Talud-tablero
As Talud-tablero refers to the transition from oblique ( talud = "slope") and vertical ( tablero = "panel") components in the construction of Meso temple pyramids . Despite all its variations, this element is so obvious that research has also spoken of a “Talud tablero style”.
history
According to current research, the origin of this style is in the 4th / 5th. Century in Teotihuacán , the largest and most powerful city in Central America at the time, which came into contact with other important centers of the pre-Columbian cultures in Mesoamerica (e.g. Monte Albán , Tikal, etc.) through long-distance trade and dynastic relationships (marriages) . Research assumes that these contacts also led to the adaptation of building methods, as this manifested a certain participation in the culture and power of Teotihuacán.
Others doubt the authorship of Teotihuacán for the Talud-tablero system and see its origin in the Maya area - in this context the city of Uaxactún , which was already settled in pre-classical times, is mostly mentioned . Also to be mentioned is the construction of most of the Mesoamerican ball courts , which also show an alternation of inclined and vertical components.
Even cultures of later times ( Totonaks , Toltecs , Aztecs ) added this style element to their building program in their admiration for the cultural achievements of their predecessors. It also appears at several late Maya sites (e.g. Chichén Itzá , Iximché , Q'umarkaj ).
Construction and function
Stone pyramids can be designed in many ways (see Egypt ); The original structures of the sun and moon pyramids in Teotihuacán as well as most of the Mayan pyramids of the early period managed without the use of the Talud-tablero system. However, the Talud-tablero construction made it possible to visually enrich and loosen up the buildings; possibly the association of the pyramid with a mountain shape was intended. And last but not least, the side platforms on the horizontal intermediate levels could be used for ceremonial purposes via the centrally placed staircases.
photos
Teotihuacán - Quetzalcoatl pyramid
Tikal - Temple Pyramid ( Mundo Perdido )
Iximché - temple pyramid
literature
- Cyril M. Harris: Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Architecture (originally published as: Historic Architecture Sourcebook (New York: McGraw-Hill © 1977)), Dover Publications, New York 1983 ISBN 0-486-24444-X . OCLC 8806282 .
- Paul Gendrop et al. a .: El Tablero-Talud en la Arquitectura Mesoamericana. in Cuadernos de Arquitectura Mesoamericana , UNAM 1984, pp. 5ff , ISSN 0185-5131 .
- Muriel Porter Weaver: The Aztecs, Maya, and Their Predecessors = Archeology of Mesoamerica, Academic Press, San Diego, CA 1993, ISBN 0-12-739065-0 . OCLC 25832740 .