Architectural Aesthetics, Orientations, and Reuse at the Terminal Classic Maya Site of Ucanal, Petén, Guatemala. (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Halperin, Christina T.; Garrido, Jose Luis
• Is Part Of: Journal of field archaeology. Volume 45:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 46
• Page End: 66
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: architecture -- aesthetics -- monumental reuse -- spolia -- shrines -- political collapse -- Maya -- Terminal Classic period -- Mesoamerica; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Archaeology -- Methodology -- Periodicals; 930.105
• DOI: 10.1080/00934690.2019.1676033
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0093-4690

Abstract

ABSTRACT: The Terminal Classic period (ca. a.d. 830–950/1000) in the Southern Maya Lowlands is known as a time in which investments in public architecture and vaulted masonry buildings began to wane. Masonry constructions have often been noted to be of poorer quality in comparison with previous phases. Moving beyond models of scarcity, this paper examines the aesthetics, meanings, and reorientations of architectural projects at the site of Ucanal, Petén, Guatemala during the Terminal Classic period. We highlight three processes that were central to the new architectural programs at the site: an emphasis on the aesthetics of wood, the reorientation of sacred space in residential contexts, and the fragmentation and reuse of buildings and monuments. Although these materials and processes are often associated with a loss of splendor, we suggest that they were part of an active architectural revisionism, one that remade history by reworking the old and reorienting the new.