The Mausoleum Architectural Project: Reinterpreting Palenque's temple of the inscriptions through 3D data-driven architectural analysis

The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, Mexico, is an outstanding example of Classic Maya architecture erected in the seventh century as the funerary building for ruler K'inich Janab Pakal. For decades, scholars have speculated on its construction sequence and the potential existence of hidden rooms on either side of Pakal's mortuary chamber. This article aims to advance understanding of the Temple's architectural context in light of new 3D data. After reviewing the application of drone-based photogrammetry and terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging in the Maya area, we argue that these techniques are capable of enhancing the architectural analysis of the Temple of the Inscriptions and showing that this structure was part of a larger architectural project, encompassing the adjacent Temple XIII, and the connecting stepped building platform. Our findings demonstrate that the basal platforms for the Temple of the Inscriptions and Temple XIII were erected contemporaneously and that the design of their mortuary chambers follows a tripartite layout we identified in Palenque's elite funerary architecture and associated mortuary practices. We conclude that these three buildings were part of a mausoleum architectural project, the construction of which was initiated by Pakal to reshape Palenque's site-core and enshrine the ruling family's power and ancestors

Developing an interoperable cloud-based visualization workflow for 3D archaeological heritage data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas

In archaeology, 3D data has become ubiquitous, as researchers routinely capture high resolution photogrammetry and LiDAR models and engage in laborious 3D analysis and reconstruction projects at every scale: artifacts, buildings, and entire sites. The raw data and processed 3D models are rarely shared as their computational dependencies leave them unusable by other scholars. In this paper we outline a novel approach for cloud-based collaboration, visualization, analysis, contextualization, and archiving of multi-modal giga-resolution archaeological heritage 3D data. The Palenque 3D Archaeological Atlas builds on an open source WebGL systems that efficiently interlink, merge, present, and contextualize the Big Data collected at the ancient Maya city of Palenque, Mexico, allowing researchers and stakeholders to visualize, access, share, measure, compare, annotate, and repurpose massive complex archaeological datasets from their web-browsers

Mesoamerican urbanism revisited: Environmental change, adaptation, resilience, persistence, and collapse

Urban adaptation to climate change is a global challenge requiring a broad response that can be informed by how urban societies in the past responded to environmental shocks. Yet, interdisciplinary efforts to leverage insights from the urban past have been stymied by disciplinary silos and entrenched misconceptions regarding the nature and diversity of premodern human settlements and institutions, especially in the case of prehispanic Mesoamerica. Long recognized as a distinct cultural region, prehispanic Mesoamerica was the setting for one of the world’s original urbanization episodes despite the impediments to communication and resource extraction due to the lack of beasts of burden and wheeled transport, and the limited and relatively late use of metal implements. Our knowledge of prehispanic urbanism in Mesoamerica has been significantly enhanced over the past two decades due to significant advances in excavating, analyzing, and contextualizing archaeological materials. We now understand that Mesoamerican urbanism was as much a story about resilience and adaptation to environmental change as it was about collapse. Here we call for a dialogue among Mesoamerican urban archaeologists, sustainability scientists, and researchers interested in urban adaptation to climate change through a synthetic perspective on the organizational diversity of urbanism. Such a dialogue, seeking insights into what facilitates and hinders urban adaptation to environmental change, can be animated by shifting the long-held emphasis on failure and collapse to a more empirically grounded account of resilience and the factors that fostered adaptation and sustainability

Una revisión arqueológica de la historia de Palenque durante los siglos VIII y IX (fases Murciélagos-Balunté)

Desde sus inicios en 1996, el tema central de nuestra investigación en la región de Palenque ha sido la búsqueda de indicadores materiales pertinentes, y la identificación de variables significativas a nivel espacial que permitan a futuro la caracterización y comprensión de los procesos involucrados en el desarrollo del régimen político en el área. A partir de nuestras investigaciones, y de los trabajos llevados a cabo en la región por varios colegas a lo largo de los últimos años, nos damos cuenta de tres fenómenos que por su relevancia debieran ser abordados con mucho mayor detenimiento en investigaciones futuras, pero que quisiera introducir de manera muy general en esta oportunidad. El primero de ellos tiene que ver con: La identificación de un importante componente preclásico a nivel regional, que hasta hace muy pocos años pensábamos ausente en el caso Palenque. Este descubrimiento debe conducirnos a replantear nuestras ideas acerca del fenómeno de complejización social en la región, esta vez como fenómeno in situ, un segundo fenómeno que tiene que ver con: a) La existencia de subregiones con claras diferencias materiales. Estas últimas como resultado probable de desarrollos históricos particulares. La existencia de esta variedad pone en duda la posibilidad de abordar el problema de la integración política regional como un fenómeno homogéneo de influencia o “control” político de Palenque a nivel regional.Y, por último, estamos seguros sobre: b) La evidencia que indica una clara expansión de elementos palencanos en la región hacia finales de la secuencia (periodos Murciélagos-Balunté 730- 850 d. C.), lo que quizás indica un aumento de la influencia de Palenque sobre las comunidades que integraron a la región más amplia y, sin lugar a dudas, una transformación de los mecanismos de integración política a nivel regional

Urban planning through the prism of infrastructure at Palenque, Chiapas: an assessment of city function and local decision-making during the Late Classic

Le opere infrastrutturali costituiscono uno strumento prezioso per capire la crescita di una città nel tempo e per pensare agli attori sociali coinvolti nella loro progettazione, esecuzione e manutenzione. In questo contributo esploriamo la città maya antica di Palenque e consideriamo come il pianoro dove questa si trova si modificò nei secoli per dar forma a un insediamento significativo e funzionale. La forma urbana di Palenque si esplora, dunque, a scala città e quartiere grazie all’infrastruttura idraulica e ai muri di contenimento delle terrazze artificiali. Da un lato si cerca di capire l’investimento infrastrutturale nel tempo e dall’altro come questo modifica e definisce la morfologia della città maya del periodo Classico mesoamericano (250-900 CE)

Vecchio/Nuovo Mondo:conoscenze e metodologie a confronto

Viene descritto il progetto di collaborazione tra Sapienza Università di Roma, Facoltà di Filosofia, Lettere, Scienze Umanistiche e Studi orientali e Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Antropológicas per lo studio dell'archeologia mesoamericana

El paisaje urbano de Palenque: una perspectiva regional

Por lo general lo “urbano” y lo “rural” se entienden como conceptos antagónicos que expresan realidades absolutamente disímiles. En dicho contexto lo urbano es sinónimo de alta cultura, de complejidad económica y política, y de heterogeneidad poblacional, funcional, económica y de estatus. Mientras que lo rural representa lo opuesto: comunidades tradicionales con un alto grado de homogeneidad económica y funcional. En el campo de la arqueología y específicamente en el caso Mesoamericano, es necesario superar esta dicotomía conceptual en aras de una mejor comprensión de aquellos procesos regionales que influyeron de forma determinante en el surgimiento y desarrollo de sociedades complejas con una fuerte tradición urbana. Con este objetivo en mente, propongo discutir el fenómeno del urbanismo en la región de Palenque, Chiapas, analizando algunos aspectos que considero relevantes en su desarrollo, concretamente los modelos que dan cuenta de la forma y la función de la ciudad, especialmente en cuanto a la posición que ocupó a nivel regional. Por último, intentaré hacer un análisis de la distribución espacial que caracterizó a dicha complejización social. Haciendo uso del concepto de “paisaje urbano” discutiré algunos de los datos obtenidos por el estudio que actualmente se lleva a cabo en esta región

Las humanidades digitales y el patrimonio arqueológico maya. Resultados preliminares de un esfuerzo interinstitucional de documentación y difusión

En 2018, gracias a una colaboración entre la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México y la Universidad de la California- Merced hemos empezado los trabajos de levantamiento digital en el sitio arqueológico de Palenque, Chiapas, patrimonio de la UNESCO desde 1980. En paralelo con las actividades de excavación en el Grupo IV, al noroeste del núcleo cívico-ceremonial, hemos empleado un escáner láser terrestre (TLS) y dos drones con cámaras de alta resolución para producir mapas y modelos 3D de los edificios y de sus espacios asociados, con una precisión al centímetro. En un lugar de la importancia de Palenque, donde los edificios necesitan de constante mantenimiento, esta labor nos parece relevante y necesaria. Se presentan en la ponencia los avances preliminares hechos en Palenque

THE MAUSOLEUM ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT: REINTERPRETING PALENQUE'S TEMPLE OF THE INSCRIPTIONS THROUGH 3D DATA-DRIVEN ARCHITECTURAL ANALYSIS

Abstract The Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, Mexico, is an outstanding example of Classic Maya architecture erected in the seventh century as the funerary building for ruler K'inich Janab Pakal. For decades, scholars have speculated on its construction sequence and the potential existence of hidden rooms on either side of Pakal's mortuary chamber. This article aims to advance understanding of the Temple's architectural context in light of new 3D data. After reviewing the application of drone-based photogrammetry and terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging in the Maya area, we argue that these techniques are capable of enhancing the architectural analysis of the Temple of the Inscriptions and showing that this structure was part of a larger architectural project, encompassing the adjacent Temple XIII, and the connecting stepped building platform. Our findings demonstrate that the basal platforms for the Temple of the Inscriptions and Temple XIII were erected contemporaneously and that the design of their mortuary chambers follows a tripartite layout we identified in Palenque's elite funerary architecture and associated mortuary practices. We conclude that these three buildings were part of a mausoleum architectural project, the construction of which was initiated by Pakal to reshape Palenque's site-core and enshrine the ruling family's power and ancestors