The structures of the Maya grew organically, from the core outward, and from the bottom up. The Palace was built as a complex of several connected and adjacent buildings and courtyards built over several generations.
In Palenque, three main vertical structures, Houses E, B, and C radiate out like spokes from a northern point of House E and register completely through to the bottom of the structure. House E was the throne room, House B for Lords to meet and discuss, and House C remained a place of memory of Palenque’s early 17th century defeat. All three houses are significant places of importance in the Palace. After Houses E, B, and C were created, they were converted into subterranean passages. The "connector" Houses A-D were then added. Later, the Tower, followed by H, G, I, F, and L were constructed.
A nodal moment of three main rectilinear figures radiate from a central point. These transition into different fields that register with lines that extend to the full length of the page and beyond. Four line weights are present, one for each of the periods of construction; the heaviest for the three main figures (Houses E, B and C,) the next for the connecting structure (Houses A-D), the next for the Tower and the final for the remaining houses built last. In essence, the map read as a whole depicts the construct of the Palace, a system of interweaving and juxtaposed structures that form a compound.
In the relief model (shown above,)
SOURCES:
Maya Art and Architecture by Mary Ellen Miller (Pg. 25, 37)
The Palace at Palenque National Park:
http://www.palenquepark.com/palace.htm
To help answer the question of whether or not the Palace was built on a level surface, here is a first discovery: "It is the largest compound in Palenque , measuring 97 mts x 73 mts at its base. This rectangular building has the most constructive volume in the city and covers the most surface too. The first buildings date from the Early Classic period, called subterraneos , and built on a platform 3 mts high. These buildings were built on a low lying platform during the Vth Century. They were later on dismantled and buried when the height and the extension of the original platform were augmented by the end of the VIth century. The buildings you may see there now are an on platform 10 mts high."
ReplyDeleteSo does this mean that the Mayans leveled this area before they constructed?
SOURCE: http://www.palenquepark.com/palace.htm