The classical age cities of Palenque and Tikal where ones great Mayan bastions with extraordinary architecture.  This architecture still fascinates modern archaeologies and historians alike. Still much of the architecture in the Mayan cities had the same style and function, but could diverse from town to town. This is the case of Palenque and Tikal. They share much of their buildings like temples, palaces and ball courts. But the main differences are in the subtle things like vault construction, wall thickness, and columns. The greater differences are in region and time. Tikals history runs back to around 350 B.C., while Palenque is founded around 200 A.D. The time gap makes the building differences much clearer. For example the wall thickness in Tikal is a product of early Petén masonry. This type of masonry was heavy and clumsy to work with, it relied on heavy stones and a small cement core. Whiles in Palenque they evolved the technique to be the opposite of that of Tikal, thin stone slabs and a thick cement core.

Thesis--Faculty of arts and sciences--University of Pittsburgh, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 220-241.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

This dissertation examines portraiture at Palenque during the Classic period. I propose that portraits communicated information about the identity of the sitter through the representation of the face and head. I argue that when picturing the same person, sculptors rendered particular facial features with remarkable consistency. Artists also represented modifications to the face. Some superficial treatments that play roles in the ascription of identity include cosmetic devices appended to the face, tattoos or scarification, and facial hair. These changeable features operated alongside the face's form to communicate individual identity. The representation of facial features allowed the designers of visual programs at Palenque to make specific claims about the identity of sitters. For example, in some cases portraits quote physical characteristics observable in earlier portraits to mark biological connections of the individuals represented. Additionally, posthumous portraits furnished opportunities to situate some ancestors into divine lineages. Artists represented the faces, heads, and costumes of certain sitters in a manner that overtly referenced images of Maize Gods. In contrast, contemporary portraiture typically exhibits variations in the face's details, differences in the age of the sitter, and a diverse array of costumes. Despite this instability, portraits created during the sitter's lifetime still exhibit enough consistency to facilitate the identification of particular individuals. I suggest that emphasis placed on either divine lineage or temporal concerns shifted depending on political circumstances. This complex negotiation took place as the roles and responsibilities of kings changed during the Late Classic period. I advocate that portraits reflect the fragile and tenuous political environment during this time period, but more importantly, I propose that portraits actively participated in shaping environments and attitudes of Palenque's inhabitants. / text

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This thesis analyzes a series of stucco reliefs that decorate the piers of House D of the Palace of Palenque, a Classic Maya city in modern Chiapas, Mexico. Each of the five extant piers of House D depict pairs of individuals facing each other and engaged in what appears to be ritual performances associated with dance and sacrifice. I rely on an iconographic analysis of the reliefs of House D and on a reading of the architecture in relation to the surrounding built environment in order to reconstruct ancient patterns of viewership. I argue that the reliefs of House D of the Palace present a royal narrative where myth and history are fused, and that this combination is validated through ritual performance. The integration of mythical and historical narratives is transmitted through the ruler's enactment of past events that take place in a watery environment signifying the mythical origins of the city of Palenque. This performative narrative at the same time reproduces and perpetuates the actual ceremonies that took place in and around the building, specifically in the monumental stairway and in the ceremonial plaza that flank the building on its western margin. The dynastic messages embedded in the narrative of the piers, and its incorporation into the performances associated with the building, serve to promote the military accomplishments and the political legitimacy of a new ruling dynasty, initiated by the king of Palenque K'inich Janab Pakal, who is the main figure portrayed on the reliefs. / text

No description available.

In 1952, when Alberto Ruz Lhuillier discovered the magnificent chamber and tomb of K'inich Janaab' Pakal I, the Classic Maya king of Palenque, many scholars from around the world declared that it was one of the greatest discoveries in Mesoamerican archaeology. Although there are summary accounts describing the life of the man who discovered the tomb, there are no detailed biographies, nor are there any in-depth discussions about his ten year's work at the archaeological site of Palenque, México that took place in the late 1940's and 1950's. This study fills that information gap. It is a "behind the scenes" narrative that includes an internal and external historiography of the archaeological project. Within that framework, a short biography of Ruz's life before and after the work is included. Ruz and many others have written extensively about the excavations, the iconography and the epigraphy of the site, but the story contained herein has never been told, since it is derived from primary sources including personal accounts, newspaper articles, correspondence, progress reports, interviews, unpublished and translated Informes de Trabajo, and Anales del Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Historia y Etnografía. The outcome of this approach is a new view of the excavations and of the man who conducted them. In addition, the study includes a consideration of the political and cultural context within which the excavations took place, thus fostering an understanding of how these issues played out in the work. Through this micro- and macrohistorical approach one may detect and perhaps understand the personal and social influences present at the time of excavation. This approach also gives insight into how these forces shaped the broader history of Maya archaeology in Mexico. / text

The following work presents a hypothesis which identifies the origins and meaning of an ancient Mesoamerican concept known as the three stones of creation. Previous interpretations have tended to apply astronomical, spatial, or geographical models, while many conclusions have been made on the basis of one Classic Maya monument, Stela C of Quirigua. This thesis builds an argument for the temporal nature of these “stones,” used to metaphorically represent a sequence of separate units of time, referred to as eras, ages, or creations. A primary goal is to demonstrate that Quirigua Stela C provides in brief, summary form a chronology which is better defined through inscriptions in the Cross Group at Palenque, and in a sequence of panels at Yaxchilan containing beliefs about the origins of the ballgame. In constructing an argument for the temporal nature of the three stones of creation, every available context from a set of hieroglyphs mentioned in the Quirigua Stela C “creation” text—including Na Ho Chan (“First 5-Sky”) and “6-Sky”—is discussed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, these glyphs are shown to aid in the organization of the deeper past within the Palenque and Yaxchilan mythologies. When compared chronologically and thematically, these sites seem to point to the 24th century B.C.E. as the important termination of a time period (i.e., the planting of a creation stone) related to a mythic complex involving the death and underworld journey of the Maize Lord, followed by his resurrection, emergence, and/or accession to power. Key questions addressed include the antiquity of these beliefs and where the metaphors used to arrange time observed among the Classic Maya originate. In Chapter 4, earlier expressions of this time ideology are interpreted through iconographic conventions, ritual deposits, and monumental architecture at the Olmec site of La Venta. Similarly, Chapter 5 proposes that the Humboldt Celt, the earliest known example of the three stones of creation, arranges units of time into a sequence. These and other interpretations suggest the existence of an ancestral, Mesoamerican era-based time model to which later Postclassic, colonial, and contemporary beliefs, such as those expressed in the K’iche’-Mayan Popol Vuh, are fundamentally related. / text

Mémoire en recherche d'ethnomusicologie / L’emblématique ville de San Basilio de Palenque est connue comme le premier village afro-colombien libre du continent américain. Depuis sa création, les habitants de Palenque ont transmis de générations en générations leurs nombreuses pratiques culturelles, sociales, religieuses et économiques. En 2005, Palenque a été proclamé Chef-d'œuvre du Patrimoine Oral et Immatériel de l'Humanité par l'UNESCO. La langue, les recettes culinaires, les coiffures, la danse, la religion et surtout la musique ont conservé beaucoup d’éléments spécifiques à leur histoire africaine et à celle relative à l’esclavage vécu par les fondateurs de Palenque. La musique tient une place particulièrement importante dans la vie des habitant.es de Palenque. Elle comporte des éléments liés à cet héritage africain que l’on retrouve dans d’autres musiques des Caraïbes et d’Afrique sub-saharienne, ainsi que des éléments empruntés aux communautés autochtones du nord de la Colombie. Néanmoins, par manque de fonds financiers et d’intérêt au niveau national, les recherches anthropologiques à Palenque n’ont commencé qu’à partir de la deuxième moitié du XXème siècle. Très peu d’entre elles sont consacrées à la musique de Palenque. De ce constat est né la motivation de cette recherche, laquelle explore la musique sous divers aspects. Nous avons mené une étude organologique des instruments qui existent physiquement au moment de ma recherche sur le terrain, mais aussi des instruments dont les musiciens et musiciennes de Palenque se souviennent à l’heure d’aujourd’hui. Les origines de chaque instrument, les techniques et styles de fabrication et de jeu seront décrits en détail dans ce mémoire. Une étude des répertoires traditionnels et modernes sera également présentée. Pour chaque répertoire, il sera fait mention de leurs danses respectives, des bases rythmiques principales afin de situer ces pratiques parfois métissées entre tradition et modernité. Nous finirons cet état des lieux par une description de la scène musicale locale de Palenque et des acteurs et actrices culturels que l’on y rencontre, lesquels ont un rôle actif dans la transmission et la transformation des traditions. / The emblematic city of San Basilio de Palenque is known as the first free Afro-Colombian village in the American continent. The preservation of several cultural, social, religious and economic traits since its creation, made this town a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005 by UNESCO. The language, food, hairstyles, dance, religion and especially the music have preserved many elements of the African history and slavery lived by the founders of Palenque and transmitted transgenerational way. Music, being a particularly important element in the life of the inhabitants of Palenque, includes elements linked to the African heritage that can also be recognized in other Caribbean and sub-Saharan African music, as well as elements from the indigenous communities of northern Colombia. However, due to lack of funds and national interest, anthropological research in Palenque only began in the second half of the twentieth century. There are even less studies focused on the music of Palenque. This observation is what motivated our research, which studies many aspects of Palenque’s music. We have carried out an organological work of the instruments that physically exist during my field research and those that Palenque’s musicians still remember. The origins of each instrument, the way they are made and played are described in detail in this thesis. A study of traditional and modern repertoires is also presented. For each repertoire, we will mention their respective dances and the main rhythmic bases to situate these practices, sometimes mixed between tradition and modernity. We will finish this overview with a description of the local musical scene of Palenque and the cultural actors that we met there, who have an active role in the transmission and transformation of traditions. / El emblemático pueblo de San Basilio de Palenque es conocido como el primer pueblo afrocolombiano libre del continente americano. La conservación de varios rasgos culturales, sociales, religiosos y económicos desde su creación ha hecho que este pueblo sea proclamado Obra Maestra del Patrimonio Oral e Inmaterial de la Humanidad en 2005 por la UNESCO. La lengua, la comida, los peinados, la danza, la religión y, sobre todo, la música ha conservado muchos elementos de la historia africana y de la esclavitud que vivieron los fundadores y fundadoras de Palenque, y que se han transmitido de forma transgeneracional. La música, al ser un elemento es especialmente importante en la vida de los habitantes de Palenque, incluye elementos de la herencia africana, que también pueden reconocerse en otras músicas caribeñas y subsaharianas, así como elementos de las comunidades indígenas del norte de Colombia. Sin embargo, debido a la falta de fondos y al interés nacional, la investigación antropológica en Palenque no comenzó hasta la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Los estudios centrados en la música de Palenque son incluso mucho menos. De esta observación surge la motivación de nuestra investigación, que estudia varios de sus aspectos. Hemos conllevado un estudio de organología de los instrumentos que existen físicamente durante mi trabajo de campo, y también de aquellos instrumentos de los cuales ya no se encuentran en Palenque, pero que los músicos y músicas todavía los recuerdan. Los orígenes de cada instrumento, las técnicas y estilos de fabricación y de interpretación se describen en detalle en esta tesis. También presentamos un estudio de repertorios tradicionales y modernos. Por cada repertorio describimos sus bailes respectivos y las principales bases rítmicas con el fin de situar estas prácticas, que a veces se mezclan entre la tradición y la modernidad. Finalizamos esta panorámica con una descripción de la escena musical local de Palenque y de los actores y actrices culturales, que desempeñan un papel activo en la transmisión y transformación de las tradiciones.