Architectural Restoration Criteria in the Maya Area

Stabilization, or Consolidation

The action of making a monument stable by strengthening it, is called consolidation. However, this term may be misinterpreted with those interventions intended to make deteriorated materials harder through the use of synthetic substances. To avoid confusion, we shall use the word stabilization here, a word that may be defined as to restore the structural capacity or efficient support to the weakened elements.

Everyone knows that the remains of ancient monuments in state of ruin and especially those that have become mounds, as is the case with many archaeological monuments, achieve balance and stability with the surrounding environment. This is evident mostly in those that have remained buried under their own rubble, or under the protection of the tropical forest for centuries. The problem is that deterioration may begin immediately after exposing them to a different environment: their liberation or the mere deforestation or felling of the surrounding trees, may set the process in motion.

In addition to this, the structural faults that caused its ruin are also reactivated with the liberation process. Hence the importance of working as a team, granting priority to the safety of the cultural asset and collaterally to that of the intervening individuals. In case of severe collapse, for instance, a simple trench bracing with whatever material we may have at hand, like wood, iron, stone, planks or the like, is essential to avoid losses. But if this would prove technically impossible, it is very simple to leave the rubble as a stabilizer and try to clean it later with the assistance of an expert.

A correct and timely bracing will allow the archaeological investigation to proceed with no interruptions, making it possible to wait for the right moment to accomplish formal works, both for completing the investigation and for preserving the material remains by stabilizing them according to the possibilities at hand and the most appropriate methods. To that purpose, we may put into practice the following methods:

Reassemblage

The loss of facings such as stuccoes or clay mortars as plasterings or flattenings, plus the years of abandonment and ruin, help in the deterioration process of the materials’ agglutinants. The original mortars, particularly in refills and cores in most sites of the Maya world, are sandy clays or limestones; they transform and deteriorate through contamination with organic materials such as roots, insects, birds, and small mammals. Such damage is not severe and it does not necessarily imply structural instability, but because of their nature of contaminated materials, they constitute a focus of infection and possible future instability.

LAYOUT: Architecture. Shape or mode in which materials are placed in a construction; particularly, the ashlar stones or bricks of a wall.
(Dictionary, Salvat Encyclopedia)

The task of reassembling consists in eliminating the contaminated material with the help of a thin and long iron hook used to clean the joints as far deep as possible, replacing it with a much more stable modern agglutinant, clean, and strictly compatible with the original materials. To that end, the standard mason trowel will not do; an adequate tool will be necessary (special spoons) that allow to introduce the new material inside the empty joints, without staining or damaging the ashlar stones we intend to protecting.

Reassembling is not always necessary, as usually there are exceptions where the Maya builders used top quality clay mortars, and the layouts, particularly the final retaining walls, or bearing walls, are so strong and stable that they don’t require any reassembling work. This condition must be carefully evaluated during the liberation works, so as to establish whether the treatment applies or not.

Repairs

Repairs are minor reparations in stuccoes and flattenings, and involve the fixation of portions undergoing a detaching process, the refilling of cracks, small complementations of an esthetic character, etc. This kind of work involves particular techniques, both for the application of first aids and for the preparation of materials and their further application. It is advisable to have an expert at hand to take care of all problems related to the movable goods or artifacts collected during the survey, for the responsibility to preserve is not restricted to the building, or to the site, but rather, it includes all artifacts and objects found in it.

Reinforcements or Liners

The terms "liner, filler" (embono) derives from the Italian and mean "to improve something"; the term is used here to refer to one manner of stabilization consisting in the application of a coarse refill, made of stones and agglutinants identical or similar to the original ones, that are integrated to the old refills and cores in destroyed areas; the objective is to recuperate structural capacity. It must not be confused with the original refills.

The liners, or fillers, are particularly useful to reinforce and protect the superficial parts exposed to rainwater; its objective, besides strengthening and stabilizing, is to drain rain water as quickly as possible, to avoid filtrations that could be potentially dangerous to conservation. Moreover, they help us provide some kind of finishing to the superficial portions that for one reason or the other are to remain broken, or with missing parts. However, in practice, we should avoid abusing of this material by making large complements, because overabundance may be unaesthetic.

Collapsed Walls

A bearing wall that has collapsed in colonial buildings occasionally allows to be pulled or pushed so that it recovers its plumb; this is a rather well-known practice in that type of architecture because usually the wall will be a compact and firm unit, for having a clay mortar of superior quality. This allows that it may once again be restored to its perpendicular position, while its bricks or stones will not become separated. Whenever we find a similar case in prehispanic architecture, the feasibility of returning the walls to the original position is high, although weak agglutinants, abundant cracks and strong curves described in a transverse section, will be frequently encountered (Figure 1 and Photo 51, shown below), making this case a difficult or impossible task to accomplish.

Click on image to enlarge

Anyway, this issue would be better addressed to by a restorer with an experience in Maya structures, as on the contrary, the attempt could yield fatal results. We must keep in mind we are referring to two very different types of constructions, not only for their shape but also for their structure and the construction materials involved.

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