126 MEXICO 
as may be seen from 
put side by side. 
Fig. 49. Grotesque 
Face on the Back of 
Stela B, Copan. 
taxed the structural 
Mayan architects. The solving of this 
AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
Fig. 48, where the front heads are 
Still other lines of evidence on 
historical sequence are to be gained 
from a study of architecture. Not 
only is it possible to determine the 
general developments that hold 
true of the entire Mayan area but 
also in a given city it is sometimes 
possible to arrange the buildings in 
their order of erection according to 
dependable criteria, both decorative 
and structural. 
The earliest temples have 
narrow vaulted rooms, heavy walls, 
and a single doorway. ‘The rooms 
increase in width, the walls de- 
crease in thickness, the doorways 
multiply till the 
spaces between 
them become 
piers and finally 
columns. The 
support for the 
heavy roof comb 
ingenuity of the 
problem is marked by successive ad- 
vances and since mechanical science 
goes forward rather 
the relative order 
Fig. 50. Jaguar in 
Dresden Codex with 
than backward a Water Lily at- 
_ +. tached to Forehead. 
of structures is 
fairly certain. Moreover, many buildings are closely 
associated with dated monuments, tablets, lintels, or 
stele. Still another 
evidence of architectural sequence 
is seen in structures that have been enlarged by the ad- 
a 
