A bit more about the Copan Ruins before we leave this area. This type of place I just love and could spend untold amounts of time trying to learn all I could about every aspect of whatever I would be seeing. Starting at the beginning though, we have our lovely pair introducing this series of pictures with their sign they are holding for us, welcoming us to the Ruins of Copan. The next scene is one of the many relief scultures found in the light, soft rock from which so much of the Mayan world is built. The last picture is from atop a pyramidal shaped base that is believed to have had a temple on top. We are looking to the ball field which is the area between what looks opposing sets of bleachers facing a field in between. In fact, the slanteds are not bleachers, but a smooth rock surface. Since the current Mayan culture has no equivalent and no game rules have yet been found, modern man does not know much about this. However, due to the fact most any Mayan city of any size had a ball court, the thought prevails that this was a popular sport. There are glyphs carved in stone depicting some aspects of a game somewhat soccer like in format, excepting for what sometimes happened to the losing team. (I won´t get graphic here, but remember how the Romans entertained themselves only a few centuries before in their coliseums? No wild animals used in the Mayan world, but the results...) A description of the ball itself is gruesome enough, we saw a replica in the Copan museum. The ball is slightly smaller in diameter than a bowling ball and made of solid rubber! (And we were always told to not throw bowling balls!) Weighing in at about 8 pounds with no bounce, the players could only safely contact the ball either with their thighs or around the waist if protected with a wide, very thick leather belt. The belief is that there were professional teams, several probably in each of the larger cities. The thinking also says that sometimes kings and some of the court partook in this sport as well.

This background creates the setting to tell what is believed the start of Copan in 426 A.D. The glyphs all point back to this date and a geat King, the name of which I would have to copy from a pamphlet I don´t have here, as the start of this great empire for the Copan Valley area. Archeologists believe they found this king´s tomb. By analyzing his teeth for various trace minerals, they determined that this fellow grew up in one the greatest Mayan cities, Tikal, directly to the north, but many, many days (weeks) travel on foot. One surmises that as a young man, he left Tikal to seek his fortune, ending up in a probably small, unimportant burg of a town, Copan. He was tall for a Mayan (162 cm´s a bit over five feet,) strongly built which may have helped him quickly gain the trust of (or power over) the local ruling class. He assembled a formidable army and strong governing tactics. During his long reign of about 38 years, he was able to command enough resources to have many buildings built at Copan and offered the area stability and safety in which this Mayan town exploded with growth, both in population and wealth. Now that is some rags to riches story! Other analysis of his skeleton reveals one of his lower right arm bones broken and never allowed to heal. The theory there is that a blow taken while holding his shield in battle could have created such a break at that location. Other observations included fractured ribs and sternum that fit damage that catching one of the aforementioned balls during a game could deliver.

Another aspect of Mayan history was their belief of constant renewal and making more grand. Each king would commission as many buildings, statues and carvings as resources could be devoted. The easiest way to gain new heights with your new structure would be to bury your predecessor´s buildings. This was done with astonishing regularity (sometimes buildings completed only 15 to 40 years before!) Over 400 years of building at Copan resulted in a totally manmade acropolis of 100 feet in height and 2 square kilometers of surface above the plain. Archeologists have learned much about the older generations by tunnelling around under the current structures and have found one building (built by the first king) embalmed in perfect condition, including the original colors!

Well, I guess you can see I get into all this and could go on and on. However, I will point out just one more thing in the last picture, and that is what appears to be a very long canvas roof slanting upwards over what appears to be steps. All is as it appears. The canvas is protecting the longest story carved in stone in the Americas. The risor of each of every one of the 63 steps is carved with Copan´s dynastic history starting with our above described famous king, right up to the 15th ruler as completed in 755 A.D. Copan had an amazing era of stability for its last 160 years; from about 620 to about 780 only 4 rulers reigned. One lived into his 80´s and ruled for 65 years! The others were 30 to 50 years of rule. Apparently they were strong, powerful rulers able to commission many works of art, carvings, etc, that Copan is justly reknown for today. However, with this stability came an exploding population (28,000 by about 800,) deforestation of the entire Copan Valley, not enough land to grow food locally and other ecological problems resulting in subsequent flooding, crop failures, malnutrition, disease (as evidenced by study of bodies from the early 800´s) and a sudden total collapse in 822.

This grand city was empty with evidence only of a fraction of subsistence farmers left after the collapse. The jungle quickly covered over the great city hiding the buildings, or what was left of them, as hills and mounds scattered about. The Copan river, 100 feet below the Acropolis over the subsequent centuries slowly ate into the city´s main hill (called the acropolis.) European explorers from 1834 report buildings no longer present teetering on this huge man made cliff ready to slough off with the next flood. By 1930, an archeological group decided to divert the river from further mischief. The story of Copan continues to unfold as the archeologists´ digging continues even today.