Some outset stairs present sheer edges, while others have a slightly raised ramp-like edge, also known by the terms “alfarda” and balustrade.
Standing Architecture
Tikal ruins include many architectural structures only partially collapsed. Project operations cleared debris away from many of these, but others were left as originally found. These are known as examples of standing architecture and were recorded without removal of collapsed material or vegetation.
Stretcher
A facing stone set with its length running in the plane of the surface.
Subapron
Apron profiles at Tikal are of two main types: two-element aprons and three-element aprons. The two-element type typifies Early Classic work and consists of an upper part projecting over a lower part; the lower part is the subapron. This implies that the upper part is the apron, although the term “apron” is also applied to the whole feature whether two element or three element. In three-element aprons the subapron is the middle part.
Subspring Beam
Beams spanning rooms and set below vault spring height are subspring beams.
Substructure
The parts below the building are known collectively as the substructure.
Subwall
This term was invented for use here to describe a wall-like feature, below floor level, within buildings where they act as footings for walls. Great Temple IV provides the only known example at Tikal.
Superior Molding
A molding at the top of an upper zone is a superior molding.
Supplementary Platform
A platform that intervenes between a building platform and a lower substructure platform is a supplementary platform.
Supra-lintel Masonry
On top of most lintels, there is a layer of masonry filling the gap between the tops of the lintel beams and the wall top.
Surface Dressing
The practice of planing face surfaces of facing stones to provide a fair substrate for plaster is known as face dressing. This is usually done after the facings have been installed.
Tandem Room
A room set in range fashion behind another room is a tandem room. Such rooms are described as set in tandem.
Thick Wall
A wall of a building so thick that its thickness approximates its height is known as a thick wall. None occur in the Central Acropolis.
Thin Wall
Walls of buildings proportioned such that their height is much greater than their thickness are thin walls. All building walls in the Central Acropolis are thin as compared with the thick walls of the Great Temples.
Transverse Room
A room set with its length parallel to the structure axis is a transverse room.
Tread
The horizontal part of a stair between risers is a tread.
Upper Zone
The exterior element corresponding to the vaults and overhanging exterior wall faces is the upper zone.
Upstand
A raised element on a bench is an upstand; alternatively, it can be called a bolster.
Vault
Masonry constructions that span over rooms or chambers are vaults. The vaults at Tikal are unlike arches in that one side does not depend on the other, they do not exert lateral thrusts, and do not require buttresses.
Vault-back
Some vaults have outer surfaces underlying upper zone material; these are known as vault-back surfaces. Some vaults at Tikal do not have vault-backs but most do.
Vault Beam
All known vaults at Tikal contain either wood beams, beam butts, or beam sockets. The beams are known as vault beams and in many cases were installed prior to masonry work as part of falsework and/or formwork. The way that vault soffit stones were cut around beams shows that the beams were in place first.
Veneer Facings
Facing stones proportioned so that their height is distinctly greater than their thickness are known as veneer stones.
Wall
In Tikal Project terminology, a “wall” is an element enclosing a room or dividing rooms. Surfaces of platforms are described as faces not walls.
Wall Top
The top surface of a wall is its wall top. In some cases, these are plastered over, in others, not.
Wing
A part of a building projecting out from the central range of rooms is known as a wing.
I
Introduction & Acknowledgments
During preparation of the topographic site maps for the Tikal Project, a total of 2,120 individual structures were numbered (TR. 11:10). Excavations touched only a fraction of this total and various reports detail their architectural features. The remainder includes many that have fully collapsed—presenting mere mounds of debris—quite a few with features still in place and accessible without excavation. Tikal Report 23A (2002) presents data on some of these “standing” structures, and this volume provides more.
In the nature of things, we have less information for some structures than we have for others; 6F-27 (Temple VI) was partially cleared and a skull burial was excavated; minor excavations, including a short axial tunnel, were done on Temple IV; Temple III had no more clearing than is mentioned below; in Temple V some cuts were made for access to roofcomb chambers. As a matter of policy recording was done with minimal disturbance to the vegetation. In many cases, mortar has degraded so that tree and plant roots are the only things holding these fabrics together. Plant removal would drastically hasten collapse. Measuring had to be done within and around the mantle of vegetation.
A
