The Box Ni Group of Naranjal, and Early Architecture of the Maya Lowlands (original) (raw)
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An Investigation of Preclassic Maya Architecture: The Round Platforms of Cahal Pech, Belize
2014
In the area of the ancient Maya Lowlands, there is an architectural tradition just recently coming to light in regional scholarship. Round structures, sometime referred to as platforms based on their low height and usual lack of superstructure, are low circular constructions that appear to flourish in the Preclassic Period (900 BCAD 300). However, after the transition to the Classic Period (AD 300900), these round forms are entirely replaced by a more rectilinear building tradition. The relative popularity of the round structures -present in many sites across the region -and the sudden abandonment of the form has intrigued Maya scholars. One such structure was partially excavated at the site of Cahal Pech in the Upper Belize River Valley in the 2012 field season. The structure appeared to fit the current pattern having an apparent Preclassic date based on excavation depths and stratigraphy. The function of this structure and others like it remained elusive at the time of excavation....
Pseira V: The Architecture of Pseira, 2001
Build ing AC, looking north. The double wall to retain the fill in the western part of the hnilcling (AC. 1) is at the center of the photograph. A. Detail of the south wall of Wing BV of Building BS/BV, looking north, showing the megalithic ma sonry facing the Plateia, set partly on bedrock. B. Uncoursed nibble masonry in .AD 4. constructed around a large outcrop of limestone bedrock (xdsible at the lower right of the photograph). A. The exterior wall of AC 2 and AC 3, looking south. B. C^oursed rubble masoniy at the northwest cor ner of Block AN. A. The exterior of Room BS 1, looking east, showing the coursed slab masonry of the wall and the bench. B. Coursed slabs in the north wall of the Grand Staircase (.ACi 1), looking north, with the lower section (at the left) butted against the uphill corner. C Megalithic masonr\ facing a street, at the .south east corner of BE 10, looking east. The smooth block at the upper right is an aeolian sandstone ashlar block. A. Megalithic wall in Building AM, in the north wall, shcjwing the exterior. B. I he south facade of Wing BV of Building BS/BV, showing the lowest course of megalithic masonry. A. Large blocks used in pseudo-isodomic masonry in the west facade of Building .AN. B. Fhe east wall of Room AD 9, looking east, showing a large slab .set vertically in the wall and surrounded by rubble ma sonry. A. Building AB, looking southeast. The paved room is at the right. B. Room .AF S, showing the paving of the street that predates the LM I building. Building AM, looking west from just outside the entrance. The double retaining wall for the massive fill m this room is at the top of the photograph. A bench is at right angles to the doorway, at the kiwer right of the photograph. The blocks with the white veins are limestone, and the bench, threshold, and pa\ing slabs are metacarbonate. A. Threshold block in Building AB as seen from inside the building, looking northeast. B. Slab u.sed at the eritrance to Building BS/BV, perhaps for a wooden threshold. A. Staircase in Building AD Center, Space AD 5, looking east. B. .Staircase in Building BX, looking east. A. Aerial view of the sottoscala in Building BC, Space BC 6 (lower center). B. The soffoscala, looking east. The entrance to the building is at the top of the photograph. estibule in Area BH, Room BH 1, looking southwest. B. Stairs at the west of the vestibule, looking west. ® bl vestibule in Area BH, Room BH 1, showing the paving slabs and the threshold of the threshold block in Room BH 1. A bench faced with pln llite slabs is shown at the upper right of the photograph. A ^^^'^^ule in Building BS/BV. B. The L-shaped bench in the vestibule, looking east. hit u ^ Building BC, Room BC 9, looking east. B. Room AF 7, looking north from the kitchen. Room AF 6. o , g s Street near Space AF 1, seen from above. B. The plailbrm ac ross the southern side Roo^l^ ]4 ' southwest. The hearth is at the right of the bench.
1994
Geometry means literally "measure of the earth." Its origins are said to have resulted from the annual flooding of the River Nile, an occurrence which obliterated established agricultural boundaries on a regular basis. After the beneficial flood had receded, the arable land of the Nile Valley-the earth as it were-had to be remeasured and boundaries reset. In response to this need, the ancient Egyptians developed the use of integral right triangles of which the proportional 3,4,5 right triangle is the primary unit. At a later date, knowledge of this geometry was adopted by the Greeks who developed its features into a philosophy as well as a sophisticated system of mathematics. To form an integral right triangle, two numbers "p" and "q" are selected. These numbers must be relatively prime, meaning that they do not have a common factor, cannot be both even or odd, and p must be greater than q. Then the formula for the measure of the three sides of the triangle is; a=p2-q2, l=)pq, c=p2+q2 (Encyclopedia Britannica 1983, vol. 13:349).
Round Structures in Pre-Columbian Maya Architecture
2010
The formal and functional evolution of round structures in the Maya architecture is connected with social evolution, both on the micro-and macroscale. Round stage-like platforms are essential ritual elements in an egalitarian or oligarchic society. Round temples and astronomic observatories refl ect changes in the cult of the Wind God, triggered by the demise of Teotihuacan. Abandonment of this type of architecture during the Classic period is a consequence of the rise to power of K'uhul Ajawob -Divine Rulers. Reappearance of stages at the end of Late Classic occurs after a decrease of power concentration in the hands of Ajaw and the emergence of a new type of shared rule -Multepal, the City Council.
Directional layouts in central lowland Maya settlement
Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 40: 2373-2383, 2013
This paper suggests the existence of non-random, directional patterns in the location of housemounds across the Late Classic Maya settlement landscape at Baking Pot, Belize, and then explores the wider implications of this patterning in the central Maya lowlands. It introduces an anisotropic method e based on nearest neighbour bearings and successive grid offsets e in order to explore possible rectilinear organisation in settlement layouts despite the presence of uneven and irregular patterns of archaeological dating and recovery. The results suggest a grid-like distribution of houseplots and, by implication, also a set of routes running throughout the housemound landscape and local Maya neighbourhoods during the site's Late and Terminal Classic history. Furthermore, different possible alignments in different parts of the site are tentatively regarded as an indication of shifting orientations to localised grids, following the shift in alignment of monumental architecture, as the settlement landscape expanded over time. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings with respect to the broader interpretation of Maya settlement patterns.
1985
Ar"hit""ture arose from a basic human need for shelter. It carne into existence with the construction of simple freestanding dwellings that replaced the use ofcaves and rock shelters by early hunting-and-gathering societies. while such houses served the primary function of protection from the elements and utilized building materials readily available in the immediate environment, their design was determined at least partly by human factors involving the perception of specialized needs and aesthetics.