A Formal Analysis of the Relief Carved Monuments at Tikal, Guatemala

The formal aspects of the relief carved monuments at Tikal, Guatemala are described and an explanation is offered for their meanings and histories. The formal traits discussed are monument placement, monument form, composition, and carving techniques. The description is facilitated by grouping the monuments into major formal types that are also arranged chronologically. A contextual analysis of the formal traits is done by comparing or contrasting their physical and chronological descriptions with archaeological data, epigraphic data, and previous iconographic explanations. The explanations offered in this study of the forms of art at Tikal are centered around two questions: what were the purposes of the art, and how were these purposes achieved. A basic assumption is that form has content. The relief carved monuments of Tikal are shown to be public art forms that were initially religious in function. This original function was abruptly changed at the beginning of the Middle Classic period to become secular and political in content. The secular and political functions or purposes are shown to have been achieved by purposeful choices made by the patron and the sculptor. Monuments are analysized for the range of choices that effected their formal traits and iconographic program. In this study it becomes apparent that a progressive or evolutionary historical structure cannot account for the changes observed in artistic forms. At Tikal, the changes are too abrupt and the time spans of formal sequences too short. Art events, as they occurred in time, display a complex interweaving of innovation with historicisms and archaicisms. A neat linear progression of formal traits was impossible to achieve, so a discontinuous history of art events is the result.