Maya cities were the administrative and ritual centers for regions, which included the city, itself and an agricultural hinterland.
The largest Maya cities were home to many people. At the major center of Tikal, for example, within a six-square-mile area, there were over 10,000 individual
structures ranging from
temple-
pyramids to thatched-
roof huts. Tikal's population is estimated at up to 60,000, giving it a population density several times greater than an average city in Europe or America at the same period in history.
A Maya city from the Classic Period usually consisted of a series of stepped platforms topped by masonry structures, ranging from great temple-pyramids and
palaces to individual house mounds. These structures were in turn arranged around broad plazas or courtyards. Maya architecture is characterized by a sophisticated sense of decoration and art, expressed in bas-relief carvings and wall paintings. At major sites like Tikal, stone roads or causeways might also have interconnected large buildings and complexes.
Temple Pyramids were the most striking feature of a Classic Maya city. They were built from hand-cut limestone blocks and towered over all surrounding structures. Although the temples themselves usually contained one or more
rooms, the rooms were so narrow that they could only have been used on ceremonial occasions not meant for public consumption.
Although the temples were the most imposing structures within a Maya city, the bulk of construction at a Maya site was composed of palaces, single-storey structures built like temple-pyramids but on much lower platforms and with as many as several dozen plastered rooms. Unlike temple-pyramids, palaces often contained one or two interior courtyards.
There is no real agreement on what the palaces were actually used for. Rulers and other elite might have lived in them, although the rooms are cramped and Spartan. Archaeologists suggest that nobles were more likely to have lived in less permanent buildings which haven't survived. Archaeologists also suggest that the cell-like rooms of the palaces could indicate that monks, nuns or priests lived there, although there is little evidence of ecclesiastical or monastic orders among the ancient Maya.
In some regions, groundwater was scarce, and large cities like Tikal would have had large man-made reservoirs to service their populations during the dry season. Many Maya sites had ball courts; others had sweat baths, possibly adopted from Mexico. Important cities also had multiple pillars placed in the stucco floors of plazas, usually facing important temples and palaces. The palaces were sometimes on platforms, supporting temple-pyramids, and usually had a low, round flat-topped altar in front of them.
Typical Maya architectural features included the corbel vault and the roof
comb. The corbel vault has no keystone, as European arches do, making the Maya vault appear more like a narrow triangle than an archway. It has been suggested that this unusual form exists because the Maya never mastered keystone technology. Others suggest that the lack of keystone was deliberate: the Maya vault always had nine stone layers, representing the nine layers of the Underworld. A keystone would have created a tenth layer, outside the Maya cosmology.
The Temple of the Sun, Palenque, was built by Chan-Bahlum ("snake-jaguar"), son of Pacal, ca. A.D. 690. Its roof comb had no structural function, but can be considered analogous to a headdress worn by a king. The Temple's mansard roof is decorated with the beautiful stucco figures for which Palenque is justly famous.
The Maya roof comb was a lattice of stone added despite the height of the temple-pyramids. Perhaps Maya architects didn't feel the temples were grand enough, and so added an upper extension. The roof comb was always highly decorated with painted stucco reliefs, as was the temple facade. Equally decorated were the doorways, doorjambs and facades of many other structures, which were ornamented with heavy carving in stone or wood.
(To be Conti…..)