Space and Sculpture in the Classic Maya City

In this book, Alexander Parmington combines an examination of space, access control and sculptural themes and placement, to propose how images and texts controlled movement in Classic Maya cities. Using Palenque as a case study, this book analyzes specific building groups and sculptures to provide insight into the hierarchical distribution and use of ritual and administrative space in temple and palace architecture. Identifying which spaces were the more accessible and therefore more public, and which spaces were more segregated and consequently more private, Dr. Parmington demonstrates how sculptural, iconographic, and hieroglyphic content varies considerably when found in public/common or private/elite space. Drawing on specific examples from the Classic Maya and other early civilizations, he demonstrates that by examining the intent in the distribution of architecture and art, the variation and function of the artistic themes represented in sculpture and other monumental works of art can be better understood.

• Bridges quantitative and qualitative methods of inquiry to determine the broader social function of Maya art, and adapts an existing methodology adding a social dimension to the inquiry of space
• This study is a test case for a methodology for the study of meaning in the spatial distribution of art and its subject matter
• Demonstrates by example how a sequence in architecture, once identified, may be combined by different rulers over different periods of time