[Aztlan] Sayil columns

[Sam Edgerton]

Listeros: Apropos to Lorna Huff's handsome photos of the palace at Sayil, 
I'd like to question the list about an observation that has puzzled me for 
some time. While visiting Sayil myself some years ago and being interested 
in why and how the Terminal Classic Maya began to employ post and lintel 
architecture often more ostentatiously than their tried and true corbel 
arch system (the Sayil palace being an outstanding example),  I noticed 
among the support columns on the lower tier, most of which were carved as 
simple cylinders, that least one (or maybe two) were definitely "cigar" 
shaped - that is possessing "entasis,"  that famous refinement supposedly 
invented by the ancient Greeks so that their classical doric columns would 
look "elastic" (those supporting the Parthenon being the most illustrious 
examples) and not artificially stiff and un-organic.  My URLS below depict 
the most obvious Sayil examples, which only occur, I believe, in the bottom 
story. Now my question is this: are these columns original, or were they 
inserted later by modern restorers to make the building appear more 
"classical" Classical?   Or is it possible that the original Maya builders 
had actually discovered entasis on their own, and for the same reason as 
had the Greeks?
Sam Edgerton


http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/SAYIL1.JPG
http://lanfiles.williams.edu/~sedgerto/SAYIL2.JPG