Triadic pyramid

File:Triadic pyramid model, Caracol.png

Triadic pyramids were an innovation of the Preclassic Maya civilization consisting of a dominant structure flanked by two smaller inward-facing buildings, all mounted upon a single basal platform.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 253. The largest known triadic pyramid was built at El Mirador in the Petén Basin of Guatemala; it covers an area six times as large as that covered by Tikal Temple IV, which is the largest pyramid at that city.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 253. The three superstructures all have stairways leading up from the central plaza on top of the basal platform.Coe 1999, p. 77. Triadic pyramid structures are found at early cities in the Maya lowlands.Coe 1999, p. 77.

Overview

Triadic pyramid complexes were most frequently oriented towards the west although other orientations were common, particularly at those cities that possessed more than one triadic pyramid;Estrada-Belli 2011, p. 67. the second most frequent orientation appears to be north-south.Szymanski 2013, p. 25.

There are only a few Middle Preclassic examples of the triadic pyramid complex, although their exact chronology might not be secure.Szymanski 2013, pp. 26-27. No securely established forerunners of Triadic Groups are known, but they may have developed from the eastern range building of E-Group observatory complexes.Hansen 1998, p. 78. The triadic form was the predominant architectural form in the Petén region during the Late Preclassic.Forsyth 1993, p. 113. Szymanski 2013, pp. 23-37. Examples of triadic pyramids are known from as many as 88 archaeological sites, among them Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal, Uaxactun, Naranjo, Palenque, and Caracol.Valdés 1994, p. 101. Szymanski 2013. At Nakbe, a sizeable city dating to the Middle Preclassic, there are at least a dozen examples of triadic complexes and the four largest structures in the city are triadic in nature.Hansen 1991, p. 166. Hansen 1998, p. 78. At El Mirador there are probably as many as 36 triadic structures.Szymanski 2013, p. 65. Examples of the triadic form are even known from Dzibilchaltun in the far north of the Yucatán Peninsula, and Qʼumarkaj in the Highlands of Guatemala.Hansen 1998, p. 80. Szymanski 2013, p. 35. El Tintal has a massive triadic pyramid complex that is the second largest after El Mirador.Estrada-Belli 2011, p. 52.

The triadic pyramid remained a popular architectural form for centuries after the first examples were built.Hansen 1998, p. 78. The triadic form continued in use into the Classic Period, with later examples being found at Uaxactun, Caracol, Seibal, Nakum, Tikal and Palenque.Hansen 1998, p. 80. The Qʼumarkaj example is the only one that has been dated to the Postclassic Period.Szymanski 2013, p. 35.

The triple-temple form of the triadic pyramid appears to be related to Maya mythology.Hansen 1991, p. 166. According to one theory, the three hearthstones of the Maya creation myth can be associated with three stars in the constellation of Orion and the triadic pyramid complex may be an architectural representation of this.Hansen 1998, p. 80. New studies favor an alternative interpretation, according to which the Triadic Groups may represent the moment of resurrection of the Maya maize god on the top of the Flower Mountain, accompanied by two other deities.Szymanski 2013.

Notes

References

{{cite book |author=Coe, Michael D. |author-link=Michael D. Coe |year=1999 |title=The Maya |edition=6th edition, fully revised and expanded |series=Ancient peoples and places series|location=London and New York |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-28066-9 |oclc=59432778}}
{{cite book |author=Estrada-Belli, Francisco |year=2011 |title=The First Maya Civilization: Ritual and Power Before the Classic Period |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon, Oxfordshire and New York |isbn=978-0-415-42994-8}}
{{cite journal |author=Forsyth, Donald W. |year=1993 |title=La arquitectura Preclásica en Nakbe: Un estudio comparativo de dos periodos. |journal=VI Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1992 (edited by J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo and S. Villagrán de Brady) |pages=113–121 |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/08.92%20-%20Forsyth.pdf |access-date=2010-07-21 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904131853/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/08.92%20-%20Forsyth.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-04 }}
{{cite web |author=Hansen, Richard D. |author-link=Richard D. Hansen |year=1991 |title=Resultados preliminares de las investigaciones arqueológicas en el sitio Nakbe, Petén, Guatemala |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/23.88%20-%20Richard%20Hansen%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |work=II Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1988 (edited by J.P. Laporte, S. Villagrán, H. Escobedo, D. de González y J. Valdés) |pages=163–178 |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala |access-date=2010-07-21 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707182102/http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/23.88%20-%20Richard%20Hansen%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-07 }}
{{cite book |author=Hansen, Richard D. |author-link=Richard D. Hansen |year=1998 |chapter=Continuity and Disjunction: The Pre-Classic Antecedents of Classic Maya Architecture |editor=Stephen D. Houston|title=Function and Meaning in Classic Maya Architecture |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection |pages=49–122 |isbn=978-0-88402-254-1 |oclc=318200121 |chapter-url=http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/ClassicMaya/maya02.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211142425/http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/ClassicMaya/maya02.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-11 }}
{{cite book |author=Sharer, Robert J. |author-link=Robert Sharer |author2=Loa P. Traxler |year=2006 |title=The Ancient Maya |edition=6th (fully revised) |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-4817-9 |oclc=57577446 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientmaya0006shar }}
{{cite web |author=Szymanski, Jan |year=2013 |title=Between Death and Divinity. Rethinking the Significance of Triadic Groups in Ancient Maya Culture |url=https://depotuw.ceon.pl//bitstream/handle/item/358/Between%20Death%20and%20Divinity.pdf?sequence=1 |format=PDF |work=PhD Dissertation |publisher=University of Warsaw |location=Warsaw, Poland |access-date=2014-01-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103025416/https://depotuw.ceon.pl//bitstream/handle/item/358/Between%20Death%20and%20Divinity.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=2014-11-03 }}
{{cite journal |author=Valdés, Juan Antonio |year=1994 |title=El Grupo A de Uaxactun: Manifestaciones arquitectónicas y dinásticas durante el Clásico Temprano. |journal=I Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 1987 (edited by J.P. Laporte, H. Escobedo and S. Villagrán) |pages=98–111 |publisher=Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología |location=Guatemala |url=http://www.asociaciontikal.com/pdf/16.87%20-%20Juan%20Antonio%20Valdes%20-%20en%20PDF.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103025416/https://depotuw.ceon.pl//bitstream/handle/item/358/Between%20Death%20and%20Divinity.pdf?sequence=1 |archive-date=2014-11-03|access-date=2010-07-21|language=es}}

Triadic pyramid

Overview

See also

Notes

References

Further reading