General Construction
of Pyramid-Temples
The general
temple-pyramid consisted of a platform, a long, broad, steep double staircase
going up the center, with balustrades going up the sides of the steps.
The Aztecs used sculpted stone blocks and skulls to decorate the platform
and the ends of the balustrades. At the the top was a sacrificial
block where sacrifices would take place. Behind this block the temple
or temples would be built. They would have a back room containing
the idol of the temple and an antechamber for the priest. The inside
walls were ornamented with either sculpture or painted(Vaillant 159).
The roof would be thatched in poorer temples or would be make of wooden
support beams used in a style like a corncrib built up so that it got smaller
toward the top(Vaillant 160). Blocks of stone which they carved were
used to make a mosaic of intricate geometric design to decorate their temples(Vaillant
145).
Ancient
Mayan pyramids and temples
were designed similarly.
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