Dumbarton Oaks Conference summaries. Oct.8-9 94 "Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture." _________________________________________________________________________ Part 1 by Sam Edgerton Not only "elite" architecture was examined but also lower-class settlement patterns as well. David Wenbster of Penn State led off with a paper entitled "Classic Maya Architecture: Implications and Comparisons." His main points were that the purpose of Maya monumental architecture was to display power; its organization was ever "plastic", that is more "evolved" over time rather than "engineered" in one grand scheme. He related the Maya building style to that of the medieval Khmer of southeast Asia. He noted also that the Maya considered their buildings to be "alive"; when buildings were buried or destroyed, the Maya carefully removed the paint to signify the building was "dead." Richard Hansen of UCLA followed with "Continuity and Disjunction: The Pre-Classic Antecedents of Classic Architecture." He noted how few remains there are of Pre-Classic predecessors within the Classic Maya sites. One example he elaborated on, however, was Cuello in Belize. Eliot Abrams of Ohio U spoke on "The Construction Process of Maya Architecture." He outlined the new science of "architectural energetics" which tries to quantify the number of man-days of labor needed to build Maya structures. Interestingly, 90% of all such labor was used in making and preparing plaster! Indeed, the most man-days were spent in procuring materials altogether while a mere 3% of labor-time was expended in actual construction. He used the House of the Scribe-Priest at Las Sepulturas, Copan, as his example. Wendy Ashmore of Penn spoke on "Ancient Maya Dwellings: Dimensions in Form, Function and Meaning." Her topic, of course, had to do with vernacular structures and their daily family functions - that is, thatched-roof palapas and surrounding spaces where people lived in and out of doors. She stressed the un-monumental and, while still ceremonial, unrelated to elite iconography character of Maya vernacular structures. This latter idea was to be refuted by Linda Schele in part of her talk the next day. Mary Miller of Yale next discussed "The Design of Meaning in Maya Architecture." From an art historian's standpoint, she stressed the importance of narrative in Maya architectural decor; also how the arrangement of such decor depended on "memory" - the stretch of the inhabitants' links to ancestral generations in the immediate and distant past. Bill Fash, now at Harvard, followed with "Dynastic Architectural Programs: Intention and Design in Classic Maya Buildings." He spoke, of course, about Copan, emphasizing the theatrical character of the constructed plazas. The great North Plaza, for instance, was surrounded by steps for seats, which could accommodate 3000 people, or about 15% of Copan's entire population during ceremonies. The latter court, however, was exceptional since the East and West Courts to the south of Temple 11 were deliberately exclusive; only the invited elite were allowed to participate in these spaces. He also discussed Structure 22a, the so-called "Popol Na," and its political relation to certain satellite communities around Copan whose toponyms apparently can now be shown to have been represented on the facade of the structure. Another new archaeological discovery at Copan he announced was that beneath the place where the great sculpted macaw-bird "goal" markers on the ball-court set, they found last summer a previous macaw-marker in whose taloned claw was the image of an arm - Hunapu's arm! Thus indicating that the ball-court was used as a theatrical setting for replaying the creation myths of the Popol Vu! Tricia McAnany of Boston U spoke next on "Role of Ancestors in the Classic Maya Built Environment." She noted that not all ancestors were equally venerated in Maya family burial sites; only those who had been prestigious in life and who could transmit status and power to the succeeding generation. She also pointed out the interesting iconographical fact that in architectural decorations, deceased ancestors are always depicted with their heads facing down. The first-day's session ended with Arlen Chase of U of Central Florida, speaking on "Ritual Meanings of Caches, Burials, and Modifications in Classic Architecture." Caracol was his subject, of course, and he also discussed the placement and significance of ancestor burials and caches in and near the site's most sacred center around the Caana. I'm sorry I didn't take very good notes on this interesting talk, however. David Stuart of Harvard led off with his talk, "Hieroglyphic Evidence of Building Dedications and Associated Rituals." He showed a number of glyphic expressions for various building types such as "na" and "y'otot," also "way-bil" or bed-room (place for dreaming), also "muk-nal" or place for burial, etc. David went on to demonstrate how verbs can be formed from these nominative expressions, such as "och-na" or house-entering, and "och k'ak" or "the fire was brought to the center of the house and placed in the incensario." There was much more. Maybe Lloyd Anderson will fill in more. Steve Houston of Brigham Young University followed with "Classic Maya Depictions of the Built Environment." He showed a number of clay models and graffiti representations of Classic buildings and tried to understand how the Maya first conceived of their structures before building. He also pointed out that in the Late Classic, more architectural details appear in the backgrounds of Maya painting and sculpture, indicating that there was an increasing interplay of people and buildings and more attention being paid to the theatrical use of buildings in ritual contexts. Karl Taube of UCal Riverside next spoke on "The Classic Maya Temple: Metaphor and Ritual in Maya Ceremonial Architecture." It was he, not Linda Schele as I mentioned in my previous posting who refuted Wendy Ashmore by demonstrating how the simple Maya peasant hut was still constructed according to the Maya cosmogram; with its corner posts representing the bacabs, its ridgepole the milky way/world-tree, and its hearth the three stones of Orion. Taube also pointed out how the more elite temple or "k'ul na" (god-house) often had a curtain over the opening (holes still indicated in the masonry door-jambs) which could be closed when the god was "asleep." A Maya ideogram representing a solar eclipse showed the moon before the sun like a curtain, thus putting the sun to "sleep"! Karl further elaborated on the "three stones," demonstrating how they were often symbolically represented as at Izapa, Tonina, and Copan (Temple 22). The so-called jester-god headdress also represents the three stones in the feathers of the celestial bird Vucub Caquix at the beginning of Creation. The Bonampak ruler, for instance, wears such a crown in the fresoed scene in Room 2. Linda Schele of U of Texas was the last speaker. Her topic was "Building Facades of the Late Classic Maya." Linda began be pointing out that the so-called "Chak" masks on the facades of Late- or Post-Classic sites like Uxmal and Chichen Itza are really images of the god Itzam-ye whom she identifies by a flower in the forehead and the bird-beak nose. Itzam-ye is the same as Vucub-Caquix after he has been humbled by the hero twins. The name "Itz" refers to the nectar of flowers signifying a divine essence that possesses supernatural power. The sculpted "huts" that surround the entablature of the West and North buildings at Uxmal actually represent "Itzam-na" or "houses of Itz" - the place where magic (itz) is performed. Furthermore, Linda identified the prominent serpent motifs at Uxmal and Chichen Itza as having not to do with Quetzalcoatl but rather the "kuxan sum" or mystic "umbilical cord" serpent connecting the sky-powers to earth. She also identified the Temple of the Warriors at Chichen Itza as a a "Popol Na" like that at Copan, and further elaborated on the "three stones" tradition already discussed by Taube. In sum, Linda's paper strongly emphasized the unbroken continuance of Classic Maya ideological themes right into the Post Classic, suggesting that what we have heretofore always assumed to be a "Toltec" influence coming into the Yucatan from central Mexico, was actualy nothing more than traditional, long resident Maya iconography. Steve Houston summed the papers up in a final address entitled "Reflections on Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture." Sam Edgerton ________________________________________________________________________ Following are some additional notes on talks at the recent DO conference (theme: architecture). I have tried to avoid duplicating what Sam Edgerton already provided. There may be a host of errors in these hastily taken notes, so please do not take them for more than what they are. By the same token, if there are vaguenesses or ambiguities here, I probably cannot answer any questions about them. My own comments are in brackets [Anderson: ...] Lloyd Anderson ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Richard Hansen: Central theme: very great changes at Late Middle PreClassic. Concentration of specialization northern Peten, Nak Be, El Mirador, Uaxacal = Gu"iro. Earliest architecture in lowlands about 1000 BC at Cuello Prior to that using unformed flat quarried stones. After that first *shaped* stones. 40,000 meter squared platforms 3 to 8 meters high. Nakbe has the first example of the Uaxactun E-group format (also E-7 sub) also has quadripartite stairways. Site of Gu"iro = Uaxatal has square plus long platform nicknamed for '6' (dot plus bar) Nakbe has Eastern Group Str.53 south side, first ballcourt (also Cerros, Colha have) Nearby carved round object (ballcourt marker?) Two-headed serpent Causeways, thick layers of white "saskab" [Anderson explantion: sas- is from proto-Yucatec *sak-s-] Beginning of cycle 7 throughout the lowlands [ new forms ? ] Nakbe Str.1 45 meters high El Mirador even more gigantic, 55m high, 19,600 meters squared area Compared with Temple 1 at Tikal? "Tigre" at El Mirador covers all of Tikal North Acropolis and also Temples 1 and 2. Monumental masks quickly appear around 300 BC Roofing at Gu"iro is (like Monte Alban building J.) two slanted stones for top, / \ _ _ | | rather than the Mayan corbeled. Before late middle preclassic, reliefs were only 2-3cm deep. After that, 2-3 *meters* deep reliefs, so a major change. Idology. Probably no paint (cf. Friedel Yaxuna etc.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Eliot Abrams on quantifying resources / time involved in construction For elite buildings, 90% of cost went into masonry (70%) and plaster (25%). More detailed breakdown: 7% Procurement 49% Transport 39% Manufacture 3.5% Construction. So there was a premium on re-use of masonry. Plaster there was no reuse, a constant demand. For House of the Bacabs (82C), 80 to 130 skilled generalized workers needed, about 80% of labor force during off-season. Structure 9N-70, 2nd Phase, estimate 1355 person days. 3rd phase 1031 pdays lower superstructure non-vaulted roof less difficult, less demanding recruitment than 82C 30-28 mud walls, vegetal roof far down valley, do not yet know of re-use 67 person days. Familial reciprocal system of exchange. Breakdown for such a more common type of building: 7.5% Procurement 25.4% Transport 4.5% Manufacture 62.7% Construction Discussion period, on possible guild specializations vs. general knowledge? Abrams answer: At age 6, children learn how to build houses. After cutting stone, workers must go on to other tasks. Evon Vogt told of a shaman dreaming proposal for a community building project,village Presidente approving, then messengers go out to all villages, calculate how many man-hours needed, each head of household comes up with the labor needed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Bill Fash, discussing use of plazas for spectacles (seating 3000 for general population or fewer for select elite groups), mostly concerning Copan where he is excavating Compared the "Theater States" of Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Phrase "making inequality enchant" Reference to Str. 18 "Sak Nikte Na" term for 'council house' in colonial Mayan dictionaries. Most major buildings in the acropolis did sport roof crests The Council House was build after 13th and before 15th rulers, perhaps by 14th Smoke Monkey. Had 9 "Ahau" glyphs on it, perhaps 9.9.0.0.0? 10L-25 -- large platform in front of it did not support superstructures Names of localities on council house, perhaps compare Lincoln Memorial in DC, names of states around outside, materials came from all USA First king was the "3-mountain" lord. Sacred mountain was one where water birds fished. Temple 22 etc. = a water runoff system [Anderson: compare even Tihuanaco ?] West Court = underworld, seating capacity more limited. Str. 11 = royal palace, lineage/emblem house of Yax K'uk' Mo'. Faced both the West place and the Great Plaza, king could supervise both ceremonies simultaneously. Triad of structures Origins of settlement - Temple 26 Underworld & death - Str. 16 Fertility and Council - Temple 22. Grube had noted in Quintana Roo, Council House always next to temple Michael Coe noted further parallels with Indonesia & Southeast Asia William Sanders: In Yoruba kingdoms (Nigeria), the Oba seems to be the authority, but in reality only proclaims decisions made by the council Fash: inscriptions of last king, 3 brothers highly involved in government of the kingdom. One even governs the town. Attempts to stave off political instability. Steve Houston: are the Popol Na in fact ubiquitous in lowland area too? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Patricia McAnany Burial rituals are a time for maneuvering among the living. Chinese ancestor worship, tomb placement, geomancy. Early formative graves, Tikal, Cuello, K'axob, had single individuals. Terminal formative graves often had several within one grave, stratified, tombs opened and re-sealed. Holmul - stages of building B - some gathered from other primary burial contexts and reinterred here Burial 1 of Uaxactun imitates position of lord on a throne, stucco pillow backrest, mask of jade etc.; woman in pit nearby. Late preclassic, again mor individual burials. Built not so much to house the dead, rather to memorialize them and to celebrate continued welfare of lineages. Increasingly selective, central vs. pits on sides. Transition to **shrine**, more cosmological, spiritual, sacred space. Classic period, use of ancestors more highly political. Suggested [Anderson: missed what reason?] that on Ucanal Stela 4, Jimbal Stela 1, floaters are supernaturals rather than ancestors. Piedras Negras Stela 40 [?], ancestor below ground rather than above, umbilical cord? Tikal Stela 5 may show opening of a tomb, two figures over stack of bones & a skull. Position 26 pas-ha 'to open' (Stuart) muk-nal 'burial place, shrine' Tablet 5 - DD1a - skull inside prepared platform (glyph for tomb) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Arlen and Diane Chase on Caracol Caches and Burials Tombs have jadeite floors, or shells, coral, etc. Caracol str. B20, wall text in tomb dates to about AD 537. Text in Tomb 3 shows completed only on death of occupant. Tomb 2 was last in B20-2nd. Eastern buildings within residential groups at Caracol. Tikal had [tombs?] in much smaller percentage of outlying residential groups, 14% vs. Caracol 60%. [Sorry, like Sam Edgerton, my two pages of notes are not very good ones on this talk, LA] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday 9. David Stuart In discussing "house" glyphs y-otot, showed one archaic one that looked much like a Mixtec or other central Mexical house glyph. Discussing the way-bil, architectural term place of sleeping/dreaming, added that Quiche' cognate word is "waribal", meaning a lineage shrine. [Anderson: the Quiche' /r/ corresponding to Cholan /y/ is normal.] Illustrated a small stone object with a God-C image in a niche, the name tag /u-way-bil k'u/ 'the shrine of the god' and also two small holes where a miniature curtain could be pulled over the image (so that the god could sleep) Monument 69 at Tonina, the /ba-al/ (of the family) died, then 260 day anniversary of death, tu-muk-nal wak-chan-smoke. [Anderson: would the /ba-al/ be the " first son (of mother)" ?] Relative to the /och k'ak'/ 'enter fire' glyphs, what this refers to? Temple 22A at Copan for example, there are small disks in the floor, perhaps stands for incensarios? Place the censor on this! Discussed a glyph with fire on top, then K'in in a bowl, /na/ on bottom, /-ah/ moon on the right. Compared to Quadripartite emblem. Glyphs some shown as forehead of the censor. /och k'ak'/ used only with interior places. Burning in tombs after they were sealed. Jaguar god of the underworld is a god of fire; on incensarios etc. The "dedication" verb of the PSS Primary Standard Sequence on pots etc. David does not accept the reading as /hoy/ /huy/ 'to bless'. Oldest form of pyramid form, clearly a step going up a staircase. The forms which look like phonetic /hu/ are all late. Intriguing contexts of this verb, presentation of tribute. So [confirmed in response to Anderson question] perhaps a verb "to present to someone in higher status" (to raise). Examples of presentation of bundles (ihkitz, ihk'atz ?) also on staircases; and one such example with /yak'-/ 'to give'. Comments on the new Palenque panel. It's an odd scene. Date is in the historical gap 9 years after capture of K'an Xul by Tonina. Palenque ruler shown in modest clothing, taking off tumpline from figure. Stairs behind. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Steve Houston: How are buildings depicted by the Mayans themselves? Full frontal pyramids, no people traffic, off limits to most? Court scenes represent status differences. Clay & stone models of houses typically show "pinched roof", ventillation holes. Bonampak murals far more ambitious. The number of people to be shown determined the number of platforms etc. Litters Portable and perishable structures, temporary placement of structures, banners, parasols etc. ***Zone of contact*** Person facing left vs. right. Lord in home temple on throne on right. Person approaching would be from left. [Normal, not universal] Mirror image, deities in buildings often on left instead. Anti-courts, similarly reverse mirror images of upper world. Visits to foreign sites, also entering the "other" building from the right to the left. Rank correlates with platform level. If peak figure is not the highest ranked, use three levels (pot example). Example with simultaneous front and side view of palaces or temples, entry from the side, front stairway empty as always. Hieroglyphic stairways - succession, legitimacy. Latest dates are on the lowest steps. Study of graffiti and "plans" architectural. "Orientational" ones, center on a pivot place, flatten out the views of the surroundings looking in each direction. Step-platforms and stairways are primarily dramaturgical. Mayan stagecraft is the *opposite* of western, flat areas are for the audience, stairs are for the drama, actors higher than the audience. [Anderson, discussion later with Bill Fash; I would add that we also place actors higher than the audience in small theaters, so audience on flat level ground can all see. Only in very large theaters do we have a slanted ground level for the seating. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Karl Taube Mayan codices: sky bands are the roof of a house. Compare Caracol Stela 3. Dresden eclipse shown as a ***curtain*** covering the sun. Middle place of a house, the 3 stones not a post. References to much-discussed cosmology, 3 stones = hearth. Some places, three stones emitting smoking volutes. Tun-stones in Uitz-monster. PN, Palenque, ... Maudsley reports finding two stone censors inside Str. 22 (Copan) Izapa Throne 1, Stela 8 profile rendering Machaquila Altar 1, also ruler in quatrefoid on temple tuyol ac 'at the heart of the earth' PN Altar 1 - 4 Ahau 8 Cumk'u and 3 green hearthstones. El Cayo Altar 4 - large spiked censor center of the depicted altar. Roaring jaguars on pots, water signs, Cosmic plate has 3 stones, cauac heads. Smoke from heads so censors. Late classic Maya iconography, censors often do that. Censors ~~ temples, Teotihuacan also. When burning, the god-pot and (jade?) inside become the /nah k'u/. JGU (Jaguar God of the Underworld), probable classic god of fire. Stair block masks, used in fire ceremonies. What about masks along temple sides? Classic Maya rulership tied to World Center Hansen notes often bears Vucub Q'aq'-ix. Three jestergod heads, on La Mojarra Stela 1, a triple of them [Anderson: see one on figure's right side and one on front, do not see the one on figure's left side.] Oval Palace Tablet Palenque; Tikal, YUaxchilan, Copan, Palenque Rio Azul tomb 219 has **three** jester gods (hearth, etc.) Rio Azul tomb 12, (cosmic directions?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. Linda Schele on architectural decoration; she had several themes. [See Sam Edgerton's notes before reading these; pardon Linda goes fast and I could not get as much of it, LA] (A) Unusually close relationship Puuc with Copan. (B) Where inscriptions appear (noting that the roof combs of earlier structures often demolished when later ones built over them, so our sample is distorted): balustrades, stairs, vertical walls, moldings, entablature, roof comb. Masked faces: early ones in (Copan) acropolis, smoke on both sides so idea of censors is now proven. Chenes, some heads not diagnostic, need context, if "mouth of the house" then = cave in mountain. Copan str. 22 corners = Uitz monsters, so symbolic mountain Crocodiles with waterlilies Palenque Temple of the Cross upper = front view looking down the gullet of this monster. Kuxan sum (supernatural umbilical cords) as Arthur Miller identified long ago. Ho na chan (=) On Uxmal, adding to Edgerton's account: north Building of Nunnery Quadrangle, snake comes out of top of the building, split over the doorway. Cosmology, triads of buildings, one Yaxhal Uitz one Na Te K'an one ... Cf. Temple 11 Copan, Stuart Na Te K'an and gigantic maize Latticework all over N. Yucatan, connected with special buildings. Uxmal house of turtle. Note turtle shell cracked open for origin of maize ... Primordial Sea. West court Copan has shells all around Courts often have water storage (after rainstorms). Quirigua Ek' Naab ('black sea') maybe one placename Copan T.22 Xunantunich has twisted cords (umbilicus). Stepped cleft in forehead of mountain, split by lightning. Ballcourt = 'place of the cleft' in Popol Vuh. Chich'en - snake from mountain, from mouth (?), turtle cracking open. Copan /Popol Nah/ = /nikteil-na/ = Quiche' /sak na/ = /sak nuk na/ 'white grand house' (Palenque?) Chich'en temple of warriors has pictures of council standing on columns in both benches ... Flowers sufficient evidence for council houses?: Lattices with flowers inside; Kabah /Codz' Pop/ Labna structure 1, flowers interlaced with /ik'/ signs. War Ancestry: Temple of Quetzalcoatl at Teotihuacan, was covered by 500 or 600 [so couldn't be model at that date, must be inherited earlier] West Building Uxmal has similar, serpent head; ***over the tail of the serpent in both cases is found the war helmet*** Upper part of Copan hier. stairs, ancstry, upper part covered with Tlaloc masks. Two construction terms: Hal K'obawil, Spanish colonial 'oficial', may = 'artisan' Pac Bal 'maker of walls' in Pio Perez dict. (maybe craftsmen, not master builders?) K'obem - 'hearthstones' K'oba - 'round stones in river' Aztecs throw hearth stones into river at new fire ceremony time During discussion, one audience member clearly very well informed on another area indicated (buildings with?) flowers around top, in Hidalgo, placenames pardon my quick transcriptions (Tlacoyala, Tlayacapan, Tleposcolula, Tlalmonalco). Connection between flowers and high status individuals. Linda: Tixcacal Guardia, they erect a Yaxte for each 8 months. Corral and Bullfight Talking Cross = "Iglesia", building called. Building right next to it was called the Popol Nah!