Central America Travel - Cruising the Mayan World in Copan, Honduras

Exploring the Honduran highlands

Mayan civilization has long fascinated the public, yet traveling to ancient Mayan ruins can be daunting. Our dream destination, Copan, in the northern Honduran highlands, seemed impossibly remote. Yet my wife and I discovered a comfortable and affordable cruise, accessing not only Copan, the Athens of the Mayan city states, but other principal archaeological sites as well.

Outside busy Puerto Cortes and industrial San Pedro Sula, our bus, filled with excited visitors, followed the Chamelecon River. Pink, white, yellow and orange blossoming trees enlivened the dry landscape, while egrets dotted pasturelands where Brahman cattle grazed. Our climb ended in La Entrada, a town dependent upon farmers who grow coffee under a canopy of mountain forests.

Nearly two thousand years earlier, the Maya began traveling this route northward carrying beans, corn, chocolate, ceiba (kapok), carved alabaster and ceramic vessels to distant rulers in Copan. We journeyed on into the Copan Valley, where the Maya had settled around 1400 BC. Eventually 25,000 people lived there, but only the elite could enter their impressive capital. Copan, established in 100 AD, is now surrounded by forest.

Scarlet macaws squawked a raucous welcome to the site. After a short and shady walk south, our guide Fito pointed out century-old trees whose roots have kept Copan surprisingly intact. Taking a swig of water, we scrambled up a stone stairway, over a marble strewn slope and onto the mysterious Acropolis.

Atop the West Court, we experienced the Mayan world circa 800 AD. Huge snails, grotesque gods and “El Viejo” (the old man) adorn the steps to the glyphic Temple of Inscriptions. Such sculptures reflect the Mayan cosmology. Though onboard lectures had given us meaningful background on Mayan culture, we still felt unprepared for the ancient Copan’s extensive imagination, creativity and artisanship.

A remarkable pyramid dominates the Acropolis centre. While other rulers had built pyramids upon ritually defaced structures, New Dawn (763-820 AD) had protectively coated Rosalila Temple (541 AD) with clay and enclosed it within this pyramid. Archaeologists were astonished to find Rosalila intact.

An altar, representing 400 years of dynastic history, faces the pyramid. Its four sculptured sides depict Copan’s sixteen cross-legged, turbaned rulers seated on cushions. Great Quetzal Macaw, Copan’s first ruler, is shown passing New Dawn a ceremonial staff, symbolizing his accession. The last structure created on this Acropolis, the council house of nine representative chiefs, signaled an end to absolute rule. New Dawn’s successor, U Cit Tok’ became seventeenth and final ruler.

Skirting the pyramid’s outer edge, Fito led us into the East Court. Life-sized jaguar heads, once encrusted with jade, stare with hollow eyes. Mid-staircase, flanked by dancing jaguars, appears a rectangular Venus mask. On an opposite staircase were sculptured pieces awaiting correct positioning. To the north, a majestic temple rose, separating the East Court from the Great Plaza below. Resting on two figures supported by skulls, a double-headed snake decorates a doorway. Chac, the long-nosed rain god, appears at each temple corner.

A voice echoed from the temple heights. “Who constructed this?”

“Eighteen Rabbit, Copan’s ‘King of The Arts’, built this temple, ball court and great plaza,” replied Fito, then added, “Eighteen Rabbit lived on in stone after a subordinate Quirigua ruler captured and decapitated him.”

We carefully climbed the steps to the temple and admired a lofty overview before descending onto the grassy Great Plaza. New Dawn’s father, Smoke Shell, commissioned Copan’s most remarkable monument. Now sheltered from erosion by a long green awning, the astounding Hieroglyphic Stairway contains the largest known Mayan text, approximately 2200 glyphs in 63 steps.

Although these glyphs revealed much of Copan’s rich cultural history and scientific achievement, early archeologists inadvertently misplaced the sequence of many glyph stones, frustrating future interpretation.

Stylized macaw heads embellish the paved ball court. The unusual rooms above the court may have been for priests and nobility who observed this ritual game. Intricately carved, fine-grained volcanic rock distinguishes the Great Plaza. Rulers are pictured with glyphs commemorating events during their reigns.

After many lingering last looks, we left the ruins and entered the adjacent Museum of Mayan Sculptures through a replicated serpent’s mouth and darkened tunnel. Arriving at an open air, sunlit gallery, we felt an archeologist’s exhilaration. Before us stood the reconstructed, full-sized dazzling red Rosalila Temple. We could easily imagine a once vibrant, colorful Copan. Surrounding exhibits further engaged us in unraveling Mayan beliefs. After admiring finely crafted original sculptures on the upper level, our magical tour ended.

Full of admiration and new insights, we departed glorious Copan. Its intriguing story, eloquently recorded in stone, expressed unequalled achievement in the Mayan world.

For more information on Mayan ruins in Honduras: www.dirla.com/hondurasmaya.htm

Author: Rick Millikan