Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2xdlg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T07:19:10.006Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Continuity and Change in a Royal Maya Residential Complex at Copan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

E. Wyllys Andrews V  and
Barbara W. Fash
E. Wyllys Andrews V
Affiliation:
Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA
Barbara W. Fash
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Excavation of the large elite structures around the Structure 10L-32 plaza at the northeast corner of Group 10L-2, at the south edge of the Acropolis at Copan, supports the view that this group was the residence of the royal family during the Late and Terminal Classic Coner phase. During the hundred years of construction at the uppermost plaza level, structure change and growth follows two patterns: (1) a tendency for subsequent buildings in one place to retain a similar form and probably function, and (2) a trend away from domestic structures to ritual or public buildings. As the buildings around the plaza grew, access to the complex was increasingly limited. The largest two, Structures 10L-32 and 10L-30, were built late in the eighth century by a noble named Chac, who was a close associate, relative, or sibling of Yax Pac. The older Structure 10L-29, on the terrace above the plaza, was dedicated to the worship of royal lineage ancestors. The collapse of this group occurred in two stages, a decline of the nobility early in the ninth century, followed by violent destruction of buildings and monuments sometime before that century ended. This sequence of events may apply to the entire Principal Group and adjacent elite residential areas.

Resumen

Las investigaciones arqueológicas recientes de los ediflcios de la élite alrededor de la plaza de la Estructura 10L-32, en la esquina noreste del Grupo 10L-2, que forma la orilla sur de la Acrópolis de Copan, apoya la idea de que este grupo fue la residencia del linaje real durante la fase Coner del clásico tardío y final. En los últimos cien años de constructión sobre el nivel superior de la plaza se observan dos patrones distintos en el proceso de cambio y crecimiento arquiteciónico. El primer patrón fue el de mantener en los edificios nuevos la forma, y probablemente la función, de construciones anteriores; el segundo fue el de construir edificios públicos o ceremoniales sobre los restos de residencias domésticas de épocas anteriores. A través del proceso de crecimiento, el acceso a la plaza y sus edificios circundantes quedo cada vez más restringido. Los edificios mayores, las Estructuras 10L-32 y 10L-30, fueron comisionadas a fines del siglo VIII por un noble llamado Chac, un aliado, pariente, o quizás hermano menor de Yax Pan, el penúltimo gobernante de Copan. La Estructura 10L-29, construida antes que los dos mencionados anteriormente, fue dedicada al culto de los antepasados de la familia real. El colapso de este grupo sucedió en dos etapas: en el primero es evidente el proceso de decadencia de la nobleza en los primeros años del siglo IX; en la segunda etapa, que ocurre en las últimas décadas del siglo, tenemos evidencia de la violenta destrucción de los edificios y monumentos del grupo, Es posible que esta secuencia refleje una situatión análoga a los eventos que tomaron lugar en la Acrópolis y en los barrios residenciales circundantes del elite a finales de período clásico.

Type
Special Section: The Archaeology of Ancient Copan
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 63 - 88
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Barrera Vásquez, Alfredo (director) 1980 Diccionario Maya Cordemex: Maya-Español, Español-Maya. Mérida, Ediciones Cordemex.Google Scholar
Braswell, Geoffrey E. 1992 Obsidian Hydration Dating, The Coner Phase, and Revisionist Chronology at Copan, Honduras. Latin American Antiquity 3(2).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coe, William R. 1990 Excavations in the Great Plaza, North Terrace and North Acropolis of Tikal. University Museum Monograph 61. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Fash, Barbara 1992 Late Classic Architectural Sculpture Themes in Copan. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:89–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fash, William L. 1991 Scribes, Warriors and Kings: The City of Copán and the A ncient Maya. Thames arid Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Fash, William L. Jr, and Long, Kurt Z. 1983 Mapa arqueológico del Valie de Copán. Introductión a la arqueología de Copán, Honduras, vol. 3. Proyecto Arqueológico Copan. Secretarfa de Estado en el Despacho de Culture y Turismo, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.Google Scholar
Fash, William L., and Sharer, Robert J. 1991 Sociopolitical Developments and Methodological Issues at Copán, Honduras: A Conjunctive Perspective. Latin American Antiquity 2:166–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fash, William L., Williamson, Richard V., Larios, Carlos Rudy, and Palka, Joel 1992 The Hieroglyphic Stairway and its Ancestors: Investigations of Copan Structure 10L-26. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:105–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, George Byron 1896 Prehistoric Ruins of Copan, Honduras. A Preliminary Report of the Explorations by the Museum, 1891–1895. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, vol. 1, no. 1. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Gordon, George Byron 1902 The Hieroglyphic Stairway, Ruins of Copan. Report on Explorations by the Museum. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, vol. 1, no. 6. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Grube, Nikolai, and Schele, Linda 1987 U Cit-Tok, the Last King of Copán. Copán Note 21. Copán Mosaics Project and the Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Gordon, George Byron 1990 Royal Gifts to Subordinate Lords. Copán Note 87. Copán Mosaics Project (Copán Acropolis Archaeological Project) and the Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Harrison, Peter D. 1970 The Central Acropolis, Tikal, Guatemala: A Preliminary Study of the Functions of Ms Structural Components during the Late Classic Period. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
LaPorte, Juan Pedro, and Fialko C., Vilma 1990 New Perspectives on Old Problems: Dynastic References for Andrews and Fash the Early Classic at Tikal. In Vision and Revision in Maya Studies, edited by Clancy, Flora S. and Harrison, Peter D., pp. 33–66. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Longyear, John M., III 1952 Copan Ceramics: A Study of Southeastern Maya Pottery. Careegle Institution of Washington Publication 597. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
MacLeod, Barbara 1989 The Text of Altar F′: Further Considerations. Copán Note 52. Copán Mosaics Project and the Institute Hoedureño de Antropología e Historia. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Marcus, Joyce 1976 Emblem and State in the Classic Maya Lowlands. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Maudslay, Alfred P. 1889-1902 Archaeology. Biologia Centrali-Americana, vol. 1. Porter and Dulau, London.Google Scholar
Miller, Arthur G. 1977 “Captains of the Itzá”: Unpublished Mural Evidence from Chichén Itzá. In Social Process in Maya Prehistory: Studies in Honour of Sir Eric Thompson, edited by Hammond, Norman, pp. 197–225. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Morley, Sylvanus G. 1920 The Inscriptions at Copan. Carnegie Institution of Washington, pub. 219. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Morley, Sylvanus G. 1939 Recent Epigraphic Discoveries at the Ruins of Copan, Honduras. In So Live the Works of Men, pp. 277–293. Hewett Seventieth Anniversary Volume. Albuquerque, New Mexico.Google Scholar
Proskourlakoff, Tatiana 1963 Historical Data in the Inscriptions of Yaxchilan, Part I. Estudios de Cultura Maya 3:149–167.Google Scholar
Rands, Robert L. 1955 Some Manifestations of Water In Mesoamerlcan Art. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, bulletin 157, pp. 265–393. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T. (editor) 1986 Excavaciones en el área urbana de Copán, vol. 1. Proyecto Arqueológico Copán, Segunda Fase. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo. Institute Hoedureño de Antropologiá e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Sanders, William T. 1990 Excavaciones en el area urbana de Copán, vol. 2. Proyecto Arqueológico Copán, Segunda Fase. Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo. Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda 1988 Altar F′ and the Structure 32. Copán Note 46. Copan Mosaics Project and the Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda 1990a Commentary on Altar G′. Copan Note 89. Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project and the Institute Hondureño de Antropologia e Historia, Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda 1990b Preliminary Commentary on a New Altar from Structure 30. Copan Note 72. Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project and the Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Freidel, David 1990 A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya. William Morrow, New York.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, and Miller, Mary Ellen 1986 The Blood of Kings: Dynasty and Ritual in Maya Art. Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX.Google Scholar
Schele, Linda, Stuart, David, and Grube, Nikolai 1991 A Commentary on the Inscriptions of Structure 22A at Copan. Copan Note 98. Copan Acropolis Archaeological Project and the Institute Hondureño de Antropología. Austin, TX.Google Scholar
Sharer, Robert J., Miller, Julia C., and Traxler, Loa P. 1992 Evolution of Classic Period Architecture In the Eastern Acropolis, Copan: A Progress Report. Ancient Mesoamerica 3:145–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sheehy, James J. 1991 Structure and Change In a Late Classic Maya Domestic Group at Copan, Honduras. Ancient Mesoamerica 2:1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. Ledyard 1950 Uaxadun, Guatemala: Excavations of 1931–1937. Carnegie Instltution of Washington Publication 588. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Stephens, John Lloyd 1841 Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan. 2 vols. Harper and Brothers, New York.Google Scholar
Stuiver, MInze, and Reimer, P.J. 1986 A Computer Program for Radiocarbon Age Calibration. Radiocarbon 28:1022–1030. (Rev. 1.3, Radiocarbon Calibration Pro-gram, 1/09/87, Quaternary Isotope Laboratory, Quaternary Research Center AK-60, University of Washington, Seattle.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1950 Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: Introduction. Carnegie Institution of Washington, pub. 589. Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. Eric S. 1970 Maya History and Religion. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.Google Scholar
Viel, René 1983 Evolutión de la cerámica en Copán: Resultados preliminares. Introducción a la arqueología de Copán, Honduras, vol. 1, edited by Baudez, Claude, pp. 471–549. Proyecto Arqueologlco Copan, Secretaría de Estado en el Despacho de Cultura y Turismo, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.Google Scholar
Webster, David L. (editor) 1989a The House of the Bacabs, Copan, Honduras. Studies In Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology No. 29. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Webster, David L. 1989b The House of the Bacabs: Its Social Context. In The House of the Bacabs, Copan, Honduras, pp. 5–40. Studies In Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology No. 29. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Webster, David L., Fash, William L., and Abrams, Elliot M. 1986 Excavaciones en el Conjunto 9N8: Patio A (Operatión VIII). In Excavaciones en el área urbana de Copán, vol. 1, edited by Sanders, William T., pp. 155–317. Proyecto Arqueológlco Copan, Segunda Fase. Institute Hondureño de Antropología e Historia, Secretaria de Cultura y Turismo, Tegucigalpa.Google Scholar
Webster, David L., and Freter, AneCorinne 1990 Settlement History and the Classic Collapse at Copán: A Redefined Chronological Perspective. Latin American Antiquity 1:66–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar