Tikal Report 34: Additions And Alterations: A Commentary on the Architecture of North Acropolis, Tikal, Guatemala

The North Acropolis of Tikal is both massive and complex. There are reasons for this, and among the most prominent is the fact that the Mayans who built the Acropolis modified its architecture substantially in the 930 years or so they used it. Loton (architecture emeritus, Carelton U.) reports on the substantial changes the Mayans wrought on the flat-topped hill they created as their society grew and changed in Guatemala. He steps through each of the platform features and the dozens of modifications from various eras, placing the platform in the contexts of its place, time and people. He describes the three-dimensional reconstruction of the site, offers over 100 color photographs on the CD-ROM, and reproduces 55 detailed line drawings as he places the changes to the acropolis and platform in proper order, linking the changes to the changes in Mayan society. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

H. Stanley Loten is an architect and former faculty member of Carleton University.