Copan: Day 17

Hey guys! More excavating today. We switched units yet again, and now may be on top of the structure's staircase. Only time will tell!

I also had my first interview today. As a part of my receiving funding from DRCLAS (David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, pronounced "doctor-clas"), I am helping Barbara and Bill with photo-elicitation interviews. The Carnegie Institution, and the Peabody Museum, have a bunch of photos from excavations in Copan over the years. Last year, Barbara worked on identifying individuals in photos from the 1890s. This summer, we are working on identifying people in photos from Gustav Stromsvik's excavations in the 1930s. As well as trying to identify as much of the unknown as we can, we are also trying to get a sense of what Copan was like back in the day.

Today, we talked to Don Felipe, aged 93, who worked with "Don Gustavo" when he first came to Copan. He continued his archaeological work until he retired in his 80s. The interview was a little intimidating, since my listening comprehension in Spanish is completely atrocious. But I had my trusty audio recorder to preserve his every last word. It turns out that Bill did most of the talking anyway, which allowed me to sit back and absorb as much as I could. Finally, my Spanish in action! It was hard for me to understand Don Felipe completely: he spoke pretty quietly and quickly. However, I understood a fair amount and am getting much better at processing these foreign sounds. When Bill speaks in Spanish (usually very clearly and slowly), I can usually understand most, if not all, of what he says. Very encouraging!

Anyway, enough with the rambling. I thought I'd show some more pictures from the Copan Sculpture Museum. Enjoy!

These two sculptures you see behind Bill were once on the temple (Temple 16 I believe) behind Altar Q. The top figure is the likeness of the first ruler, Yax K'uk' Mo', in Teotihuacano warrior garb. Below, we see the face of Tlaloc (the rain god and Teotihuacan's patron god) surrounded by a skull rack.

You can recognize Tlaloc by his goggle eyes and missing mandible. It might be hard to see, but Tlaloc only has his top teeth, a tongue, and blood spilling out on either side of his tongue. A pretty gruesome image.

This temple, as well as Altar Q in front of it, is a tribute to the founder by the 16th, Yax Pasaj. Above all, it emphasizes Yax K'uk' Mo' as a foreigner, really playing up the Teotihuacano imagery. According to Altar Q's top inscription, Yax K'uk' Mo' walked all the way to Teotihuacan (Central Mexico), took part in an accession ritual, walked 153 days (give or take a day) back to Copan, and "rested his feet." The founder's original power came from Teotihuacan. Although it is debated where Yax K'uk' Mo' was originally from (new evidence shows he may have been a lord of Caracol), he was definitely an outsider in the Copan Valley. Starting with Ruler 12, monuments and altars began to emphasize his ties, and therefore Copan's ties, with the great city of Teotihuacan.

This is the Motmot marker, one of the earliest inscriptions at Copan.

It covers a tomb, or offering, of a young woman. Both Rulers 1 and 2 appear on the marker, and it was probably dedicated by Ruler 2 (the Founder's likely son). The marker is interesting in a lot of ways. Throughout the Maya area, limestone was the preferred stone to carve. Limestone is much scarcer in Copan, however, volcanic tuff being much more prevalent. The Motmot marker is made of limestone, which seems to suggest that the first carvers at Copan spent a lot of time and effort finding a stone they were comfortable carving. Even more telling is the fact that all monuments after this are carved out of the volcanic tuff. It mustn't have taken them long to figure out that the tuff is much softer and easier to carve! The marker also covers a circular tomb, which is highly uncommon for Maya burials, but very Teotihuacano. Again, ties to that great ancient city. And if anyone is wondering where the term "Motmot" comes from, it was the Maya way of describing the sound a bird makes.

Below is a stucco macaw. I believe it would have been found on the side of the earlier versions of Copan's ballcourt.

As you can see, his feathers all have macaw heads at the end, and there is some saurian figure emerging from his groin area. Would you believe that both characteristics are Teotihuacano in nature?

And one of my favorite pieces: the old men!

We see these figures a lot, and they play a big role in Maya mythology. Unfortunately, I don't know much more on that topic--I'll have to look into it. Nonetheless, these things crack me up. He only has two teeth! Ha!

Love you and miss you all! More tomorrow!