Theory: Palimpsest

1. The site is very carved into, and the surfaces of the buildings contain a vast amount of details and information about the Mayan culture and the daily life patterns of that time; how they were heavily influenced by the cosmos, and how their religion affected how they built. They constantly built on top of their old structures and added more and more as time progressed, signifying perhaps an idea of the cycle of life. Birth, death and rebirth. In this sense the temples act as a palimpsest. Layer upon layer of ideas, information about their culture at the time, religious practices and sacrifices, ideas and memories of its people. This also establishes an idea of hierarchy within the construct itself.

2. Not only were the Mayans influenced by their beliefs and culture, but the landscape of the Uxmal site has also been carved into, or at least gives the appearance of having been carved out of the hills. Their temples and constructs look as though they belong to the site. Even though one of the buildings is on a man made hill, the main temple looks as though it was carefully dug out of the environment.