ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the function of the Nunnery Quadrangle of Uxmal, one of the most important examples of the Terminal Classic Puuc architectural style. Uxmal has several quadrangles, but the particular interest of the Nunnery is the manner in which a local architectural form, and most probably the social institutions that it housed, were modied by the incorporation of “Mexican” or “Toltec” iconography and architectural traits in the late ninth or early tenth centuries. These traits mark the emergence of Uxmal as another of the Epiclassic Tollans, as was Chichen Itza in eastern Yucatan. The central argument of this chapter is that the Nunnery Quadrangle was the meeting place of the court of Uxmal and that each of its wings was dedicated to one of the four “estates” directing its governance. The four “estates” represented by the Nunnery Quadrangle are the king to the north, a priestly or noble council to the west, the military to the east, and the secondary clients subject to or allied with Uxmal to the south. The Nunnery, therefore, was the place where these four “estates” met to debate matters of state, make judgments, and carry out political rituals such as investiture. The prominence of the Nunnery and the elaboration of its architecture underscore the importance councils played in such polities, even though ultimate authority was vested in the king. The proposition that the form and disposition of ancient buildings in some way reect the ideologies of their occupants has been a fruitful one for the study of Maya urbanism (e.g., essays in Christie 2003; Evans and Pillsbury 2004; Houston 1998; Inomata and Houston 2001; Kowalski 1999). In most cases, emphasis has been on the cosmological, religious, or mythic underpinnings of architecture and site plans, but alternatively the sociopolitical relationships encoded in the built environment might be pursued. Although these are often halves of the same coin, a concentration on the former aspects often stops short of providing insight into the use of architectural complexes. Assumptions that architectural complexes exemplify standard Maya cosmological concepts may also obscure the particular cultural and historical circumstances that resulted in their genesis. This contribution considers the function of the Nunnery Quadrangle of Uxmal (Figures 1.1 and 8.1), one of the emblematic structures of the Terminal Classic Puuc architectural style. George Bey and I suggested a few years ago that the Nunnery was the locus of the royal court of Uxmal (Ringle and Bey 2001:281), and in this chapter I shall enlarge upon subsequent com-
ments amplifying this observation (Ringle 2003, 2004). The basic arrangement of the Nunnery is by no means unique. Quadrangles are among the earliest masonry complexes at many Puuc centers,1 and the position of the large pyramid Structure 1B2 at Kabah and the quadrangle to the south of it is strikingly reminiscent of the Adivino-Pajaros complex relative to the Nunnery (Figure 8.2). Further north, Landa (1978:110) sketched a structure from Tiho that is very similar to the Nunnery, although he unfortunately provided no information on its function.
