[Aztlan] Stele construction

[Jorge Pérez de Lara]

Dear Gagan,

Stelae were not constructed, as there is no building process involved in 
erecting a stela. Geologically, all of the Yucatan and at least the 
Northern portion of the Guatemalan and Belizean Peten are a huge shelf 
of limestone that was once seafloor. So, naturally, the most abundant 
(almost sole) material to be found is limestone. This was quarried and 
hewn into blocks that range from the modest (e.g. Yaxchilan Stela 27) to 
the very large (Bonampak' Stela 1) upon which text and imagery were 
sculpted. The sculpting process involved drawing the scene and text on 
the stone and then going over that with different kinds of chiseling 
tools (made with harder stones and other hard materials, such as dear 
antlers) to create a more or less three-dimensional version of the 
drawing. Sculpting was aided by the fact that recently quarried 
limestone is relatively soft and only hardens through prolonged contact 
with air.

Stelae in most sites are carved in low to moderate relief, although 
there are some that exhibit quite a deep relief. This may have depended 
on regional style or even in specific sculptors' preferences, but a key 
factor that defined what could be done was the quality of the local 
stone. This varies greatly across the maya area from the fine-grained 
honey-colored limestone of Palenque that allows for the sculpting of 
minute, exquisite detail, to the coarse and easily-eroded stone of 
Calakmul, where preservation of its vast inventory of monuments is 
frustratingly poor.

There were a handful of places (Copan prominentlyl comes to mind) where 
types of stone other than limestone were available, namely an igneous 
rock called andesite. This allowed for carving that approached full, 
in-the-round sculpture. (Nearby Quirigua did not go for this style, but 
for a brief period instead chose to erect the largest monuments anywhere 
in the Maya area, such as Stelae E and F and the altar-like, so-called 
zoomorphs.).

As for the duration of the process, I am no sculptor, but my guess is 
that once a block was quarried and given its general shape, the carving 
process probably did not take that long, especially if one considers 
there is evidence for participation of more than one sculptor on the 
biggest pieces. A good example of this (even though it is not strictly a 
stela) would be Palenque's Palace Tablet, where many different hands are 
evidenced in the stylistical variations of its long text.

Hope the above helps,

Jorge


GK wrote:

>Hi all,
>   
>  I'm trying to find information on how stele were constructed during the classic period in Tikal (specifically around the 800's). Were they made with sandstone, rock or limestone? What was the manufacturing process? And how long did the process take? 
>   
>  If you know of any online resources that you can point me to that would be much appreciated. 
>   
>  Thanks, in advance...
>   
>  Gagan Kanwar
>
>  Austin, TX
>_______________________________________________
>Aztlan mailing list
>Aztlan at lists.famsi.org
>http://www.famsi.org/mailman/listinfo/aztlan
>  
>