Walking through Mayapán

Summary

I present a preliminary analysis of movement through the Postclassic political capital of Mayapán. The architectural features at Mayapán are some of the most densely concentrated of sites in ancient Mesoamerica, but its organizational principles defy explanation. Almost two decades of fieldwork, including using electronic total stations, RTK survey-grade GNSS, UAV-based aerial photography, and an aircraft-borne LiDAR survey of a 40 sq km area centered on Mayapán's defensive wall, allows mapping of much of the distribution of public architecture, dwellings, platforms, property walls, pathways, and non-residential features across the city and the region. This database is the basis for revealing the forces that drove the development of Mayapán's urban form. I focus on the role of walled pathways in relation to the locations and forms of key public architectural features, walled houselots, cenotes, the defensive wall, and major gateways.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19898