CHAPTER VI
ARCHITECTURE
The only regions in which building rises to the level of architecture are those occupied by the higher cultures of Mexico and Peru. Roughly considered, there are indications of three centers of development: Maya, Nahua and Inca, though in last analysis we may find but two, the Maya and Inca, using those terms in their broadest sense. The chief characteristics common to both are rectangular groundplans, massive masonry walls, often of rubble, and the absence of the arch. The last is probably the most important factor, for the clumsy method of a stepped ceiling, closed by a slab of stone, not only doomed the builders to narrow rooms, but required very thick, firm walls for their support. The published plans of the most typical ruins show long, narrow rooms or tiers of rooms, the widest so far reported being 14 feet.[1] That these ancient builders were aware that at best this method of vaulting gave but weak support, is shown by the tendency to support upper stories upon a solid masonry core around which the lower rooms were grouped.[2] This may also be one cause for the relative infrequency of storied structures and the almost universal practice of securing height and elevation by building upon artificial or natural mounds (Fig. 52). The necessity for narrow rooms no doubt led to the enclosed rectangular court plan, which prevailed both in the North and the South (Fig. 51). Curved or circular walls are very rare and when found are isolated and not a part of a rectangular building. Consequently, we have a plain rectangular contour as a universal character.
Windows are very rare, especially in the North, and the doors are usually rectangular with straight lintels. Colonnades formed with rectangular stone supports are common, and in a few cases we meet with the cylindrical pillar, but it
