User:ACelesteL/Maya architecture

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Maya architecture spans several thousands of years, several eras of political change and architectural innovation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Often, the buildings most dramatic and easily recognizable as creations of the Maya peoples are the step pyramids of the Terminal Preclassic Maya period and beyond. Based on general Mesoamerican architectural traditions, the Maya utilized geometric proportions and intricate carving to build everything from simple houses to ornate temples. This article focuses on the more well-known pre-classic and classic examples of Maya architecture, as well as a look into the domestic side of the buildings and their imitation of nature in other less conventional structures. The temples like the ones at Palenque, Tikal, and Uxmal represent a zenith of Maya art and architecture. Through the observation of numerous elements and stylistic distinctions, remnants of Maya architecture have become important to understand their religious beliefs and culture as a whole.

Urban design[edit]

Further information: Maya city

As Maya cities spread throughout the varied geography of Mesoamerica, the extent of site planning appears to have been minimal, their cities having been built somewhat haphazardly as dictated by the topography of each independent location. Maya architecture tends to integrate a great degree of natural features. 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. However, some semblance of order, as required by any large city, still prevailed. At the onset of large-scale construction, a predetermined axis was typically established in congruence with the cardinal directions. 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. As more structures were added and existing structures re-built or remodeled, the great Maya cities seemed to take on an almost random identity that contrasts sharply with other great Mesoamerican cities such as Teotihuacan and its rigid grid-like construction.

Tikal plaza and North Acropolis

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. But transformations in the urban structures due to political changes are noticeable. 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 Maya interpretation of the orbits of the stars. Immediately outside this ritual center were the structures of lesser nobles, smaller temples, and individual shrines: the less sacred and less important structures had a greater degree of privacy. Outside the constantly evolving urban core were the less permanent and more modest homes of the common people.

Building process

All evidence suggests that most stone buildings existed on top of a platform that varied in height from less than a meter to 45 meters depending on importance of the building. 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 a stucco and cut stone exterior filled with densely packed gravel. As is the case with many other Maya reliefs, those on the platforms often were related to the intended purpose of the residing structure. Thus, as the sub-structural platforms were completed, the grand residences and temples of the Maya were constructed on the solid foundations of the platforms. 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.

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. As structures were completed, typically extensive relief work was added to the layer of stucco. However, many lintel carvings have been discovered, as well as actual stone carvings used as a facade. Commonly, these would continue uninterrupted around an entire structure and contain a variety of artwork pertaining to the inhabitants or purpose of a building. Though not the case in all Maya locations, broad use of painted stucco has been discovered as well.

It has been suggested that, in conjunction to the Maya Long Count Calendar, every fifty-two years, or cycle, temples and pyramids were remodeled and rebuilt. It appears now that the rebuilding process was often instigated by a new ruler or for political matters, as opposed to matching the calendar cycle. However, the process of rebuilding on top of old structures is indeed a common one. Most notably, the North Acropolis at Tikal seems to be the sum total of 1,500 years of architectural modifications.

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E-groups

"E-Group" is a classification given by Mayanists to certain structure complexes present at a number of Maya sites located in the central and southern Maya lowlands (e.g., the Petén region). Complexes of this type consist of a stepped pyramid main structure, situated on the western side of a quadrilateral plaza or platform. A raised but rather elongated structure appears along the eastern side of the plaza, running north–south; a variation has three smaller temple mounds on top of or replacing this platform, the middle of these substructures placed directly opposite the main structure. Often, two other subsidiary structures appear on the north and south sides of the plaza, respectively. The main western structure is typically terraced (i.e. has several levels), with inset stairways on each of its four sides, with only the eastern stairway, leading from the plaza, providing access to the summit. The stairways have large balustrades which protrude from the pyramid, which were decorated with large stucco masks and panels of architectural art. In other examples, believed to be of a later date, this quadripartite stairway configuration is lacking.

E-group complexes are named after their prototypical example, Structure E-VII-sub at the site of Uaxactun. 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.

It has been theorized that these E-groups are observatories, because the eponymous group at Uaxactun contains alignments corresponding approximately to sunrises on the solstices and equinoxes. However, all other E-groups have different orientations, which pertain to widespread groups of astronomical alignments that are also embedded in a number of buildings of other types; hence the term "observatory" applied to these assemblages is hardly warranted. Other ideas seem to stem from the possible creation story told by the relief and artwork that adorns these structures.

Ballcourts

See also: Mesoamerican ballcourt Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza 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. The playing alleys of ballcourts were defined by two long walls. Courts built earlier in Maya history (as at Cobá) had sloped sides, while ones built later (as at Chichén Itzá) had vertical sides. Frequently, the ends were enclosed so as to create an -shaped court when viewed from above.

When the Maya played games in the Ballcourts, the ball was made of solid rubber and was sometimes as much as a foot in diameter. It was passed between teams ranged on opposite ends of the court. The players could hit it only with their knees or hips, much like football or soccer today. Points could be scored when the opponents failed to return the ball correctly. In central Mexico, and in late times in Yucatán, rings of stone were set high up in the side walls of the court. It was considered a particular triumph for a player to knock the ball through the ring. There is evidence that some of the human sacrifices performed by the Maya took place in the ballgames, including cravings of the decapitation rituals in the walls of the ballcourts.

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Cave sites[edit]

Main article: Maya cave sites

There are also cave sites that are important to the Maya; some of these include: Jolja Cave, the cave site at Naj Tunich, the Candelaria Caves, and the Cave of the Witch. Some cave sites are part of sacred beliefs, symbolism, and creation myths among the Maya. Cave sites are still used by the modern Maya for rituals and ceremonies today in the Chiapas highlands in Mexico. Some of these caves were completely or partially artificial. Many of the artificial caves were constructed for rituals, making them part of the ceremonial architecture and incredibly important for their religion.  Some Maya groups were named after Caves, them being important components of the landscape and the locations of those same groups.    They are structured differently, and sometimes the ceremonies vary depending on the structure.  Even the smaller caves were valued by the people.

Other Constructions

Residential Groups and Households

(see also Maya households)

The Maya households were architecturally adapted to residential groups. The households were organized according to lineage and socioeconomic characteristics: the elite groups and the common people.  The classic Maya lived within family circles, residing in isolated structures placed around plazas.   Those structures as a group around the plazas are called residential groups.  The domestic structures were made of stone, and there is no congruence in the numbers of units per group or in the size and levels of the construction. Some of the units included kitchens, bathrooms, and spaces for domestic rituals. Some of the upper-class Maya even had burial spaces in their units. However, there is archeological evidence proving that these spaces were not exclusively domestic.  Like in many other structures constructed by the Maya, in some of the houses, rituals and religious ceremonies were performed. There are also many studies about possible and intended astronomical orientation of how the Residential Groups were constructed.