Archaeological lime powders samples from Taosi and Yinxu sites, natural limestone and experimentally prepared lime mortar were investigated by means of Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR) to identify the raw material of lime powders from Taosi and Yinxu sites. Results show that ν2/ν4 ratio of calcite resulted from carbonation reaction of man-made lime is around 6.31, which is higher than that of calcite in natural limestone and reflects the difference in the disorder of calcite crystal structure among the natural limestone and prepared lime mortar. With additional grinding, the values of ν2 and ν4 in natural limestone and prepared lime mortar decrease. Meanwhile, the trend lines of ν2 versus ν4 for calcite in experimentally prepared lime mortar have a steeper slope when compared to calcite in natural limestone. These imply that ν2/ν4 ratio and the slope of the trend lines of ν2 versus ν4 can be used to determine the archaeological man-made lime. Based on the experiment results, it is possible that the archaeological lime powder from Taosi and Yinxu sites was prepared using man-made lime and the ancient Chinese have mastered the calcining technology of man-made lime in the late Neolithic period about 4 300 years ago.