Culture as the underlying theme in Mesoamerican architecture

Mesoamerica is a cultural region in North America which flourished from 10,000 BCE to 1697 AD. The Mesoamerican architecture is well known for its public, ceremonial and monumental structures. Their monumental structures are marked by the use of iconography. Their architecture was heavily influenced by culture and their beliefs in general. An interesting feature is that the cities were constructed to represent the division between the underworld and the human world. The underworld was assumed to be in the northern direction hence tombs and similar structures assumed to be connected to the underworld were found in the city’s northern half. The southern part consisted of residential complexes and similar public structures as it was assumed represent life, sustenance and rebirth.  Between the north and south would be a plaza and occasionally a ball court depicting the mythical axis mundi, which serves as a crossing between the two worlds. The architecture of the pyramids & temples was designed to achieve special lighting effects during the equinoxes. Furthering this kind of architectural style, the Mesoamericans aligned their structures like the pyramids to approx 15° east of north. This way the pyramids would face the sunset on August 13, which was the beginning date of the Maya Long Count calendar.

Mesoamerican ball court

Mayas architecture

Maya civilization, a Mesoamerican civilization, was known for its art, written language, architecture, and mathematical & astronomical systems of the pre-Columbian and colonial Americas.

Palenque, Mayan city ruins in Chiapas, Mexico

Palenque was a Maya city in southern Mexico that dates back from 226 BC to its fall in 1123 AD. Palenque contains some of the finest architecture that the Mayas produced. The Temple of Inscriptions at Palenque was built in the 7^th century as a funerary monument. Within Palenque, the Temple of the Inscriptions is located in an area known as the Temple of the Inscriptions’ Court and stands at a right angle to the Southeast of the Palace. Inscription tablets are found here with hieroglyphic text and structural panels on the piers of the building. A temple sits over an eight stepped pyramid. Piers, that surround the five entrances, bear both carved images and hieroglyphic texts.  Inside the temple, a stairway leads to the tomb of Pakal, ruler of Palenque in the 7^th century. Pakal initiated the construction during his lifetime although it was his son, K'inich Kan B'alam II, who completed the project after his father’s demise. The temple’s six piers are tagged A to F. Each pier has either text or artistic representation or both which was designed using stucco. The tomb itself was designed using cross vaulting and recessed buttresses. Amongst many of the archaeological finds at the tomb was the lid of Pakal’s sarcophagus. The image that covers the lid has provided insight to archaeologists and anthropologists into the Mayas culture.

Lid of Pakal’s sarcophagus at the temple of inscriptions

Toltec architecture

Toltec, another Mesoamerican culture, ca 800-1000 CE, is centred in and around the Tula valley region, southwest of the Mexican state of Hidalgo and northwest of Mexico City. Toltec was followed by the Aztec empire and the Aztecs used the planning of Tula for their urban centres.

Toltec warriors

At the Tula lies the pyramid of Quetzalcoatl or of the morning star. The worship of the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl originates from here and it was widespread from central Mexico to Central. This is a 5 tiered structure. At the top of pyramid construction are the carvings of Toltec warriors. The 4 warrior statues have each been carved out of four meter high basalt columns.

The ceremonial centre of the city made of limestone outcropping was designed to be defensible with steep banks on three sides. The architectural innovations around the main ceremonial area point towards societal changes. The main structures of the ceremonial centre include two pyramids, including atlas figures, two main ball courts and several large buildings, one with a series of columns which faced a large plaza. The large central plaza has space for 100,000 people. On three sides, there are long meeting halls with ceilings supported by columns all facing the plaza with over 1000 meters of benches, which have stone reliefs depicting warriors and others in procession.

The Mesoamerican architecture has been influenced by their culture and in the modern day these architectural relics of a bygone era inspire art, decor and applied arts.