The Maya civilization developed sophisticated architecture, including stepped pyramids, temples atop platforms, palaces, and ceremonial structures. Maya cities lacked formal urban planning but centered around sacred precincts containing monumental architecture. Structures were made from locally available materials like stone, wood, and thatch. Some major Maya cities included Uxmal, with well-preserved architecture, Tikal, the capital of a powerful kingdom, and Teotihuacan, known for its large pyramids.

1. MAYAN ARCHITECTURE
Presentation By- Ar. Roopa Chikkalgi

2. • The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization.
• Maya civilization Is well known for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical
system.
• The Maya civilization was developed in the Yucatán Peninsula, in the eastern part of Mesoamerica. This
area Included Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize.
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3. • Language:
Mayan itself is a language and most Mayan descendants now speak Spanish.
The Mayan language was spoken 5,000 years ago.
Religion:
In Mayan religion it mostly consisted of the worship of nature gods. Gods like of the
sun, rain, and corn.
They showed the importance of astronomy and astrology.
Rituals of human sacrifice and the building of pyramidical temples. Some of the
Mayan religion still lives on today.

4. Governance-
• Government was an important part of the Maya civilization.
• Priests seemed to be the most important person.
• Many of them were rulers of the cities.
• Rulers were seen as half gods and worshipped them in stone pyramid structures.
Agriculture & Trade-
• Agriculture was the main occupation.
• The Mayans traded with many nearby countries, which
allowed the exposure to different cultures and
religions.

5. SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• The Mayans had 3 main social levels:
• Royalty- lived in palaces.
• Wealthy- lived in large houses near
palaces.
• Poor- lived in outskirts of town and
they were poor.
• There were slaves, peasants,
artisans, nobility, priests, and
leaders.

6. • The Preclassic period (c. 2000 BC to 250 AD) saw the establishment of the first complex societies
in the Maya region.
• The first Maya cities developed around 750 BC, and by 500 BC these cities possessed monumental
architecture, including large temples with elaborate stucco façades.
• Maya architecture spans many thousands of years. the most easily recognizable as a Mayan
construction is the stepped pyramid from the Pre-classic period.
MAYAN ARCHITECTURE

7. MAYAN MAIN CONSTRUCTIONS
• Pyramids and Temples: Often the most important religious temples were at the top of
the towering Maya pyramids, because is the closest place to the heavens.
• Temples were raised on platforms, most often upon a pyramid. The earliest temples
were probably thatched huts built upon low platforms.
• By the Classic period, temple roofs were being topped with roof combs that extended
the height of the temple and served as a foundation for monumental art.
• The temple shrine contained between one and three rooms, and were dedicated to
important deities. Such a deity might be one of the patron gods of the city, or a deified
ancestor.
• In general, freestanding pyramids were shrines honoring powerful ancestors.

10. MAYAN MAIN CONSTRUCTIONS
• Ceremonials platforms: used for public ceremonies and religious events as
well as to exhibit the heads of the victims of war. In this platform Mayan
displayed the head of the leader of the team that lose at the ball game.

11. MAYAN MAIN CONSTRUCTIONS
• Palaces: These complexes were usually located in the site core, beside a principal plaza. Maya
palaces consisted of a platform supporting a multiroom range structure.
• The term acropolis, in a Maya context, refers to a complex of structures built upon platforms of
varying height. Palaces and acropolis were essentially elite residential compounds.
• Palaces are usually arranged around one or more courtyards, with their façades facing inwards;
some examples are adorned with sculpture.

12. • The hay huts were a basic structure for Mayans and most of the Mayan
population lived in these types of houses.
• They were made from resources around the area like the walls consisted of mud
and stone.
• They stood up by wooden poles. The Mayans architecture advanced over time
and the buildings were big but they weren’t that tall.
• The exact type of stone used in masonry construction varied according to locally
available resources, and this also affected the building style. Across a broad
swathe of the Maya area, limestone was immediately available.
• Wood was used for beams, and for lintels, even in masonry structures.
Throughout Maya history, common huts and some temples continued to be built
from wooden poles and thatch.
MAYAN CONSTRUCTIONS

13. URBAN DESIGN
• Maya cities were not formally planned, and were subject to irregular expansion, with the
haphazard addition of palaces, temples and other buildings.
• Most Maya cities tended to grow outwards from the core, and upwards as new structures were
superimposed upon preceding architecture.
• Maya cities usually had a ceremonial and administrative centre surrounded by a vast irregular
sprawl of residential complexes.
• The centers of all Maya cities featured sacred precincts, sometimes separated from nearby
residential areas by walls. These precincts contained pyramid temples and other monumental
architecture dedicated to elite activities, such as basal platforms that supported administrative
or elite residential complexes. Sculpted monuments were raised to record the deeds of the
ruling dynasty.
Urban core of Tikal in the 8th century AD

14. • City centers also featured plazas, sacred ballcourts and buildings used for marketplaces and
schools. Frequently causeways linked the centre to outlying areas of the city. Some of these
classes of architecture formed lesser groups in the outlying areas of the city, which served as
sacred centres for non-royal lineages. The areas adjacent to these sacred compounds included
residential complexes housing wealthy lineages. The largest and richest of these elite
compounds sometimes possessed sculpture and art of craftsmanship equal to that of royal art.
• The ceremonial centre of the Maya city was where the ruling elite lived, and where the
administrative functions of the city were performed, together with religious ceremonies. It was
also where the inhabitants of the city gathered for public activities. Elite residential complexes
occupied the best land around the city centre, while commoners had their residences dispersed
further away from the ceremonial centre. Residential units were built on top of stone platforms
to raise them above the level of the rain season floodwaters.

15. Uxmal City- Mayan Civilization
• Uxmal is an ancient Maya city of the classical period in present-day
Mexico.
• It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of
Maya culture and is considered one of the Maya cities most
representative of the region's dominant architectural style.
• It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in recognition
of its significance.

16. Map of a central portion of Uxmal
• Uxmal was in better condition than many other Maya sites.
• Much was built with well-cut stones set into a core of concrete not
relying on plaster to hold the building together.
• The Maya architecture here is considered matched only by that of
Palenque in elegance and beauty. The style of Maya architecture
predominates.
• It is one of the few Maya cities where the casual visitor can get a
good idea of how the entire ceremonial center looked in ancient
times.
Uxmal City-

17. Tikal City- Mayan Civilization
• Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal,
found in a rainforest in Guatemala.
• Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful
kingdoms of the ancient Maya.

18. Tikal City
Tikal Temple

21. Teotihuacan City- Mayan Civilization
• Teotihuacan was an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley
of the Valley of Mexico, located in the State of Mexico, known today
as the site of many of the most architecturally significant
Mesoamerican pyramids built in the pre-Columbian Americas.
the city grew by connecting great plazas
with the numerous platforms that
created the sub-structure for nearly all
Maya buildings, by means of sacbeob
causeways

22. Pyramid of the Sun and Moon