Copan

One of the most important classic Maya cities and home of some of the most sophisticated stone carvings in Mesoamerica.

Copan lies in the Copan River valley, a tributary of the much larger Motagua River system in modern-day Honduras. It was at the eastern frontier of the Maya zone, well away from the other great cities of the area. The valley was fertile, and the river provided trade routes that allowed merchants from Copan to trade with cities in such distant regions as the Yucatan Peninsula and Tabasco. Settlers lived in the region beginning around 900 B. c., but the city did not become important until the classic era (beginning in roughly A. D. 200). In A. D. 426, the ruler Yax-K’uk’-Mo’ (“Green [or First] Quetzal-Macaw”) founded a dynasty that lasted for almost 400 years, ending in 820. There is the distinct possibility that this man was a warlord from Teotihuacan who seized control over the city. During this time Copan reached its greatest height, its residents establishing political control over the immediate region and forming long-lasting political alliances with the residents of the great city of Tikal and those of the more distant Teotihuacan.

Under this great dynasty the arts flourished, particularly stone carving. Nowhere else in the Maya world did artists develop such a refined, intricate style. A number of rulers from the great dynasty erected enormous statues of themselves in full ritual regalia. This “forest of kings” remains one of Copan’s defining features. More impressive is the Hieroglyphic Stairs, one of the many buildings built by the great ruler Waxaklahun-Ubah-K’awil (695-738). Each of the 63 stairs remains covered with elaborate glyphs, numbering almost 2,500 in all, making it one of the longest historical texts in Mesoamerica. Unfortunately, the early archaeologists who restored the ruins could not read the glyphs and reassembled the stairs out of order, making any attempt to read them difficult in the extreme. Architecture also flourished at Copan, and the main Acropolis contained a number of beautiful, well-built structures. The great ball court is one of the best surviving examples from the Maya area.

After 700 Copan’s fortunes began to wane, although the city did not vanish overnight. In 738 Waxaklahun-Ubah-K’awil was captured by enemies from the rival city of Quirigua. Copan recovered quickly but did not regain its position of political dominance in the region. Yax Pasah (763-ca. 820) was an ineffectual ruler and was apparently dominated by the local nobility, but Copan’s difficulties were not confined to politics. As the city increased in size, dwellings spread outward into the floodplain, leading to a reduction in the amount of land for farming. Ultimately, this sprawl became so extensive that residents of the city could no longer produce enough food to sustain themselves. The last known ruler at Copan faded from the historical record after 822, although the city retained its sizable population for almost another hundred years. After 900 the city’s residents slowly abandoned their locale. Over the centuries the Copan River shifted its course, running through the ancient urban core and damaging many of the crumbling buildings.

Copan’s remains played a vital role in the “rediscovery” of the classic Maya civilization. Between 1839 and 1840 the explorer John L. Stephens and the artist Frederick Catherwood visited the ruins, and Stephens was so impressed that he bought the site for $50. Stephens’s account of the visit, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, became an international bestseller and gave most people their first knowledge of the Maya. Archaeologists began working on the site in the 1890s, making it one of the most thoroughly studied sites of the Maya area.

Further reading: Michael Coe, The Maya, 6th ed. (London: Thames & Hudson, 1999); William L. Fash, Scribes, Warriors, and Kings: The City of Copdn and the Ancient Maya (London: Thames & Hudson, 1991); John Lloyd Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, 2 vols. (New York: Dover Publications, 1969).

—Scott Chamberlain