Maya architecture
Based in general Mesoamerican architectural traditions, the Maya utilized geometric proportions and intricate carving to build everything from simple houses to ornate temples.
Through the observation of numerous elements and stylistic distinctions, remnants of Maya architecture have become an important key to understanding their religious beliefs and culture as a whole.
For instance, some cities existing on the flat limestone plains of the northern Yucatán grew into great sprawling municipalities, while others built in the hills of Usumacinta utilized the natural loft of the topography to raise their towers and temples to impressive heights.
Depending upon the location and availability of natural resources such as fresh-water wells, or cenotes, the city grew by connecting great plazas with the numerous platforms that created the sub-structure for nearly all Maya buildings, by means of sacbeob causeways.
At the heart of the Maya city existed the large plazas surrounded by their most valued governmental and religious buildings such as the royal acropolis, great pyramid temples, and occasionally ballcourts.
Though city layouts evolved as nature dictated, careful attention was placed on the directional orientation of temples and observatories so that they were constructed in accordance with the Maya interpretation of the orbits of the stars.
In this case, the open public plazas were the gathering places for the people and the focus of the urban design, while interior space was entirely secondary.
Only in the Late Post-Classic era did the great Maya cities develop into more fortress-like defensive structures that lacked, for the most part, the large and numerous plazas of the Classic.
In the Postclassic in Peten, Guatemala, smaller protected settlements emerged in defensible locations, for example on peninsulas and islands in the Petén Basin.
The buildings are mostly great pyramids, temples and palaces richly decorated in the upper façades with intricate stone mosaics, alternating repeated geometric figures with more elaborate sculptures.
[6] Example: Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Labna It was one of the main styles of the major sites of the central and southern Maya Lowlands it developed since the late Preclassic period of Mesoamerica until the end of the Classic period with the collapse of the Maya civilization that caused the abandonment of the major sites in this region.
One of its most recognizable features are enormous buildings and tall pyramids with long staircases and temples at the top some of wich have flat roof combs.
The constructions in this style are made from dirt and clay with stucco-covered bricks due to the natural features of the region, the buildings are mainly stepped pyramids with front stairs, sloping walls and platforms decorated with sculptures and masks alluding to mythological events, aquatic animals and rulers.
Small platforms and low-rise flat pyramidal bases with features influenced by major sites of central Mexico, characterized by the simplicity of the constructions as well as the lack of decoration and very low detail in the structures.
A flight of stone steps often split the large platforms on one side, contributing to the common bi-symmetrical appearance of Maya architecture.
Depending on the prevalent stylistic tendencies of an area, these platforms most often were built of stucco and cut stone exteriors filled with densely packed gravel.
As all structures were built, little attention seems to have been given to their utilitarian functionality and much to external aesthetics; however, a certain repeated aspect, the corbelled arch, was often utilized to mimic the appearance and feel of the simple Maya hut.
[citation needed] Though not an effective tool to increase interior space, as it required thick stone walls to support the high ceiling, some temples utilized repeated arches, or a corbelled vault, to construct what the Maya referred to as pibnal, or sweatbath, such as those in the Temple of the Cross at Palenque.
[13] It has been suggested that, in conjunction with the Maya Long Count Calendar, every fifty-two years, or cycle, temples and pyramids were remodelled and rebuilt.
For more important construction projects the Mayas would cover the entire structures exterior with stucco, followed by bright paintings, prioritizing red, yellow, green, and blue.
Constructed in the fashion of a typical foundation platform, these were often accented by carved figures, altars and perhaps tzompantli, a stake used to display the heads to the victims or defeated Mesoamerican ballgame opponents.
At Copán (one of the most powerful and important cities), beneath over four-hundred years of later remodeling, a tomb for one of the ancient rulers has been discovered and the North Acropolis at Tikal appears to have been the site of numerous burials during the Terminal Pre-classic and Early Classic periods.
Complexes of this type consist of a stepped pyramid main structure, situated on the western side of a quadrilateral plaza or platform.
They were first identified as a meaningful complex by archaeologist Frans Blom in 1924, who excavated the site under the auspices of the Carnegie Institution of Washington.
However, the architectural sequence documented in excavation reports reveals that these alignments connect elements from different periods and thus could have never been observationally functional.
This formal complex has been attributed to the earthly re-creation of the Celestial Hearth (modern-day constellation of Orion), or a stage for enthronement rituals.
The setting sun's rays are projected on the northern balustrade, creating the illusion of a snake winding its way down the steps of the pyramid.
[29] Although most of the important Maya buildings were oriented on the basis of astronomical criteria, their primary functions were religious, residential or administrative; the label "observatory" applied to any structural type is thus hardly warranted.
[30] As an integral aspect of the Mesoamerican lifestyle, the courts for their ritual ballgame were constructed throughout the Maya realm, often on a grand scale.
In central Mexico, and in late times in Yucatán, rings of stone were set high up in the side walls of the court.
