Engineering problems in ancient maya architecture: Past, present, and future

In the 1920s, during the first archaeological excavations at Uaxactún, Petén, Guatemala, an architectural complex named Group E was interpreted as an ancient Maya astronomical observatory, intended specifically for sighting the equinoctial and solstitial sunrises. In the following decades, a large number of architectural compounds with the same configuration have been found, most of them in the central lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula. The multiple hypotheses that have been proposed about the astronomical function of these complexes, commonly designated as E Groups, range from those attributing them a paramount role in astronomical observations to those that consider them merely allegorical or commemorative allusions to celestial cycles, without any observational use. This study, based on quantitative analyses of a reasonably large sample of alignment data, as well as on contextual evidence, shows that many of the previous hypotheses cannot be sustained. I argue that E Groups, although built primarily for ritual purposes, were astronomically functional, but also that they had no specific or particularly prominent role in astronomical observations. Their orientations belong to widespread alignment groups, mostly materialized in buildings of other types and explicable in terms of some fundamental concerns of the agriculturally-based Maya societies. I present the evidence demonstrating that the astronomical orientations initially embedded in E Groups, which represent the earliest standardized form of Maya monumental architecture and whose occurrence in practically all early cities in the central Yucatan peninsula attests to their socio-political significance, were later transferred to buildings and compounds of other types. Therefore, it is precisely the importance of the astronomically and cosmologically significant directions, first incorporated in E Groups, that allows us to understand some prominent aspects of ancient Maya architecture and urbanism.

Download Full-text

THE SACRED MOUNTAIN IN SOCIAL CONTEXT. SYMBOLISM AND HISTORY IN MAYA ARCHITECTURE: TEMPLE 22 AT COPAN, HONDURAS

Ancient Mesoamerica ◽

10.1017/s0956536111000319 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 22 (2) ◽

pp. 271-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jennifer von Schwerin

Keyword(s):

Social Context ◽

Historical Context ◽

Ancient Maya ◽

Space And Time ◽

Leading Role ◽

Historical Factors ◽

The Social ◽

Maya Architecture ◽

Sacred Mountain

AbstractDid Mesoamerican temples really symbolize sacred mountains? If so, what accounts for their varying forms across space and time? Through a socio-historical and iconographic approach, it is now becoming possible to explain the social and historical factors for why design in ancient Maya temples varied. Using these methods, this paper reconstructs and reinterprets one famous “sacred mountain” in the Maya region: Temple 22, at Copan, Honduras, dedicated by king Waxaklajuun Ub'aah K'awiil ina.d.715. Since 1998, the author has led a project to conserve, document, analyze, and hypothetically reconstruct thousands of sculptures from the building's collapsed façades. In design and symbolism, the building probably represented not just a mountain, but the Maya universe. In its more specific historical context, Temple 22 was designed as royal rhetoric to affirm order at a disorderly moment, and used both traditional and innovative forms to assert Copan's leading role on the boundary of the Maya world.

Download Full-text

Did the Maya Build Architectural Cosmograms?

Latin American Antiquity ◽

10.2307/30042813 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 217-224 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Michael E. Smith

Keyword(s):

Classic Maya ◽

Ancient Maya ◽

Early Colonial ◽

Maya Architecture ◽

Graphic Representations ◽

Late Postclassic

AbstractI criticize recent applications of the “cosmogram” concept to ancient Maya architecture and cities. Although cosmograms—graphic representations of aspects of the cosmos—are known from Late Postclassic and early colonial Aztec and Maya sources, there is no textual suggestion that buildings or cities were viewed as cosmograms. Numerous authors, however, assert confidently that architectural cosmograms abounded in Classic Maya cities. I examine known cosmograms, describe recent studies of architectural cosmograms, and discuss problems that occur when highly speculative interpretations are phrased as confident empirical findings.

Download Full-text

Astronomy and Architecture in the Maya Lowlands

Journal of Skyscape Archaeology ◽

10.1558/jsa.30050 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 189-215 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ivan Šprajc ◽

Pedro Francisco Sánchez Nava

Keyword(s):

Urban Planning ◽

Cultural Landscape ◽

Systematic Research ◽

Agricultural Activities ◽

Ancient Maya ◽

Maya Lowlands ◽

Maya Architecture ◽

Orientation Group ◽

Shed Light ◽

Selection Of

This article summarises recent systematic research into the use and significance of astronomical orientations in ancient Maya architecture, and shows how by applying a more rigorous methodology to a large number of orientations we were able to detect alignment patterns that shed light on the validity of former hypotheses and provide a basis for novel interpretations. Our measurements and analysis confirm that orientations to the Sun’s position on the horizon, which largely prevail, allowed the use of observational calendars composed of multiples of 13 and 20 days and were also intended to facilitate proper scheduling of agricultural activities. Further, while some buildings recorded Venus extremes, a previously unknown orientation group has been found to refer to major lunar standstill positions. Some important buildings, aside from exhibiting astronomical orientations, are aligned to prominent features of natural or cultural landscape, implying a deliberate selection of these places for their construction. Discussing some relevant contextual evidence, we argue that Maya architectural and urban planning was dictated by a complex set of rules, in which astronomical considerations and their practical uses were embedded in a broader framework of cosmological concepts.

Download Full-text