Spatial Logic and Maya City Planning: The Case for Cosmology

Abstract

Spatial logics are guiding ideals for how space should be structured, as determined by the culturally embedded decisions of architects and builders. I test various spatial logics within sub-communities at the city of Copan, Honduras, to better understand principles behind the planning of paired groups. Results support a prevailing cosmological logic, in keeping with work on concepts of directionality, and particularly with the significance of north and salience of a north–south building axis. The anthropology of space and place has gained much from an increased reliance on archaeological literature, as well as the closely related fields of geography and empirical Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyses. Because we shape and are shaped by landscapes, consideration of spatial relationships should help us evaluate and refine our conceptions of social relations.