Maya hut
The Maya hut is a windowless dwelling made of organic materials, probably unchanged over millennia, in the Maya settlement area ( Mexico , Guatemala , Belize ). Especially on the Yucatán peninsula , this type of building has survived in many villages to the present day.
Dimensions
Although longer structures would be possible without further ado, the length of a one-room Maya hut is now about 7 to 10 m with a width of about 4 to 5 m and a height of just under 2 m at the eaves and about 3 , 50 to 4 m at the ridge . It can be assumed that these dimensions were similar or perhaps slightly smaller at the time of the classical Maya; in some cases, archaeologists have discovered small mounds of earth with corresponding post holes.
construction
The construction basis of the Maya hut is a framework of vertical, maximally arm-thick branches (with forks), which are connected to one another by smaller horizontal branches (about the thickness of a thumb to a maximum of four fingers). The outer walls consist of approx. 2 m long branches, which - placed next to each other - are connected to each other with braided cords made of bark (today made of plastic or wire). For the gable roof required because of the frequent rains (if available) somewhat thicker and longer (or at the ends overlapping and tied) branches are used, which are connected to each other with twigs as thick as a finger, on which a cover made of reeds , spliced palm leaves or corn stalks rests ; the ridge is lined again (or today covered with corrugated iron or plastic film). Sometimes the branches of the walls, which are connected by crossbars and stabilized in this way, are also pelted with clay , but air and light permeable walls remain the rule. Mayan huts have one, in rare cases two opposite door openings (today mostly with a lockable door leaf) and a thick lintel beam , but no windows. Since the huts are mostly rounded on the narrow sides, a gable is only created in the generally rare rectangular buildings .
Today the floor and the foundation of the outer walls are often made of concrete or plastered stones; A power connection for a light bulb, radio, television, refrigerator and fan is often available, but the basic construction of the actual hut has remained largely unchanged.
Furniture
The construction of the huts is so stable that one, two or three hammocks ( hamacas ) can be hung on the thicker trunks or crossbars or directly on the outer walls , in which two adults or three children can sleep. Food supplies, clothing, or family documents are kept in hanging wicker baskets or towels. Fixed furniture such as tables, chairs, cupboards, chests or even bed frames did not exist in earlier times and even today they are rather rare. Domestic life largely takes place on the bare earth or concrete floor, which, however, is often raised about 10 to 20 cm to protect against moisture and is sometimes covered with wicker mats. Cooking and eating was and is mostly outside the door.
meaning
The wooden Maya huts were the architectural model for the later stone buildings of the Maya (temples and palaces), the interiors of which are in many cases even more cramped than the huts. Cross beams have sometimes been preserved in them, which on the one hand serve to stabilize the stone, but mostly plastered cantilever vault , but on the other hand were also used as suspension devices.
The very durable huts used to be built over and over again over several generations in the same place in order to be able to further honor the ancestors buried under the ground .
literature
- Henri Stierlin (ed.): Architecture of the world. Maya. Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-8228-9528-8 , pp. 93ff.
- John C. Lohse, Fred Valdez (Ed.): Ancient Maya Commoners. University of Texas, Austin 2010, ISBN 978-0-292-72610-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Henri Stierlin (ed.): Architecture of the world. Maya. Taschen-Verlag, Cologne 1994, ISBN 3-8228-9528-8 , p. 94f.
- ↑ Walter RT Witschey (ed.) Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya . Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham (MD) 2016, ISBN 978-0-7591-2284-0 , p. 173.