Twin-pyramid complex
A twin-pyramid complex or twin-pyramid group was an architectural innovation of the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.[1] Twin-pyramid complexes were regularly built at the great city of Tikal in the central Petén Basin of Guatemala to celebrate the end of the 20-year kʼatun cycle of the Maya Long Count Calendar.[2] A twin-pyramid complex has been identified at Yaxha, a large city that was 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the southeast of Tikal.[3] Another has been mapped at Ixlu,[4] and Zacpeten appears also to possess at least one twin-pyramid complex and possibly two.[5] These examples outside of Tikal itself indicate that their cities were closely linked to Tikal politically.[4]
The basic layout of a twin-pyramid complex consists of identical pyramids on the east and west sides of a small plaza, with a walled enclosure to the north housing a sculpted stela-altar pair and a range building to the south. Plain monuments were generally raised at the foot of the east pyramid. The term "twin-pyramid complex" was first used in 1956 by Edwin M. Shook when he recognised that five such groups conformed to a similar architectural pattern.
Twin-pyramid complexes had identical radial pyramids on the east and the west sides of a small plaza;[6] these pyramids had a stairway climbing each of its four sides.[7] Usually they had a range building on the south side that possessed nine doorways and a small enclosure on the north side that housed a sculpted stela-altar pair.[4] These sculpted monuments recorded the king performing the kʼatun-ending ceremony.[8] Up to nine plain stela-altar pairs were erected in a line at the foot of the eastern pyramid, facing west;[9] at Tikal no stelae were ever placed in front of the western pyramid.[8] The whole twin-pyramid complex may be a miniature representation of Tikal's Great Plaza, mirroring the placement of pyramids on the east and west sides, an ancestral shrine to the north and a simple palace on the south side.[8] The twin pyramids were never designed to support a summit temple.[10]
The walled northern enclosure faced southwards onto the plaza.[7] Access was via a single doorway sporting a corbel arch; the enclosure was not roofed.[11]
The earliest twin-pyramid complex was built in Tikal's East Plaza early in the 6th century AD.[4] This first example was used to celebrate several kʼatun endings. In the Late Classic Period (c. AD 600–900) a new twin-pyramid complex was built for each kʼatun-ending ceremony, with six complexes built between 692 and 790.[4] A total of nine such complexes have been discovered at Tikal,[12] although one was completely demolished in antiquity and others were partially dismantled.[13]
Later twin-pyramid complexes tended to be larger than their predecessors, with two examples being much larger than earlier versions.[12]
