THE MA VAX CIVILIZATION 77 



On top of the building proper, especially if it is a 

 temple, we frequently find a superstructure. This is a 

 sort of crest, or roof wall, usually pierced by windows. 

 When this wall rises from the center line of the roof it is 

 called a roof comb or roof crest, and when it rises from 

 the front wall it is called a flying facade. The highest 

 temples in the Mayan area are those of Tikal that 

 attain a total height of about 175 feet, counting pyra- 

 mid and superstructure. 



Massive Sculptural Art. The decoration of 

 Mayan buildings may be considered under three heads: 

 first, interior decoration; second, fagade decoration; 

 third, supplementary monuments. In many temples at 

 Yaxchilan. Tikal, etc., are found splendidly sculptured 

 lintels of stone or wood. At Copan we see wall sculp- 

 tures that adorn the entrance to the sanctuary and at 

 Palenque finely sculptured tablets let into the rear wall 

 of the sanctuary. Elsewhere are occasional examples 

 of mural paintings, sculptured door jambs, decorated 

 interior steps, etc. 



The facade decorations of the earlier Mayan struc- 

 ture's are freer and more realistic than those of the later 

 buildings. In many cases they consist of figures of men, 

 serpents, etc.. modeled in stucco or built up out of 

 several nicely fitted blocks of stone. Grotesque faces 

 also occur. In the later styles, decoration consists 

 largely of "mask panels," which are grotesque front 

 view faces arranged to fill rectangular panels, but there 

 i- an increasing amount of purely geometric ornament. 

 The masked panels represent inmost instances a highly 

 elaborated serpent's face which sometimes carries the 

 special markings of one of the greater gods. These panels, 

 considered historically, pass through some interesting 

 developments. Angular representations of serpent head- 

 in profile are sometimes used at the sides of doorways. 



