Mesoamerican pyramids
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An important part of Ancient Mesoamerican architecture was the construction of pyramid-shaped structures. These were also usually step pyramids, with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. The Mesoamerican region's largest pyramid by volume – indeed, the largest in the world by volume – is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla.
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[edit] Aztecs
The Aztecs, a people with a rich mythology and cultural heritage, dominated central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries. Their capital was Tenochtitlan on the shore of Lake Texcoco – the site of modern-day Mexico City. They were linguistically related to, and culturally in awe of, the anteceding cultures in the basin of Mexico such as the culture that the aztecs called Toltec, and the culture of Teotihuacan whose building styles they adopted and adapted.
[edit] Maya
The Maya are a people of southern Mexico and northern Central America (Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and El Salvador) with some 3,000 years of history. Archaeological evidence shows the Maya started to build ceremonial architecture approximately 3,000 years ago. The earliest monuments consisted of simple burial mounds, the precursors to the spectacular stepped pyramids from the Terminal Pre-classic period and beyond. These pyramids relied on intricate carved stone in order to create a stair-stepped design. Many of these structures featured a top platform upon which a smaller dedicatory building was constructed, associated with a particular Maya deity. Maya pyramid-like structures were also erected to serve as a place of interment for powerful rulers. Maya pyramidic structures occur in a great variety of forms and functions, bounded by regional and period differences.
[edit] Tarascans
The Tarascan states was a precolumbian culture centred in the state of Michoacán in thee region that is still inhabiteed by their modern descendents the P'urhépecha. Pre-Hispanic Tarascan architecture is noted for step-pyramids in the shape of the letter "T", known as yácatas.
[edit] Teotihuacanos
The Teotihuacano civilisation, which flourished from around 300 BCE to 500 CE, at its greatest extent included most of Mesoamerica. Teotihuacano culture collapsed around 550 and was followed by several large citystates such as Xochicalco (Whose inhabitants were probably of matlatzinca ethnicity), Cholula (whose inhabitants were probably Oto-manguean) and later the the ceremonial site of Tula (which has traditionally beeen claimed to have been built by Toltecs but which now is thought to have been founded by the Huastec culture).
[edit] Totonacs
The Totonac people controlled a sizeable portion of the Gulf coast from the 1st century through to the 13th. The best known Totonaca pyramid, in their capital El Tajín, is smaller than those of their neighbours and successors but more intricate. Although Tajín has been regarded as a Totonac site - mostly because it has had Totonac inhabitants in historic times some scholars now beelieve that it was built originally by Huastecs and lateer conquered by the Totonacs.
[edit] Zapotecs
The Zapotecas were one of the earliest Mesoamerican cultures and held sway over the Oaxaca valley from 900 BC to about AD 1300.
[edit] Others
The followng sites are from northern Mesoamerica, built by cultures whose ethnic affiliations are unknown:
[edit] Altavista
This astronomical and ceremonial center was the product of the Chalchihuite culture. Its occupation and development had a period of approximately 800 years (200-1000 a.c.). This zone is considered an important archaeological center because of the astonishing, accurate functions of the edifications. The ones that stand out the most are: The Moon Plaza, The Votive Pyramid, the Ladder of Gamio and The labyrinth. In The Labyrinth you can appreciate with precision and accuracy, the respective equinoxes and the seasons.
[edit] La Quemada
You can appreciate the great quantity of buildings constructed above artificial terraces in the slopes of a hill. The materials used here include stone slab and clay. The most important structures are: The Hall of Columns, The Ball Game, The Votive Pyramid, and The Palace and the Barrack. In the most elevated part of the hill is The Fortress. This is composed of a small pyramid and a platform, encircled by a wall thats more than 800 mts. long and up to six feet high. La Quemada was occupied from 800 to 1200 a.d. Their founders and occupants have not been identified with certitude.
[edit] See also
- Bosnian pyramids
- Chinese pyramids
- Egyptian pyramids
- French pyramids
- Nubian pyramids
- South American pyramids
- Ukrainian pyramids
- Mound
- Cahokia
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
- PyramidPlan – instructions for building a scale-model Aztec temple
