Final Layout

Uxmal: Site's Influence on Layered Constructions

Diagrammatic Edge of the South Temple

This diagrammatic edge shows the rising elevations and growing dimensions of the superimposed, layered constructions of Uxmal. Each new layering of structure completely envelopes the one below, creating an entirely new set of spaces. The diagrammatic edge extends and branches out from the South Temple to show its skewed alignments with the surrounding constructions.

The Mayan Priesthood

The priesthood in its entirety was the keeper of knowledge concerning the deities and the cult. They had an extensive education of the calendars, astrology, divination, and prophecy. Because of their ability to interpret the heavens and the calendar, they had control of the populace’s daily activities. They knew when to plant and harvest, when to expect the dry or rainy season, etc. Their understanding of time, seasons, and cycles was immense. This intervention has created spaces for the priests and their daily activities in the Mayan society. The front, open public space and platform is for the Mayan rituals. Priests schedule these rituals and sacrifices according to alignments of the calendars and their history. These ceremonies were public events for the Mayan residents to observe the priesthood presenting but not necessarily participate in. The priests who performed the sacrifices (called “ah nakom”) were on the bottom of the priesthood hierarchy. They led the captive from a chamber below and to the calendar on the platform to do the dirty work. This public space is also where the town priest (called “ah k’in”) would announce their prophecy and instruction to the public. Following the platform around the side, you’re led to the first interior, private space for the priesthood. This room is a place for gathering and meeting. Each priest had his own role, and it’s in this space that they were able to collaborate with one another and their studies. This is where the oracle priest (called “chilan”) would inform the town priest on his predictions, to direct the town priest toward his next public instruction. This is also a place of teaching and learning. The high priest of the region (called “ahua cari mai”) taught the novices how to read and interpret the calendar and how to write in Mayan script. The following room is a place for the priests’ writings. Knowing their history heavily influenced the priests and their prophecy, for the Maya believed if you understand the cycles of the past, you can understand the cycles of today and of tomorrow. The high priests recorded their history in Mayan script for the next generations to study and learn from. This second private space serves as the home for these writings and a space from studying them. When exiting these internal spaces, you’re led to an enclosed corridor that opens up into another open platform in the rear of the intervention. This is a private space for the priests to study the heavens. The Maya are famous for their intensive study of astrology; it is how they developed their accurate, advanced calendars. The priests are able to observe and chart the movement of the planets in their private, rear, exterior space.

Artifact: Mayan Calendar

The Maya are most famous for their architecture, art, and advanced studies of mathematics and astrology. Mayan ruins are rich with clues about the mystery of this Mesoamerican society and are still studied today. These ancient city plans and structures are designed and constructed to meet the religious and ceremonial needs of the Mayans. The Maya worshipped and prayed to a numerous assortment of gods, each having their own unique, individual aspects that fulfilled different functions. Through their interactions and cultural diffusement with other Mesoamerican civilizations and their own studies of the stars, the Maya created a fully developed system of calendars. These calendars consisted of three separate systems (Long Count, Tzolk’in, and Haab) of tracking time that overlap and intersected at key points in each’s cycle. In the Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl (shown above) each cycle is represented. The sun god Tonatuiah is depicted in the center, surrounded by the four previous perished creations (jaguar, wind, rain, water). This is enveloped by the 20 day cycle of the Tzolk’in and the five dots for the five unlucky days that align the Tzolk’in 360 day cycle with the Haab 365 day cycle. It was the Mayan priest’s job to interpret these calendars’ cycles and give a prophetic outlook on the past or future to the Mayan population based on the calendars relationships. “The repetition of the various calendric cycles, the natural cycles of observable phenomena, and the recurrence and renewal of death-rebirth imagery in their mythological traditions were important influences upon Maya societies.”* The celestial and terrestrial cycles observed by the Mayans and inscribed in their calendars marked the timing of each ritual and ceremony. The Mayan calendar also allowed for the priest to record events in an elegant linear system. The Maya believed that knowing the past meant you could understand the cyclical influences of the present, and by understanding the present, they could understand the cyclical influences of the future.

*Coe (1992), Miller and Taube (1993).

South Group Edge Construct Diagram: Part 2

This diagrammatic edge shows the rising elevations and growing dimensions of the superimposed, layered constructions of Uxmal. Each new layering of structure completely envelopes the one below, creating an entirely new set of spaces. The diagrammatic edge extends and branches out from the South Temple to show its skewed alignments with the surrounding constructions.

South Group Edge Construct Diagram

Site's Influence on Layered Constructions

Uxmal’s constructions are layered in alignments relating to Jupiter’s cycle, demonstrating the Maya’s extensive study of the planets. Uxmal’s site plan was also deeply influenced by the topography of the Puuc region and the site’s isolation on the Yucatan peninsula.

Artifact: Mayan Calendar

This Mayan calendar, called the Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl, is carved basalt (solidified lava) that conveys the Maya's study of the stars and their beliefs. Tonatuih, the sun god, is centered on the stone and is surrounded by detailed articulations of the different calendar cycles. The ideas of religion and astrology on the calendar, both deeply affect the Maya's design. The stars guided the Maya in the design of their cities' orientations and the most important structures in the Mayan cities were constructed to glorify their gods.

Vocabulary

Puuc style
chultune
quadrangles
dovecote
superimposition
narthex
phases
complex
juxtaposition
orientation

Theory: Pyramid of the Magician

The Pyramid of the Magician in Uxmal that is seen today is a superimposition of four centuries and five phases of construction. The first phase began in the sixth century and it gradually increased in dimensions by adding new structure layers on top of the existing ones. The original pyramid is exposed on the west and is heavily decorated with adorations of Chaac, the god of rain. The second temple can be seen through an opening; it’s a central chamber supported by columns. The third phase was built on the second’s rear and isn’t visible. Temple four is entered from the west and is the most decorated and again represents Chaac. The fifth phase is the Pyramid of the Magician we know today, consisting of three ornate rooms.

Theory: The Temple

“The different buildings of the succeeding quadrangles can be seen rising one above the other until the lofty temple surmounting the South Pyramid catches the eye and holds it, the last and highest member of the assemblage, and, we may well believe from the importance of its position, the sanctuary.”* The long approach to the temple, along with the ascension of the surrounding structures, and the prominence of its location, help to identify this temple as the supreme sanctuary of Uxmal.

* Sylvanus Griswold Morley, “A Group of Related Structures at Uxmal, Mexico,” American Journal of Archaeology Vol 14 No 1 (1910): 3

Theory: Skewed Axis

Nearly all Mayan city sites are skewed slightly clockwise. This average fifteen degree shift in alignments “may reflect orientations to the horizon positions of the sun at the solstices.”* Ninety-three percent of the structures in the Puuc group are slanted but nor uniformly; they vary depending to the site. On the Yucatan’s flat plains, “where topography might be expected to impose a minimal influence of site planning, the skew seems especially uniform.”* This skew is directed towards the southernmost rising position of Venus, which the Maya extensively studied.

*A. Aveni and H. Hartung, “Maya City Planning and the Calendar,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society Vol 76 No 7 (1986) 1-87

Theory: Location

Uxmal is situated on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico in a peculiar location. Uxmal is miles from any water sources. In its prime, this city was estimated to have had 25,000 inhabitants. The Maya developed chultunes, or cisterns, in the ground to retain their rain water and thus constantly worshipped Chaac, the god of rain, for their survival depended on it. By Uxmal’s collapse most of the population had already disappeared due to a severe draught. Despite their struggle for water, the Puuc hills have comparatively rich soil that is washed down from the hilltop forests during the rain, so the region had prosperous agriculture. The Puuc region’s lack of water also limited transportation to foot. A system of roadways created a network between Uxmal and the surrounding cities and smaller regional centers, aiding to the development of widespread commerce in the region and alliances among adjacent cities.

Uxmal's Axis

The plan of Uxmal was thought out to emphasize and glorify what was important to the Maya. Uxmal is an assemblage of four main structures placed along a tilted axis. This skewed alignment was deliberated slanted clockwise thirteen degrees to suit the site. Uxmal’s buildings and substructures progressively increase in height from north to south, ultimately ending with the lofty temple surmounting the South Pyramid. The stairways rise towards the south, mirroring the height progression of the substructures, causing the approach and entry to Uxmal to be from the north, reemphasized by the lack of stairs on the southern slope of the southern pyramid. This long, elevated approach leads you to the South Pyramid and Temple. The prominence of this location makes the importance of their sanctuary to the Maya apparent. The importance of the calendar and astrology to the Maya is evident in the tilt of the Pyramid of the Magician from the main axis, directed towards the horizon, for the doorway to act as a calendar in the sunlight.