Sunday, December 2, 2007

11/30 Copan Ruins

We spent Friday afternoon at the Copan ruins in Honduras. They aren't the largest ruins by far but Copan was an intellectual city and contains more history about the Mayans than any other city. We had been advised to hire a guide, which we did and it was well worth it. Our guide, Antonio, had been a guide at the ruins since the 70s and knew all the history which made our visit that much more interesting. We're going to Tikal in Guatemala next which has the huge temples that stick up out of the jungle. I can't wait to get there!


Section of bad road on the way to Copan. It still amazes me how the highway will be perfect and then suddenly you run into a section like this!?


Walking down from one of the temples


This is the oldest (800 years) and biggest tree in the Copan ruins. You can't really tell from the picture but it's "humongous"!


This staircase documents 300 years of Mayan history. The missing sections are in a university in the US.

Sleeping bench



Macaw head markers. Very prominent througout the city.


Tablet showing the transition of power between rulers


Ball Court, view from above. The game was played with an 8 pound solid rubber ball. They had to keep the ball in the air or bouncing on the side ramps without using their head, hands or feet. If the game was religious, the winner was sacrificed and if it was a normal game, the loser was sacrificed.

Popsi and Antonio


Grave marker. This skull marker was a sign that their were people buried underneath the temple, house, etc...


Ceremonial altar. The "victim" would lay on their back and put their head in the hole so they were looking upward when their head was chopped off.


Popsi and Antonio (our guide) examining the "goody pit" underneath a grave marker where people would leave stuff to honor the dead.


Macaws

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