Uxmal

* Name UNESCO
** UNESCO Geographical Classification change

Uxmal is an ancient city Mayan classic period. Uxmal is located in the State of Mexico 's Yucatan , 78 miles south of Merida and 15 miles southeast of Muna.

The name Uxmal (pronounced "Ouchmal") comes from a word Yucatec Maya means' Three-times-built " ^{Ancient History}

The condition of the ruins of Uxmal, carefully restored and maintained for tourists, may give the false impression that the site is well known. Reconstruct the history of Uxmal is actually a tricky business: it has only ethno-historical sources must be interpreted with caution and lack of archaeological data.

Traditionally, Uxmal is associated with group of Mayan Xiu . If we are to believe a family tree that Xiu drafted in 1557 for the Spanish Crown to prove the antiquity of their lineage, their ancestor Hun Uitzil Tutul Xiu Chac was the founder of Uxmal . We also find his name listed in the Books of Chilam Balam , the head of Xiu who became resident in Uxmal in the Katun Ajaw 2 (which identifies the year 751 of our era. Xiu have ruled the city to Katun Ajaw 10 (928) . Archaeology has given us only the name of a single ruler of Uxmal, Chan Chaak K'ak'nal Ajaw, also known in archaeological literature under the name of Lord Chac, who built some of the greatest monuments of Uxmal between 895 and 907, including the Nunnery and the Government Palace. The glyph's name appears in an inscription of the neighboring city of Kabah. He is shown wearing the famous warrior Stela 14, trampling two naked prisoners. There are various indications of interaction between Uxmal and Chichen Itza. The name of a ruler of that city, Kakupacal appears to Uxmal. The discovery of the ruins of a temple round, reminiscent of the Caracol of Chichen Itza is in the same direction

Although the timing remains unclear , these data outline a history of Uxmal. The region has long been sparsely populated, despite the fertility of the soil of the valley of Santa Elena, the cenotes are less numerous than elsewhere in the Yucatan and water is scarce. The situation changes in the ^eighth century through technical progress: the construction of Chultun , underground tanks where you can store water. Uxmal is primarily a center Puuc among others who are experiencing significant growth through immigration. Maya chronicles several centuries later tell us the arrival of Xiu from the south. Their exact origin remains a topic of discussion. Uxmal is affirmed in the late ninth ^century and became the center of a regional state, probably with the support of Chichen Itza , in the reign of Chaak K'ak'nal Ajaw. Intense architectural activity in Uxmal coincides with a decrease of this activity in the surrounding small towns as Oxkintok . The splendor of Uxmal was short-lived: in the middle ^of the tenth century, no major monument is erected. The wall built around the center of the city suggests that the people of Uxmal have felt the need to protect themselves. He may have conquered the Itzaj Uxmal. Ceramics Cehpech given way to ceramic Sotuta characteristic of Chichen Itza. A period of intense drought is another hypothesis to explain the decline of the city.

After the Spanish conquest of Yucatn (in which the Xiu allied themselves with the Spaniards), the first documents prepared by the conquerors suggest Uxmal, circa 1550 , was always a center of some importance, but no Spanish town does Uxmal was founded here and was soon abandoned.

Site description

Even before the restoration work, Uxmal was in a better state of preservation than most Maya sites due to the unusual quality of its construction. Most buildings were built with stones carefully carved, thus avoiding the use of plaster. Maya architecture here equal that of Palenque in elegance and beauty. The architectural style Puuc predominates. With its state of preservation, this is one of the few Maya cities where a tourist can get a good idea of what looked like an ancient ceremonial center in its entirety.

The most significant buildings are:

The Governor's Palace

It was sponsored by Chan Chaak K'ak'nal Ajaw. It embodies the pinnacle of architecture Puuc. It is supported by a huge terrace of three storeys, 181 meters by 153. On the west side of this terrace rises the basement of the Palace itself. You get to the main facade of the building by a staircase located on the east side of this base. The Palace, 98 meters long, 12 meters wide and up to eight is divided into three parts, separated from each other by two tall corbelled arches built in the background. The upper facade is decorated with geometric patterns (squares, Greek , crossed strips ...), land monster masks and characters that form a mosaic of nearly 20 000 elements . This elaborate composition converges to a statue in high relief Chan Chaak K'ak'nal Ajaw placed above the central door. The statue is surrounded by a series of bar-snake, a symbol of Maya royalty in the classical period. The lightweight cons-product of this part of the building accentuates its lightness. It has been hypothesized , than there really no evidence that the vast terrace on which stands the palace was designed for a quadrilateral of the same type as the Nunnery whose implementation would been abandoned. The refinement of this building, considered the masterpiece of architecture Puuc arouses admiration that John Lloyd Stephens was well expressed: "There is no rudeness or barbarism in the shape or the proportions of this construction. Quite the contrary, all struck by the beauty and symmetry of its architecture. " . The American architect Frank Lloyd Wright considered him regarding him as one of the most remarkable monuments in the Americas.

The Pyramid or the Pyramid of the Magician Devin

it is a pyramid-shaped temple unusual levels of the pyramid are oval rather than rectangular or square.

As is usually the case in Mesoamerica the pyramid has gone through several phases of construction-five, each coming to overlap the previous one. The western part of Temple I is still visible at the base of the pyramid. On the west side, a steep staircase provides access to the Temple IV in quiet Chenes . The staircase leads from the front is the Temple V Puuc style.

• Temple I

The oldest item is a building originally independent east of the yard birds that did not exist then. Rather than a temple, it is a typical building in the style of classic Puuc two parallel rows of 5 bedrooms each. The main entrance is now located under the stairs and West no longer visible today.

Some rooms were probably filled during construction of the final phase of the pyramid to ensure the stability of the building. The lintel of the door was wooden, two of them were found intact. One of these a lintel radiometric dating gives the following dates: AD 740-760 (Lab No. Hei 15 505, with a confidence level of 1 sigma, corresponding to 68% probability that the date of slaughter the tree is in this period).

The facade consists of three elements: two bands, the low columns, alternating with smooth surfaces throughout the building. The surface of the bottom wall is cut and remarkably smooth. Between gates and doors and corners, there are three elements, each with three columns that span the entire height of the wall below. The row of columns of the wall does not match that of the base.

The average is uniquely decorated cornice large monolithic elements. The lower edge is decorated with symbols shaped elements "ik" ("breath") T-shaped Following figurative motifs, tendrils, fish, ribbons and hieroglyphic texts through crossbones. Finally comes a row of columns.

The upper wall surface is smooth, but was broken above the entrances. Large masks Chaac doubly stacked with their trunks feature. Under the entrance staircase in the center, was a sculpture called Reina de Uxmal (Uxmal Queen), perfectly preserved. In fact, the tattooed face partially or scarified to a male figure, perhaps a priest, which comes from the mouth of a stylized snake. This statue was removed during restoration work and is currently at the National Museum of Anthropology. There were two large masks muzzle perfectly preserved. Since the last restoration, they are no longer visible, the passage was closed to stabilize the building. Cornices above are not preserved in their original form. Elements found in the rubble suggest a model similar to the cornice of the medium.

• Temple II

The first section of the current pyramid was built in the second phase. The Temple II, 22 meters high, is offset to the east from the back cover of the first building that partly covers. For reasons of stability the rear chambers were partially filled. The temple of the pyramid is positioned east of the platform, it consists of a portico, which is supported by eight columns (the number is hypothetical, since the excavations inside the pyramid, are way).

Access to this building was by a wide staircase to the east. At a later date, the wide porch was divided by two walls, each of which included one of the columns dividing the space into three rooms. The front sides of the colonnade is smooth. On the rear wall of the building was a roof comb (Spanish word meaning "pierced frieze or peak), which may also have belonged to the Temple III, which is visible through a hole dug by archaeologists in the temple floor V.

• The Temple III

Two spaces (rooms) were added later to the back wall of the building (Temple III) stairways remain only traces. The rear half of the front room and back have been walled up at a later date to stabilize the temple V. The Temple was completely covered by later constructions. Only through a tunnel dug by archaeologists at the center of the staircase is that it has been discovered.

The facade of this building has a sloping ledge at two and a cornice above tripartite Puuc corresponding to the traditional style. Tenons amounted stone in the upper half of the wall as support for a stucco that has disappeared.

• Temple IV

It is built on top of Temple III. It is accessible from the square of the birds passing by a staircase on the facade of the building it covers. Access to the middle room of the temple I overlooked a walled archway today to consolidate the building. The staircase on its edges a continuous line of masks of the rain gods Chaac.

The building facade and a surprising entry in the style of entries in "zoomorphic creature's mouth" style that is also found in the region of the Rio Bec and Chenes. The interior is very high: the vault is about 4 meters high. The entry was supported by two wooden lintels.

• Temple V

The newest and tallest building includes a narrow room in a North-South and is located just above the Temple II at the peak of the roof-comb (which is visible through an opening in the excavations). A new staircase built on the steeper side is completely covers the Temple II. Two side staircases leading to the Temple V. these stairs are remarkable because they bypass the right and the left main parts of Temple IV. The room has an entrance at the top to the west. It also accesses the large staircase is narrow and two platforms to the north and south.

The west facade has two smooth ribbons that frame the series of columns. The surface of the bottom wall is composed of two sides of the single entry of two fields of jagged oblique cross (chemistry) in the middle of each field was a statue of which only vestiges remain. Beyond the wall surfaces are smooth.

The cornice of the medium is composed of a smooth strip, flanked by two inclined planes. The upper surface of the wall has four courses which exceeds a rectangular peg who probably used to wear a figurine. The upper cornice is decorated like the middle one.

The facade is much less ornate. The bottom half of the wall is smooth and separated from the top of the ledge by the three usual bands. The wall of the upper wall little can be said because it is very degraded. In line with the center line of the west staircase you can see the representation of a traditional house with a roof of palm leaves. Climbing the pyramid is no longer allowed since Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Only the building at ground floor is open to visitors.

The Nunnery

Uxmal means that the rectangle on a Spanish map of 1557 probably represents the Nunnery . It is therefore one of the oldest Mayan buildings documented by Europeans. It's called Las Monjas Spanish. The Spaniards tended to give this name to buildings with many rooms recalling the cells of a convent, but was in fact a government palace. This is the most complete buildings of Uxmal with its long buildings decorated inside and outside of elaborate carvings.

It consists of four buildings arranged lying on a platform around a patio 65 x 45 meters. Not only the four buildings are at different levels, but they also differ in their form and decoration, while constituting a harmonious whole.

The south building, built in the patio, has two galleries pierced interior and exterior doors. There are eight doors on each side, each leading to a room. It is crossed at its center by a corbelled vault arch giving access to patio. The lower part is smooth walls topped by a frieze of alternating lattice with stylized representations of huts - known by the Maya xanil nah modern - located above the doors. Each hut is surmounted by a mask. Lattice panels alternate with stretches of smooth wall decorated with three columns.

The North Building is the largest of the quadrilateral. 81 m long, it rests on the platform's highest quadrilateral. It is reached by a staircase of 30 m wide, flanked by two smaller buildings that open on pillars. South side, eleven doors give access to doubles. There are two double bedrooms, one opening to the west, the other east. decoration is particularly complicated. The base is decorated with columns. The frieze surmounting the gates is formed of a mesh floral and Greek, interrupted by seven stacks of masks, topped by a mask of Tlaloc, alternating with depictions of thatched huts raised by the wind and adorned three two-headed snakes. Each hut was topped by masks. None has survived intact, although in the nineteenth ^century, Frederick Catherwood has represented in a suit. Under each hut was a sculpture consisting of two Jaguars with tails interlaced, which there is only a copy. Of statuary in the round that adorned the frieze, there are only three figures mutilated: a drummer, a captive and a quetzal. The back cover of the North Building is much more sober: mesh panels with floral pattern alternating with smooth panels. They present an alternation of characters - probably the captives - and snakeheads.

The building is 48 meters long. It is reached by a staircase. It opens onto the patio with five doors. By the central door is accessed six; by four for doubles. The frieze of the faade is formed from a lattice on which stand the trapezoids formed two-headed snakes and eight each decorated with a mask difficult to identify. Some authors see an owl's head . Only the central doorway is surmounted by a stack of long-nosed masks.

The building west, 54 meters long, rests on a platform that is the same as the building is. It also reached by a staircase. It opens onto the patio doors leading by seven in doubles. The facade was once adorned with a beautiful frieze, whose largest part collapsed. Jean-Frdric Waldeck claimed that it was intact when he visited Uxmal, but this amateur fantastic designs are notoriously unreliable. The reconstruction of this magnificent facade is based on the remaining parts of the frieze between Gates 2 and 3 and above the door 6. The high degree of recovery is based on the plausible assumption that the sets were symmetrical and the location of the pieces found at the foot of the facade . On a background mesh and Greek stands a very elaborate decoration. Above the gates 1 and 7 contained a hut surmounted by a mask. On the merits of Greek between gates 1 and 2 and between doors 5 and 6 were fixed human figures being very mutilated and heads of feathered serpent whose bodies intertwine over the entire length of the facade. From the mouth of each snake emerges a face. Above the doors 2 and 6 found stacks of masks. The area between gates 3 and 5 has been completely restored. Above the doors 3, 4 and 5 structures with reconstruction and interpretation are entirely hypothetical. According to Linda Schele and Peter Mathews, it would be palanquins. He might as well be thrones. Above the central door (4), which constitutes the axis of the composition, archaeologists have placed under a canopy with a statuette in the round in which the body is a turtle shell.

The Nunnery can be considered as a whole microcosm, that is to say a group of buildings which represent the cosmos. According to one hypothesis, based on the layout of the buildings relative to each other, the North Building, the highest correspond to the celestial world, the South Building, the lowest in the underworld and the buildings east and west, built at an intermediate level of the world community, that is to say, the earthly world .

The Great Pyramid

Just behind the governor's palace stands a pyramid with nine degrees. By volume, it is the largest of Uxmal. The base of the building is a square of approximately 80 meters square. The building is located on the upper platform, accessible by a wide staircase north side, was named "Temple of Aras" because these birds reliefs that decorate the facade. The building had 3 rooms in the front and five in the rear. Access to the three central chambers of the rear part effected by the entries located in front of a zoomorphic masks Chaac Maske-large. The lateral segments were bricked for stability reasons. Only the central area of the facade has been cleared of debris during excavation. The other three sides have only one room.

Facades

The decoration of the facade is extremely rich. North side, the surface of lower wall consists of three sets of windings which are separated by narrow representations. Between the various courses of representations of parrots in the flat. Nothing remained of the upper wall. The corners of the building are formed by three masks of the god Chaac stacked on each other. The facades of the other sides are known only by mining excavations on a small scale took place in 1941. This time in half top wall, large meanders alternating with a block of cross placed diagonally. Half of the lower wall is undecorated. The cornice is composed of average growths of stones. In a later phase, the pyramid was enlarged up to the roof of buildings, the four faces are capped and all rooms have been filled. This and other evidence indicate that the new surface, a large building was planned. Its construction was not completed.

The first excavations took place in 1941. The grand staircase and the facade to the north have been cleared and restored to 1969. Facilities for sound and light have also been installed. In 2009 on the northern facade oldest classic was discovered. The old facade has been closed for reasons of stability.

The large playground ball

An inscription dates the opening of this golf ball game by Chan Chak-K'ak'nal Ajaw of 901.

The game ball is between the platforms of the Nunnery in the north and the governor's palace in the south. It is oriented approximately on the north-south axis. Like all classic late game ball is formed of two blocks of solid walls between which the game took place on a surface H-shaped bed. The space between the walls is larger than 34 10 meters. The rubber ball bounced on the side wall of 7.4 meters high. The wall surface must be very smooth.

A ring was set in stone in the middle of each wall. The ring current was reconstructed from fragments found on site of origin. The translation of the hieroglyphics of the ring suggests ( Julian Calendar ) date of January 9, 905. The balustrade side should have the shape of a rattlesnake. At the top of the two side walls were to find forums with three entrances and buildings that are no longer seen as the base. The goal was to get the rubber ball through the rings. The ball could be hit with the knees, elbows, hips or buttocks, but neither with the hands or the feet. This game may have taken a ritual character and could be used for divination or to resolve conflicts.

The House of Turtles

The House of Turtles, so called because of the presence of turtles in the upper part of its cornice. This classical building style typical Puuc. Located on the terrace of the palace of the governor a few meters north of the palace on a party added later. A grand staircase leads to the north terrace and the house of turtles. Each of the two short sides and the south side have 3 entries. The great north side has a single entry. The east and west sides overlooking two successive rooms. The central part consists of three successive all parts length. Each entry is raised above the terrace level.

The facades are arranged in a conventional manner: Underpinning a foundation stone and slightly staggered in height to the smooth wall lintels originally made of wood. The average ridge consists of three components: a smooth surface in the middle flanked by carved conical surfaces above and below. Above are a series of carved columns. The cornice is above average as the cornice with carved turtles and more in the central part. The decoration of each turtle scales is different. In Mayan mythology, the turtle would be associated with water, rain and earth. The build quality is remarkable: it reminds a lot in detail the governor's palace. By 1968, the central part, collapsed, was rebuilt.

Group of Dovecote

This complex is located west of Uxmal. There has been heavy restorations since 2000. The northernmost part provides an overview of its appearance of yesteryear. This complex is one of the oldest in Uxmal, judging by the quality and processing of stones. It has undergone several changes.

A succession of four pending before the pyramid south. The Court's most northerly three long buildings. Only the north side is not built. The two buildings on the east side and west side of the court are very damaged. They had two rows of rooms opening on both sides. Only the building's south, also destroyed, consists of one set of rooms. On its south side is another court with another building centrally pierced by an arch which is accessed by stairs.

p> The following course is relatively narrow and there is no building on the side. To the east is a direct access to the Great Pyramid. South terrace that overlooks another larger terrace where the pigeon.

• The pigeon

So named because of the large number of openings as small windows on the facade. This building consists of two parallel rows of rooms that are not completely symmetric: the south side has fewer rooms than the north side. In the middle is an archway leading to the courtyard to the south.

The facade is the best preserved central wall of two series of rooms. The middle part is smooth pierced by windows. The upper part is divided into sections triangular shaped gables. There remains only seven windows reduce wind resistance facades. In the middle of each gear is a smooth surface which should be a model. The sprockets were also traces of fixing stucco figurines are now extinct. The facades of the two sides no longer exists, no description is possible.

To the south another court succeeds to the loft. Traces of construction are visible to the south and west, while to the east is the Great Pyramid. The building west of the court had a simple facade reveals that the columns in the ledges and the tops of the walls. The south building was originally two sets of rooms on both sides and a passage in the middle, he looks across the loft. It does not seem to have been a ridge crest. The central passage was blocked later by a terrace which was as high as the roof of the building. The rooms were filled with debris and a staircase was built.

The pyramid south

On this terrace there is the pyramid complex south overlooking the pigeon. A long stairway leads to the summit. Temple that was there there are only two relatively narrow vaulted rooms. It should be composed of 3 rooms at the front and 3 rooms closer to the rear. This arrangement is found in temples in the Chennai region further south. The walls are relatively thick and partially made of large stones. The front wall above finished roof comb. South of the pyramid are another building which survives only traces. This part of the site has not yet been cleaned up or is the subject of archaeological excavations

Group of the cemetery

This is a typical quadrilateral Uxmal based on a high platform. To the north is a pyramid which was reached by a staircase located on the south side and led to a shrine to single chamber. Access to the patio was through an archway in the center of the south building, as is the case elsewhere in Uxmal.

West buildings

Only part of the buildings on the west side of the court is reconstituted. In the middle is a building originally drawn with three entrances. Faced with the largest entry in the middle is a large platform. The inflows result in a long room divided. The two side entrances were blocked by later masonry. There is an entrance on the south side, a relatively rare element in the architecture of the region. The entries had originally wooden lintels, they were replaced by reinforced concrete lintels.

Facades

The facade of the building shows the characteristics of ancient architecture Puuc: Cornices averages doors consist of two parts, a volume with a profile forward diagonally down and an equivalent volume up. The upper cornice is made of a stone ridge also diagonally upwards. These ridges are interrupted at the central entrance and corners. There growths emerging from the stone facade and had to be the support of stucco decoration. On the roof is a roof comb still partly intact, a narrow wall with openings that was probably covered with stucco.

The two side buildings were two times smaller than the main building. They also had 3 entries. The northern has completely collapsed and the South remains only the back wall. The elements found suggests that the two side buildings had the same organization as the main building facade.

Platforms

In the northern part of the courtyard are the remains of four low platforms whose walls are decorated with crossbones, skulls and characters are on the platform. The imagery could represent the struggles of the leaders of Uxmal, which were celebrated in these monuments.

These platforms have hieroglyphic inscriptions above described the decoration of which dates can not be decrypted.

The Pyramid Round (Pirmide Circular)

In the western part of Uxmal, a small round pyramid was excavated in the 1990s. This is actually a round tiered platform about 18 meters in diameter and just 2.5 meters high. There is also a building with a round entrance on the north side with a staircase. The building was a wall of up to 1 meter in height, on which a roof and a wall would be constructed ephemeral material. Traces show that the building was destroyed by fire. As is the case with many other ruins in the region Puuc valuables were found in the debris of the building. Comparison with similar structures in other locations and method of construction show that the pyramid was built round late and it is linked to C-shaped buildings, one of which is directly contiguous to it.

Home of Old

At about 80 meters southeast of the platform of the Governor's palace is a complex of five unrestored buildings around a courtyard. The most important thing is a pyramid surmounted by a temple which was reached by a staircase on the west facade. This part of the site has not been excavated. The middle and south of the building has probably never been finished.

Old home (Casa de la Vieja in Spanish) is in fact halfway up the northwest side of the pyramid. It is old style Puuc and thus one of the oldest buildings in Uxmal. This building is on a smaller pyramid that is older than behind. The building, whose northern half is collapsed, had two rooms communicate through an entrance to the west. The doors had wooden lintels. The remaining part of the ridge crest shows the side openings and many take for fixing stucco missing.

Many other buildings, some of significant size, dot the site of Uxmal, in various states of preservation.

The majority of the hieroglyphic inscriptions are found on stelae unusually grouped on a single platform. The stelae depict the former leaders of the city, some have been restored and recovered, it would prove they were intentionally broken and overturned in ancient times.

Another indication of a war or a battle was found in the remains of a wall encircling much of the central ceremonial center.

A sacbe connects to the site of Uxmal, Kabah , 18 km south.

Contemporary history ruins

The Spanish chronicler Antonio de Ciudad Real was the first to describe the ruins during the transition that he made in 1588 ^References

See also

Further reading

• Yucatan and its archeological cities, by Gerardo Bustos Monclem Ediciones, Mexico, ( ISBN 968-6434-57-7 )
• Jeff Karl Kowalski: The House of the Governor. A Maya Palace at Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 1987, ( ISBN 0-8061-2035-5 ).
• HED Pollock: The Puuc.An architectural survey of the hill country of northern Yucatan and Campeche, Mexico. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, Mass.. 1980, ( ISBN 0-87365-693-8 ).
• Eduard Seler: Die Ruinen von Uxmal, Verlag der Knigl. Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1917 (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften Kniglich Preussischen, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, No. 3).

Related articles

• Pre-Columbian civilizations
  • Maya civilization
    • Other Mayan sites
    • Other sites Puuc
• Maya
  • Mayan languages
• Archaeologists
  • Jean-Frdric Waldeck
  • Frederick Catherwood
  • John Lloyd Stephens
  • Sylvanus Morley
  • Frans Blom

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