Mayan Architecture Research Paper

Christina Young

Intro to Visual Arts

Mr. Hahn

March 2nd, 2018 Mayan Temples and Architecture

The Mayans were skilled at many different forms of art such as bookmaking and ceramics but what probably stands out the most to people is their astonishing architecture. They built whole cities which included things such as; homes, palaces and temples out of basic materials they had. The Temple of the Grand Jaguar, The Palenque Palace and The Temple of Inscriptions are just a few of the great pieces of architecture the Mayans designed and built (The Maya, Engineering an Empire).

The Temple of the Grand Jaguar was built around 732 A.C.E in Tikal, which is located in the northern rainforests of Guatemala.

Built to reflect Pakal’s ideas of luxury, the palace is over 70,000 square feet and is made up of chambers, passages, galleries and tunnels. In order to build the palace, they first tried a method called corbel vault. Corbel vault is a method of building in which stones that decrease in height are laid on top of each other and topped with capstones. This method however caused space and light on the inside to be scarce and caused them to have to build the walls wider than the space it enveloped. The Mayans ended up building honeycomb structures on the top and building the structures wider (The Maya, Engineering an

Although there are some minor differences based on each region, most of the Mayan’s buildings were built with specific attention to position and layout. Corbelled roofing, monumental stairways, and geometric shapes were all usually a big part of Mayan architecture. They were also exceptionally good at making the materials used to create these aesthetically pleasing buildings using materials such as burnt-lime cement as a form of concrete and even including basic mud. The Temple of the Grand Jaguar, The Palenque Palace and The Temple of Inscriptions are all great examples of the beautiful architecture that came from this culture