Mesoamerican architecture
Mesoamerican architecture is the set of
One interesting and widely researched topic is the relation between
Another part of Mesoamerican architecture is its iconography. The monumental architecture of Mesoamerica was decorated with images of religious and cultural significance, and also in many cases with writing in some of the Mesoamerican writing systems. Iconographic decorations and texts on buildings are important contributors to the overall current knowledge of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican society, history and religion.
Chronology
The following tables show the different phases of Mesoamerican architecture and archeology and correlates them with the cultures, cities, styles and specific buildings that are notable from each period.
Period | Timespan | Important cultures, cities, structures and styles |
---|---|---|
Pre-Classic(Formative) | BC 2000–1000 | Gulf Coast cultures, Monte Alto Culture
|
Early Pre-Classic | BC 2000–1000 | Olmec centers |
Middle Pre-Classic | BC 1000–400 | Late Olmec and Early Maya, Kaminaljuyú
|
Late Pre-Classic | BC 400 – 200 AD | |
Classic | AD 200–900 | Classic Maya Centers, Teotihuacan, Zapotecs, Teuchitlan Tradition |
Early Classic | AD 200–600 | Teotihuacan apogee, Monte Albán III, Pacal the Great ,
|
Late Classic | AD 600–900 | Cobá, Yaxchilan Lintel 24
|
Post-Classic | AD 900–1519 | Maya Itzá, |
Early Post-Classic | AD 900–1200 | Kaminaljuyú
|
Late Post-Classic | AD 1200–1519 | Utatlán, Cempoala
|
Urban planning and cosmovision
Cosmos and its replication
Symbolism
An important part of the
Some Mesoamericanists argue that in religious symbolism the Mesoamerican monumental architecture pyramids were mountains, stelae were trees, and wells, ballcourts and cenotes were caves that provided access to the underworld.[2]
Orientation
Mesoamerican architecture is often designed to align to specific celestial events. Some pyramids, temples, and other structures were designed to achieve special lighting effects on particular days important in the Mesoamerican cosmovision. A famous example is the "El Castillo" pyramid at Chichen Itza, where a light-and-shadow effect can be observed during several weeks around the equinoxes. Contrary to a common opinion, however, there is no evidence that this phenomenon was the result of a purposeful design intended to commemorate the equinoxes.[3]
Much Mesoamerican architecture is also aligned to roughly 15° east of north.[4] Vincent H Malmstrom has argued[5] that this is because of a general wish to align the pyramids to face the sunset on August 13, which was the beginning date of the Maya Long Count calendar. However, recent research has shown that the earliest orientations marking sunsets on August 13 (and April 30) occur outside of the Maya area. Their purpose must have been to record the dates separated by a period of 260 days (from August 13 to April 30), equivalent to the length of the sacred Mesoamerican calendrical count. In general, the orientations in Mesoamerican architecture tend to mark the dates separated by multiples of 13 and 20 days, i.e. of basic periods of the calendrical system. The distribution of these dates in the year suggests that the orientations allowed the use of observational calendars that facilitated the prediction of agriculturally significant dates.[6][7] These conclusions are supported by the results of systematic research accomplished in various Mesoamerican regions, including central Mexico,[8] the Maya Lowlands,[9][10] Oaxaca, the Gulf Coast lowlands,[11] and western and northern Mesoamerica.[12] While solar orientations prevail, some prominent buildings were aligned to Venus extremes,[13] a notable example being the Governor's Palace at Uxmal.[14] Orientations to lunar standstill positions on the horizon have also been documented;[15] they are particularly common along the Northeast Coast of the Yucatán peninsula, where the worship of the goddess Ixchel, associated with the Moon, is known to have had an outstanding importance during the Postclassic period.[16]
The Plaza
Nearly every known ancient Mesoamerican city had one or more formal public plazas. They are typically large impressive spaces, surrounded by tall pyramids, temples, and other important buildings. Activities that would take place in these plazas would include private rituals, periodic markets, mass spectator ceremonies, participatory public ceremonies, feasts, and other popular celebrations.
The size of the main plazas in Mesoamerican cities differed greatly, the largest being located in Tenochtitlan with an estimated size of 115,000 square meters. This plaza is an outlier due to the population of the city being so large. The next largest estimated plaza is located in the Gulf Coast in the city of Cempoala (or Zempoala), measuring at 48,088 square meters.[17] Most plazas average at around 3,000 square meters, the smallest being at the site of Paxte which is 528 square meters. Some cities contain many smaller plazas throughout, while some focus their attention on a significantly large main plaza.
Tenochtitlan
Tenochtitlan was an Aztec city that thrived from 1325 to 1521. The city was built on an island, surrounded on all sides by Lake Texcoco. It consisted of an elaborate system of canals, aqueducts, and causeways allowing the city to supply its residents. The island was about 12 square kilometers and had a population of approximately 125,000 people, making it the largest Mesoamerican city ever recorded. The main plaza of Tenochtitlan was approximately 115,000 square meters, or 11.5 ha (28 acres).[18] The main temple of Tenochtitlan known as Templo Mayor or the Great Temple was 100 meters by 80 meters at its base, and 60 meters tall.[19] The city ultimately fell in 1521 when it was destroyed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1521. Cortés and the Spaniards raided the city for its gold supply and artifacts, leaving little behind of the Aztec's civilization.
At the monumental Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan, archaeologists discovered that the Aztec enlarged the temple seven times, with five extra façades, but always kept intact the basic dual symbolism of the rain god Tlaloc and the tribute/war god Huitzilopochtli. Mexican Archaeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma has shown that the symbolic and ritual life of this imperial shrine unified the patterns of forced tributary payments from hundreds of communities with the agricultural and hydraulic subsystems of food production.[20]
Pyramids
Often the most important religious temples sat atop the towering pyramids, presumably as the closest place to the heavens. While recent discoveries point toward the extensive use of pyramids as tombs, the temples themselves seem to rarely, if ever, contain burials. Residing atop the pyramids, some of over two-hundred feet, such as that at El Mirador, the temples were impressive and decorated structures themselves. Commonly topped with a roof comb, or superficial grandiose wall, these temples might have served as a type of propaganda.
Pyramid of the Sun
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest structure created in the city of Teotihuacan and one of the largest structures in the entire Western Hemisphere. It stands at about 216 feet and is roughly 720 by 760 ft (220 by 230 m) at its base. The pyramid is located on the east side of the avenue of the dead which runs almost directly down the center of the city of Teotihuacan. After archaeologists discovered animal remains, masks, figurines, specifically one of the Aztec god Huehueteotl, and shards of clay pots in the pyramid, it was agreed upon that the pyramid was likely a ritual temple at one point.[21]
Temple of the Feathered Serpent
The Temple of the Feathered Serpent was constructed after the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon had been completed. The temple marks one of the first uses of the architecture style of talud-tablero. On the surfaces, the temple had murals illustrated on them just like so many temples that were built at the same time and by the same people. The tableros featured large serpent heads complete with elaborate headdresses. The feathered serpent refers to the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl.[22]
Ballcourts
The
Although the alleys in early ball courts were open-ended, later ball courts had enclosed end-zones, giving the structure an -shape when viewed from above. The playing alley may be at ground level, or the ball court may be "sunken".
Ball courts were no mean feats of engineering. One of the sandstone stones on El Tajin's South Ball court is 11 m long and weighs more than 10 tons.[24]
Residential quarters and elite residences
Large and often highly decorated, the palaces usually sat close to the center of a city and housed the population's elite. Any exceedingly large royal palace, or one consisting of many chambers on different levels might be referred to as an acropolis. However, often these were one-story and consisted of many small chambers and typically at least one interior courtyard; these structures appear to take into account the needed functionality required of a residence, as well as the decoration required for their inhabitants stature.
Archaeologists seem to agree that many palaces are home to various tombs. At Copán, 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.
Building materials
The most surprising aspect of the great Mesoamerican structures is their lack of many advanced technologies that would seem to be necessary for such constructions. Lacking metal tools, Mesoamerican architecture required one thing in abundance: manpower. Yet, beyond this enormous requirement, the remaining materials seem to have been readily available. They most often utilized limestone, which remained pliable enough to be worked with stone tools while being quarried, and only hardened once when removed from its bed. In addition to the structural use of limestone, much of their mortar consisted of crushed, burnt, and mixed limestone that mimicked the properties of cement and was used just as widely for stucco finishing as it was for mortar. However, later improvements in quarrying techniques reduced the necessity for this limestone-stucco as their stones began to fit quite perfectly, yet it remained a crucial element in some post and lintel roofs.
A common building material in central Mexico was tezontle (a light, volcanic rock). It was common for palaces and monumental structures to be made of this rough stone and then covered with stucco or with a cantera veneer. Very large and ornate architectural ornaments were fashioned from a very enduring stucco (kalk), especially in the Maya region, where a type of hydraulic limestone cement or concrete was also used.[25] In the case of the common houses, wooden framing, adobe, and thatch were used to build homes over stone foundations. However, instances of what appear to be common houses of limestone have been discovered as well. Buildings were typically finished with high slanted roofs usually built of wood or thatch although stone roofs in these high slant fashions are also used rarely.
Styles
Megalithic
An architectural construction technique that employs large dry-laid limestone blocks (c. 1 m × 50 cm × 30 cm) covered with a thick layer of stucco. This style was common in the northern Maya lowlands from the Preclassic until the early parts of the Early Classic.
Talud-tablero
Pyramids in Mesoamerican were platformed pyramids and many used a style called talud-tablero, which first became common in Teotihuacan. This style consists of a platform structure, or the "tablero," on top of a sloped "talud". Many different variants on the talud-tablero style arose throughout Mesoamerica, developing and manifesting itself differently among the various cultures.
Classic Period Maya styles
Palenque, Tikal, Copán, Tonina, the corbeled arch.
"Toltec" Style
Chichén Itzá, Tula Hidalgo,
Puuc
So named after the Puuc hills in which this style developed and flourished during the latter portion of the Late Classic and throughout the Terminal Classic in the northern Maya lowlands, Puuc architecture consists of veneer facing stones applied to a concrete core. Two façades were typically built, partitioned by a ridge of stone. The blank lower façade is formed by flat cut stones and punctuated by doorways. The upper partition is richly decorated with repeating geometric patterns and iconographic elements, especially the distinctive curved-nosed Chaac masks. Carved columnettes are also common.
Technology
Corbelled arch
Mesoamerican cultures never invented the
However, recent work by engineer James O'Kon suggests the Mesoamerican "arch" is technically not a corbelled arch at all but a trapezium truss system. Moreover, unlike a corbelled arch, it does not rely on overlapping layers of blocks but cast-in-place concrete often supported by timber thrust beams. Computer analysis reveals this to be structurally superior to a curved arch[26][dubious ]
True arch
Scholars such as David Eccott and Gordon Ekholm argue that
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
A number of important archeological sites representing Mesoamerican architecture have been categorized as "World Heritage Sites" by the UNESCO.[31]
El Salvador
- Maya site of Joya de Cerén
Honduras
- Maya Site of Copán
Guatemala
- Tikal National Park
- Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
Mexico
- Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque
- Pre-Hispanic Town of Uxmal
- Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan
- Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán
- Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen Itza
- Archaeological Monuments Zone of Xochicalco, Morelos
- El Tajin, Pre-Hispanic City of Veracruz
- Ancient Maya City of Calakmul, Campeche
- Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco (with templo mayor and adjacent temples)[32]
- Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila (with guachimonotones and near teuchitlán culture sites)[33]
- Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca (with the yagul archeological site)[34]
See also
- Maya architecture
- Mayan Revival architecture
- Maya city
- Buildings and structures in Mesoamerica
- Triadic pyramid
Notes
- ^ Mary Miller and Karl Taube, introduction to "The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya" p. 30.
- ^ Mary Miller and Karl Taube write about this in their introduction to "The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya" pp. 31, they attribute this interpretation to Epigrapher David Stuart. American archeologist James E. Brady have done extensive research on importance of caves in Mesoamerican culture. The title of the famous book "Forest of Kings" by Mayanist Linda Schele also alludes to the Mayan belief that stelae represent trees, especially the world tree, axis mundi of the Mayan cosmos.
- ^ Šprajc, Ivan; Sánchez Nava, Pedro Francisco (2018). "El Sol en Chichén Itzá y Dzibilchaltún: la supuesta importancia de los equinoccios en Mesoamérica". Arqueología Mexicana. 25 (149): 26–31.
- ^ Aveni and Gibbs. Other researchers give other estimates or averages, but there is a remarkable consistency across time and space to this general orientation.
- ^ In Chapter 22 of Archaeoastronomy in the Americas, edited by Ray A. Williamson, Ballena Press/Center for Archaeoastronomy, 1981, pp. 249–61, which can also be found at his website Archived 2006-11-03 at the Wayback Machine. See also John Q Jacobs article for more information on the alignments of Mesoamerican Cities
- ISBN 978-0-292-70504-3.
- S2CID 149439162.
- ISBN 978-970-18-4180-8.
- ^ Aveni, A.; Hartung, H. (1986). Maya City Planning and the Calendar. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society.
- ISBN 978-607-484-727-7.
- ISBN 978-961-254-816-2.
- ISBN 978-961-254-892-6.
- S2CID 118585661.
- Bibcode:2015hae..book.....R.
- ^ Šprajc, Ivan (2016). "Lunar alignments in Mesoamerican architecture" (PDF). Anthropological Notebooks. 22 (3): 61–85.
- ISBN 978-961-254-896-4.
- ^ Ossa, Alanna (2017). The Size of Plazas in Mesoamerican Cities and Towns: A Quantitative Analysis. The Society for American Archaeology.
- ^ Jarus, Owen. "Tenochtitlan: History of Aztec Capital". Live Science. Live Science Contributor. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ^ Alex, Bridget. "The Great Aztec Temple". Discover. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
- ISBN 9780195188431
- ^ "The Pyramid of the Sun". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ISBN 9781118981610.
- ^ Muriel Porter Weaver describes this on pp. 226–28 of the third edition of "The Aztecs, Maya and their Predecessors".
- ^ Wilkerson, p. 50.
- ^ James A O'Kon, The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology Pompton Plaines: Career Press 2012, pp. 114–23
- ^ James A. O'Kon, The Secrets of Maya Technology, Pompton Plains: New Page, 2012, pp. 149–50
- ^ Schwerin, Karl. "The Arch in Mesoamerica".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ISBN 9781134720651.
- ^ Eccot, David J. "THE TRUE ARCH: AN ABSENT TRAIT IN PRECOLUMBIAN AMERICA?".
- ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2018-05-19.
- ^ The entire list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites can be found at their website
- ^ "Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
Further reading
- Bernal, I; Coe, M; et al. (1973). The Iconography of Middle American sculpture. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Leibsohn, Dana, and Barbara E. Mundy, "The Mechanics of the Art World", Vistas: Visual Culture in Spanish America, 1520–1820 (2015).
External links
- Media related to Mesoamerican architecture at Wikimedia Commons