a concrete-like fill made from limestone rubble” and lime-rich mud.⁷ This led to “an explosion of activity around 100 BC” in the Northern Petén.⁸ 

In the Valley of Mexico, fully developed cement appeared at Teotihuacán from seemingly out of nowhere in the 1st century AD.⁹ By AD 300, “most inhabitants lived in substantial plaster-and-concrete compounds composed of multiple apartments.”¹⁰

Conclusion

The “explosion” of cement building activity in Mesoamerica around 100 BC nicely corresponds to the reported timing and (according to some geographical theories) the general location of its reported use in the Book of Mormon. John L. Sorenson observed, “The first-century-BC appearance of cement in the Book of Mormon agrees strikingly with the archaeology of central Mexico.”¹¹ Moreover, both Sorenson and John W. Welch remarked, “No one in the nineteenth century could have known that cement, in fact, was extensively used in Mesoamerica beginning at about this time, the middle of the first century BC.”¹²

Book of Mormon Central, “When Did Cement Become Common in Ancient America? (Helaman 3:7),” KnoWhy 174 (August 26, 2016).

John L. Sorenson, “How Could Joseph Smith Write So Accurately about Ancient American Civilization?,” in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, ed. Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2002), 287–288.

Matthew G. Wells and John W. Welch, “Concrete Evidence for the Book of Mormon,” in Reexploring the Book of Mormon: A Decade of New Research, ed. John W. Welch (Salt Lake City and Provo, UT: Deseret Book and FARMS, 1992), 212–214.

Helaman 3:3–11

Helaman 3:3–11