The ancient ruins of Copan lie in the Motagua on the Rio Copan
near Guatemala. They lie on the far southern frontier of the Maya expansion. In
this fertile valley now lies a city of about 3000, a small airport, and a
winding road. The ancient ruins of Copan lie a mile east of the present town
(Copan).
Copan is considered a classic Maya center with ruins covering about forty acres including an acropolis with five plazas. The Maya of the Copan Valley are said to have occupied the valley starting in the Preclassic Period (1300- 900 BC). They lived there until the time of the Spanish Conquest. From the beginning, Copan was geographically, economically and culturally distinct from other Maya lowland sites.
The Maya started building Copan during the fifth century. The first
dated monument at Copan is 465 AD. During the next 200 years, the valley
underwent drastic changes. Their economy transformed from hunting and fishing
to farming. In 667 AD, the
Astronomical City was built. This is where most of the
temples and other structures were located. During the next few decades, all
efforts went into building the Astronomical City and Old Copan was put on hold.
By the 5th century, it is believed that Copan society was ruled by a chiefdom . Elite citizens lived in plaster coated, dressed masonry structures near major public buildings. They had access to fine imported goods, such as ceramic and shell. The rest of Copan's population lived further away in cobblestone constructions. These people were buried with relatively modest ceramic offerings. However, there is clear evidence of institutionalized rulership (or chiefdom organization) in the form of the early hieroglyphic monuments; and in the public architecture of the earliest ball court.
The largest known source of jade in Mesoamerica is within three day's walk of Copan, located in the Middle Motagua Valley, Guatemala. It was used to make tools. It has been found in virtually all ancient households in the valley. The green volcanic tuff (jade), used in dressed stone for buildings and sculptures, is found throughout the valley. Granite from the eastern part of the valley was used to make the grinding stones for processing maize into flour. Kaolin, from north of the valley, was used in manufacturing and decorating pottery. There were several small limestone deposits from which lime could be produced. The river brought other useful kinds of stones, including flint, used for producing chipped stone tools. These stones came from areas upstream in the mountains.
In 725 AD, Copan underwent another drastic
change. The pottery had changed style. This marked the end of the Middle Period
and the beginning of the Great Period of Copan. During this time, Copan became
the most brilliant city both in architecture and sculpture, if not the most
powerful in the Old Empire. Copan became second only to Tikal in accuracy of
astronomical calculations and in the number of hieroglyphic inscriptions. Trade
increased with the Guatemalan Highlands, Salvador and the Peten-British
Honduran region.
Copan was abandoned and as of yet, we still do not know for what reason. On May 26, 800 AD, the last hieroglyphic was recorded at Copan. The priests left and most of the people followed them. They are believed to have taken most of their riches with them because few were ever found. There was no sign of war or any other reason for them to leave. Some people did remain, however. Findings have found that small camps around the city still remained but the majority of the population left with the priests.
Don Diego Garcia de Palacio rediscovered Copan. He wrote to the King of Spain about his findings on March 8, 1576. The first scientific expedition into Copan was in 1834 by Colonel Juan Galindo. In 1839, John Lloyd Stevens purchased the site for fifty dollars. Until a century ago, Copan was buried in a deep tropical jungle. The forest was then cut down at the end of the nineteenth century to plant tobacco and corn. This was said to please the gods because according to legend, they were all heavy smokers (Robicsek).
The site now consists of a level plain eight miles long and two miles wide enclosed by the hills of the Rio Copan. On the plain are stone houses, drainage ditches, and burial mounds. On the hills are fallen columns and altars. In the center of the valley are the main clusters of ruins called the Main Group or the Astronomical City. This is composed of pyramids, courts, temples and other structures. One of the structures is the Hieroglyphic Stairway. This stairway is composed of 2500 hieroglyphics. However, their meaning is not yet known because an earthquake caused the steps to tumble down.
Another interesting site is the Copan ball court. It is two parallel buildings framing a carefully dimensioned rectangle. Here they played a competitive game known to the Maya for centuries. There are also many other statues and columns that are contained in the Archeological City (Hellmuth).
No one knows for sure why the priests left Copan at the height of its history. All we know is that at its peak, Copan was one of the most powerful cities in the Maya nation.
“Copan.” Honduras.Net http://.www.honduras.net/copan/ruins/mainplaza.html 11 Oct 1999.
Hellmuth, Nicholas M. Tikal-Copan Travel Guide. Robicsek, Francis. Copan: Home of the Mayan Gods. Washburn Press Inc., 1972.
Written by: Adam Risius, et al.