ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the representations of court architecture found on 176 Late Classic pottery vessels. It deals with a discussion of the kinds of palace architecture rendered on the pottery, and examines the events taking place inside the court buildings and the activities' participants, and addresses the court's formal and psychological composition that may be inferred from these depictions. Late Classic Maya painted ceramics have long been used to establish archaeological chronology and to infer different kinds of sociopolitical interaction. The renderings on the pottery provide a unique opportunity to study Classic Maya conceptions of court space, the psychology of interior versus exterior space, and the role of the royal presence therein. Classic Maya court buildings were decorated with paint, modeled stucco, and carved stone. Depictions of architecture on Classic Maya pictorial pottery reflect the five primary architectural types found in the heart of most Maya sites.
