Mesoamerican Plazas: Arenas of Community and Power

273 Pages·2014·7.4 MB·English

by  Kenichiro Tsukamoto

Mesoamerican Plazas

Mesoamerican Plazas
Arenas of Community
and Power
Edited by
KEnichiro TsuKamoTo
and TaKEshi inomaTa
tucson
The university of arizona Press
© 2014 The arizona Board of regents
all rights reserved
www.uapress.arizona.edu
Library of congress cataloging-in-Publication Data
mesoamerican plazas: arenas of community and power / edited by Kenichiro Tsukamoto
and Takeshi inomata.
pages cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-0-8165-3058-8 (cloth: alk. paper)
1. maya architecture—mexico. 2. maya architecture—central america. 3. indian
architecture—mexico. 4. indian architecture—central america. 5. Plazas—mexico.
6. Plazas—central america. 7. mexico—antiquities. 8. central america—antiquities.
i. Tsukamoto, Kenichiro, 1973– ii. inomata, Takeshi, 1961–
F1435.3.a6m49 2014
711’.550972—dc23
2013039490
a subvention for the publication of this book was provided by an alphawood
Foundation grant.
manufactured in the united states of america on acid- free, archival quality paper
containing a minimum of 30% post- consumer waste and processed chlorine free.
19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
introduction. Gathering in an open space: introduction to
mesoamerican Plazas 3
Takeshi Inomata and Kenichiro Tsukamoto
Part I. Plaza Constructions and Public Events
1. Plaza Builders of the Preclassic maya Lowlands: The construction
of a Public space and a community at ceibal, Guatemala 19
Takeshi Inomata
2. social identities, Power relations, and urban Transformations:
Politics of Plaza construction at Teotihuacan 34
Tatsuya Murakami
3. multiple identities on the Plazas: The classic maya center
of El Palmar, mexico 50
Kenichiro Tsukamoto
Part II. Plazas in Broader Spatial Contexts
4. Early olmec open spaces at san Lorenzo, Veracruz 71
Ann Cyphers and Timothy Murtha
5. Empty space, active Place: The sociopolitical role of Plazas
in the mixteca alta 90
Marijke Stoll
6. The social construction of Public spaces at Palenque
and chinikihá, mexico 108
Rodrigo Liendo Stuardo, Javier López Mejía, and Arianna Campiani
7. interpreting Plaza spaces using soil chemistry: The View
from honduras 121
Kara A. Rothenberg
8. Plazas in comparative Perspective in south- central Veracruz from
the classic to the Postclassic Period (aD 300–1350) 130
Alanna Ossa
v
vi Contents
Part III. Plazas and Images
9. Early Transformations of monte albán’s main Plaza and Their
Political implications, 500 Bc–aD 200 149
Javier Urcid and Arthur Joyce
10. Plazas and the Patios of the Feathered serpent 168
William M. Ringle
11. Plaza, atrium, and maya social memory in
sixteenth- century itzmal 193
Amara Solari
Part IV. Commentary
12. ancient Plazas: spaces of inquiry in mesoamerica and Beyond 213
Jerry D. Moore
references 225
contributors 257
index 261
Mesoamerican Plazas

IntroduCtIon
Gathering in an open space
Introduction to Mesoamerican Plazas
Takeshi inomaTa and kenichiro TsukamoTo
P
lazas are focal points of mesoamerican public life. Throughout mesoameri-
can history, plazas have been essential components of the site layouts of cities,
towns, and even small villages. The integration of formal plazas into public
spaces dates back to the Early Formative period (ca. 1650 Bc) in meso america
(clark 2004), and plaza-c entered designs continue today in many Latin ameri-
can cities (Low 2000; richardson 2003; Wagner et al. 2013). Despite this
ubiquity and long historical tradition, archaeological and historical studies of
ancient mesoamerican plazas have been limited in contrast to those of sur-
rounding monumental architecture such as pyramidal temples and palaces.
The scarcity of studies examining plazas results from two problems. First,
many scholars assumed that prehispanic mesoamericans invested much labor,
wealth, and symbolic value in pyramids and other prominent buildings and
viewed plazas as remaining empty spaces of lesser cultural and social import.
second, even when researchers recognized the potential value of plazas, they
thought that these vacant spaces offered few clues about their use and mean-
ing (holley et al. 1993:306).
The goal of this volume is to challenge these perceptions. The authors set
plazas as central foci of their inquiry and examine their social significance in
various parts of mesoamerica (figure i.1). We recognize that plazas do not rep-
resent the only type of public space in most parts of mesoamerica. There were
most likely other kinds of space, ranging from broad causeways to unmarked
open spaces outside of settlements, where a large number of people could
interact. nonetheless, plazas stand out as clearly recognizable and marked
spaces. The high visibility of plazas is probably not unrelated to the social
significance that people invested in those spaces. The chapters in this volume
show that the study of plazas concern the broad issues of lived experiences of
people and the political processes that they participated in.
3