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Study Aid 18: October 30
LECTURE 19: MESOAMERICA: THE MAYAS
Maya subsistence and settlement
patterns: Agriculture based on combination of swidden (slash
and burn) farming, intensive river bank farming, fish harvesting, water
conservation, cultivation of corn, beans, pumpkins, chiles, chayotes, jicama,
gourds, papayas, avocados and planting of Ramon/breadnut trees and storage of
nuts in Chultuns. Diet included birds and domesticated and wild
mammals. Dispersed settlements. House mounds with dwellings
usually grouped: thatched houses with wooden walls and supports, kitchen with
metate and mano, midden dump nearby. Monumental architecture:
cut limestone blocks over rubble core covered in lime plaster. Corbel
vaulted interiors.
TIKAL (Peten, Guatemala) Peak occupation ca. 550-950 CE
Site occupied 600 BCE; first stone platforms in central Tikal 2C BCE;
Yax-Mach-Xoc founds dynasty in 238 CE which rules Tikal until its demise in
9C CE. Conquest of Uaxactun 376; Tikal occupied by outsiders 7C CE after which
great architectural alterations and final florescence occurred.
North Acropolis: 1C BCE North
Acropolis elite tombs begin, continually modernized until 8C.
Great Plaza with temples I and II, ball
court (use of rubber ball, story of Hero Twins in Popul Voh),
stelae as markers.
Temple
I (Temple of the Giant Jaguar) Burial of Ruler A (Ah Cacau) 727 CE. (note
9 level pyramid base, triple chambers of temple, corbel vaulting, roof comb,
temple resemblance to Mayan vernacular structures)
Temple II (Temple of the Masks) 8C CE, no burial found, perhaps
erected for wife of Ah Cacau.[sections,
elevations, plan, Temple
II] In addition to Temples
I and II there are several others, Temple IV being the largest. [Temple
III, aerial
view east at Temples II, III, IV]
Central
Acropolis Apparently residential or palace quarter with corbel
vaulted rooms facing views and courts. [plan,
exterior,
another exterior,
interior]
Other features: Sacbeobs/roads; Twin pyramid complexes; the
wall between Uaxactun and Tikal.
PALENQUE (Chiapas, Mexico) 300-810 CE
Palace dedicated by Pacal in 659 [plan,
view]
Temple
of Inscriptions, over tomb of Pacal (Shield) who died 683 CE (note
pyramidal base of 9 levels, temple walls with record of reign, stucco
decoration showing accession of Chan-Bahlum [Pacal's son], stairs
to tomb chamber, spirit tube, sarcophagus with lid depicting Pacal falling
from World Tree to Xibalba, 5 sacrificial victims) [drawing,
interior
detail]
Temple
of the Sun, Temple
of the Cross, Temple of the Foliated Cross built by Chan-Bahlum as
dynastic propaganda in 7C. Note triadic theme in temples arrangement
and internal design, carved depictions of Pacal, World Tree, and Chan-Bahlum,
exteriors with entablatures, light roofcombs, stucco decorations. [Temple of
the Sun sections,
plan]
Lintel
with decoded heiroglyphics at Yaxchilan
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