The palaces were large, multi- storied buildings which were home to the king and royal family . Roofs were made of thatch.The Mayan palaces are spacious and include courtyards and patios. The Palace at Palenque is a good example .Some of the palaces are very large , and leads researchers to believe this is where Mayan bureaucrats regulated trade and agriculture. Feasts, dances, and other social activities were held there.
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The Maya were an advanced society. They were advanced architects. The Mayans built pyramids, temples, palaces, and ballcourts.
Mayan Temples
The Mayan temples were made out of stone. They were pyramids with steep steps leading to the top. Important ceremonies were held there. A famous temple is the Heiroglyphic Stairway at Copan. Temples were often built with astronomy in mind. Certain temples are aligned to the movements of Venus, the Sun , or the Moon. For example, there is a temple which faces three others. If one is standing on top, the other temples are aligned with the rising sun on equinoxes and solstices . Rituals take place at these times.
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Ancient Maya art refers to the material arts of the Maya civilization, an eastern and south-eastern Mesoamerican culture that took shape in the course of the later Preclassic period (500 BC to 200 AD). The main Preclassic sculptural style from the Maya area is that of Izapa, a large settlement on the Pacific coast where many stelas and (frog-shaped) altars were found showing motifs also present in Olmec art. For the Classic Period of the Mayas, the following major classes of stone sculpture may be distinguished.
Stelas:
These are large, elongated stone slabs usually covered with carvings and inscriptions, and often accompanied by round altars. Typical of the Classical period, most of them depict the rulers of the cities they were located in, often disguised as gods.
Lintels:
Spanning doorways, and panels and tablets set in the walls and piers of buildings and the sides of platforms.
Altars:
Rounded or rectangular, sometimes resting on three or four boulder-like legs. They may be wholly or partly figurative (e.g., Copan turtle altar) or have a relief image on top.
Zoomorphs:
Large boulders sculpted to resemble living creatures and covered with highly complicated relief ornamentation. These are especially known from the kingdom of Quirigua and may have functioned as altars.
Ball court markers:
Rounded relief carvings placed in the central axis of the floors of ball courts (such as those of Copan, Chinkultic, Tonina), and usually showing royal ball game scenes.
Monumental stairs:
Most famously the giant hieroglyphic stairway of Copan. The hewn stone blocks of hieroglyphic stairways together constitute an extensive text. Stairways can also be decorated with a great variety of scenes (La Corona), particularly the ball game.
With a broad, square seat, and a back sometimes iconically shaped like the wall of a cave, and worked open to show human figures.
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