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
natural talud tablero system
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 .
