Preclassic Maya architecture at Cuello, Belize

Gerhardt, Juliette Cartwright

essay

Preclassic Maya architecture at Cuello, Belize

B.A.R. • Oxford • Published In 1988 • Pages: x, 148

By: Gerhardt, Juliette Cartwright.

Abstract
According to Gerhardt the '…importance of the Cuello site lies in its continuous sequence of Preclassic or Formative occupation represented in Platform 34, which dates back into the Early Preclassic. Ten of the thirty-seven structures exposed in the Main Trench excavated through Platform 34 date to the Early Preclassic Period. This comprises the largest sample of Early Preclassic structures uncovered at any site in the Maya area' (p. 1). Chapter I of this study provides the reader with an overview of the Cuello site, followed in Chapter II with a detailed analysis of the excavation data by Construction Phases I-XIV from the earliest to the latest stages of the Preclassic Period. 'Chapter III is a synthesis of the architectural events occurring in, and later on, Platform 34. The focus is on the evolution of construction trends through the Preclassic Period, and attempts to arrive at functional interpretations for each structure. The final chapter, IV, summarizes the structures by type, i.e. house platforms, ancillary platforms, ceremonial structures, and unknown; and draws inferences about the possible ideological transformation reflected in the growth of Platform 34 throughout the Preclassic Period' (p. 1).

Maps

Masonry

Structures

Miscellaneous structures

Grounds

Building interiors and arrangement

Heating and lighting equipment

Chronologies and culture sequences

Preclassic Maya

HRAF PubDate

2001

Region