Fig. 75.—Examples of Maya buildings.

(After Holmes)

One of the principal features of Mayan architecture, as also Mexican, is the fact that all buildings of importance are constructed on raised foundations, varying in form from low platform mounds, often of irregular shape, to lofty pyramidal structures (Fig. [73]). The two are not infrequently found combined, and a platform-mound sometimes supports a group of pyramids on which temples were erected. The sides of the platform-mound are sometimes given a steep slope, or are sometimes built vertical or nearly so, the latter form being characteristic rather of Yucatan. The pyramids are usually of the stepped variety, and the risers of the steps are frequently sloped; they are provided with a main stairway on one face, and sometimes with supplemental stairways on the other faces, as in the case of the so-called “Castillo” at Chichen Itza, which can be seen to the left of Pl. [XXVIII]; p. 348. In this building, and also at Copan, the stairway is furnished with ornamental balustrades, those at Chichen being carved in the form of two monstrous snakes of which the heads are extended on the ground at the foot of the pyramid. Practically all pyramid-mounds served as the support for buildings, though a certain number, without stairways, have been found which are simply burial-mounds. An exception occurs at Tikal (according to Tozzer), and perhaps in other places, where high pyramids with stairways appear to have had no crowning structures, and were possibly used as sites for offerings made in the open air. The material of which such structures are built is earth and rubble, and they have usually been faced with stone dressed with more or less accuracy, any imperfections being concealed with stucco. In some cases, notably at Copan, excavation has revealed the presence of a cement layer at some depth beneath the surface. This is probably an indication that the pyramid at some period has been enlarged, and it may be said that similar evidence of the practice of adding to existing structures is found elsewhere in the Maya area. The buildings which crown the foundation-mounds vary in type from simple, single-chambered edifices to elaborate complexes such as are found at Palenque and Menché, but as a matter of fact the construction is essentially the same throughout. The form of the typical Maya building was to a great extent conditioned by the fact that the primitive architect was ignorant of the principle of the true arch. It is possible that some buildings may have been furnished with flat roofs by means of wooden beams, but if so the beams have decayed and the buildings have fallen in; such structures as have survived were built as follows (Figs. [74] and [77]; pp. 323 and 329): The walls, built very thick, were carried vertically up to the desired height, and then the mason commenced to build inwards at a very wide angle, allowing successive courses to overlap, until those on opposite walls approached near enough for the space to be bridged by single slabs. Meanwhile the outer faces of the walls were carried up vertically or at a slope, and the exterior of the roof was finished off flat or with a very slight gable respectively. The distance between the spring of the vault and the apex was considerable, and this gave to the exterior face of Maya buildings a very deep entablature (Fig. [74, h]) which afforded a magnificent space for ornament. The entablature is separated from the wall proper, which is usually unornamented, by a projecting cornice or “string-course” (Fig. [74, g]), the design of which varies according to locality, and in some of the Chichen buildings the lower portion of the wall is battered. The form of vault limited the width of the chamber to ten feet or so, but placed no restrictions upon its length, and at Palenque we find long corridor-like chambers, with frequent doorways, built upon this principle. In Yucatan the entablature is nearly always perpendicular (Fig. [74, h]), at Tikal and Menché it slopes slightly backward, and at Palenque the slope is considerable (Fig. [77]; p. 329); but these are inessential details, and it may be said that the typical Maya building is a solid, box-like structure containing a narrow chamber vaulted as described above. Even the more complex edifices are nothing more than an agglomeration of such chambers, and the type holds good for the whole of the Maya region. The nature of the Maya vault embodies the principle, in the words of Spinden, of “the downward thrust of a load on over-stepping stones,” and this thrust was often increased by the addition of a superstructure, usually known as a “roof-comb” (Figs. [74, l], and [75, e]). This addition reached its greatest dimensions at Tikal, where it usually resembles a very high-pitched stepped mound, sometimes solid, sometimes enclosing one or more very narrow blind chambers (Fig. [76, 9, a, and 11]). The roof-comb was present also at Menché and probably at Naranjo and Piedras Negras (though not at Copan or Quirigua), but attains its greatest artistic development at Palenque (see Pl. [XXVII]; p. 342), where it is a light and airy structure, pierced with open-work, and elaborately ornamented with stucco reliefs. In Yucatan the roof-comb, where found, differs from those of the central Maya area in consisting, not of two inclined walls, but of a single vertical wall (Fig. [74, l]), and it is often replaced by an elaborate false front, (Fig. [74, j]), rising above the vertical entablature, the ornament of which it carries up to a greater height. But though the roof-comb may by its weight have assisted in giving stability to the Maya building, it was by no means essential, the thick walls and solid roof were constructed of stones freely mixed with mortar, and the result was a structure which was practically a monolith; in fact, the Maya built caves, the exterior surfaces of which they faced with a veneer of dressed slabs, often, especially in Yucatan, carved and arranged to form elaborate mosaic decoration. Their method of building was extremely wasteful of space, and Holmes says of the so-called “Governor’s Palace” at Uxmal, figured on Pl. [XXX]; p. 358, “We find by a rough computation that the structure occupies some 325,000 cubic feet of space, upwards of 200,000 of which is solid masonry, while only about 110,000 feet is chamber-space. If the substructure be taken into account, the mass of masonry is to the chamber-space approximately as 40 to 1.” In the case of the buildings at Tikal, the proportion of chamber-space is considerably less (see Fig. [76, 11]). In some cases at any rate the connection of the superimposed building with the foundation-mound on which it rested is emphasized by the fact that the walls of the former continue downwards into the heart of the latter (according to Holmes), possibly even to the ground-level. The doorways by which these buildings were entered are for the most part simple. In the more massive structures, such as Tikal and Copan, a single doorway seems to have been the rule; but at the sites which display greater architectural advancement, such as Palenque, the front is often broken by a series of doorways so close together that the wall becomes little more than a series of square pillars (Fig. [75, d]). Round columns are found only in Yucatan, especially at Chichen Itza, associated with those buildings which are attributed to a later date (Pl. [XXIX]). It is interesting to note that, while in the Old World the column is based for the most part on vegetal forms, in this country the animal world has been laid under contribution. The Chichen columns are carved to represent feathered serpents, with their heads upon the ground and their tails elevated in the air, exactly similar to the columns which have been found at Tulan in Mexico. Stone was employed for lintels, especially at Menché, where they are elaborately carved, but wood was used almost more frequently. The carved lintels of Tikal (see Fig. [48]; p. 225), of the durable zapote wood, are among the finest examples of Maya art, and have survived owing to the solidity of the buildings and their single doorways. At Palenque and in Yucatan the wooden lintels, being less well protected, have vanished, and their decay has often contributed to the downfall of the structure; at the same time the fact that many of the buildings have not suffered to any extent from the removal of the lintels emphasizes the monolithic character of the Maya building. Windows are practically non-existent, though openings in the walls between chambers are common, especially at Palenque (Fig. [77]; p. 329). As stated above, the typical Maya building is a simple rectangular chamber, as shown in the plan, Fig. [76, 1]. But it was capable of considerable elaboration, and the succeeding plans show some of the variations produced by the addition of subsidiary chambers and the breaking of the wall by means of doorways. The highest degree of complexity is seen at Palenque, where the main building contains a specially-built cell, furnished with a separate roof, to enshrine the mural tablet which probably served as an object of worship (Fig. [77]).

Fig. 76.—Ground-plans and elevations of Maya temples.

Fig. 77.—Section through the Temple of the Cross, Palenque (lintels restored): see Fig. 76, 6.