m. Peasant’s houses stood on the low platform. Important buildings stood on a series of platforms. Archeologist John Goodum describes the layout of a typical Mayan city in great detail. “The central plaza and its structures are only the beginning, for in a major Maya site, stone buildings number in the hundreds. Additional plazas—almost as grand as the central one—are adjoined to it by causeways; these raised roadways are wide enough, as the Spaniards said, for 10 horsemen abreast. But the Maya had neither horses nor wheeled vehicles, and it seems likely that the causeways were designed for ceremonial processions. One could hardly, after all, imagine rulers—arrayed like those depicted on Maya paintings—sloshing through mud to reach another temple. As one moves outward from the center of a Maya site, the stone structures become smaller. Within sites, and then in the surrounding countryside, a new cluster of temples and palaces appears every half mile or so, presumably to serve as secondary centers for local religious and administrative purposes.” (Culbert 160-162). Staats 7A visitor’s initial impression of a Classic Maya site is of open spaces and large stone buildings. Maya sites seem to adhere to no obvious plan. There are no grids of streets or blocks laid out at right angles. But there is a plan that makes all Maya cities much alike in basic layout. Every large site consists of architectural groups. In each group, the structures are arranged around open plazas, now often grassy or overgrown with tropical vegetation. One plaza is usually recognizable as the most important because it contains the greatest number of stone carvings and is surrounded by the largest buildings. Temples tower above the main plaza, some surrounded by pyramids, others whole groups that are clustered on a large platform (Miller 66-69).The Classic period of Mayan Architecture lasted approximately 600 year...
