Copan: Day 4

We got a nice break from the rain today, which fortunately meant clear, sunny skies. Unfortunately, it also meant very hot and sticky temperatures. The humidity is a little intense, but my skin's never felt better!

Today, we went to Las Sepulturas, which is a residential area just about one kilometer outside of Copan's Principal Group. Lots of mosquitoes there, due to the trees, along with other beetles and bees that seem omnipresent. The wildlife in general seemed to be more abundant here than in the Principal Group: squirrels, various birds (with some of the coolest calls), creepy crawly centipedes (poisonous, apparently), and agoutis!

Anyway, the first site we went to was home to some of the most wealthy residents of Copan. It was also home to a pretty impressive bench:

The inscription along the bench represents the sky, celestial bodies. There are glyphs for the moon (a woman with a rabbit and the crescent moon curling behind her), the sun (the cross-eyed faces), and other star signs (once thought to be Venus). The bench itself is held up by figures called Bacabs, which according to legend hold up the heavens. Quite a statement you'd be making by sitting on this bench, eh?

The structures at Las Sepulturas definitely look more residential: lower, with doorways into rooms and stairways to higher floors. Here's Bill standing in the courtyard of one unit:

Apparently each site could function as its own economic unit: each had a domicile area, a kitchen, a storage area, and a courtyard.

After touring Sepulturas, we headed to the site where we will be excavating next week: Rastrojon. Rastrojon is about two kilometers from the Principal Group, and has some of the most intricate sculpture found outside of Copan's center. Due to earthquakes and other geological activity, the site is in disarray. Our job is to restore some of it to its original state. Here is a glimpse:

Later in the day we started epigraphy classes, where we learned about Mayan hieroglyphs. Specifically, the long count calendar. Long story short, I now know that the hypothesis that the world is coming to an end on December 21, 2012 is likely bull-crap. Huzzah!

So there you have it! Tomorrow we head to the lab to see some sculpture re-piecing in action--can't wait!