Honduras: Copan!

Honduras has rocking cattle!

a small model of the ruins of Copan!

crocodile!

Alter Q!! (an alter commemorating the 16th ruler of Copan's ascension)

16 jaguars were sacrificed on this when it was dedicated! how do you catch 16 jaguars?

it's famous!

here's 18rabbits (the 13th ruler), he ruled during this city's golden age.

the ruins were large and silent.

this is the residential area of the king and noble peoples.

the 16th ruler's tomb...

it was robbed and stripped bare after the city was abandoned during the 17th ruler's reign.

the sun.

the Jaguar place, where the ceremonies and dances were performed.

up on the king's platform.

the king's platform looks like a snake's mouth, there are the snake's teeth. a face inside a snake's mouth was a very powerful symbol for the Mayan.

the king's view of the jaguar place.

plus me!

here's a view of the hieroglyphic stairs (covered by tarp), and the ball court.

giant, giant tree holding one of the larger pyramids together, some of it's branches were thick enough to drive my truck on!

jaguar statute in the jaguar place, the large indentions used to hold pieces of obsidian

here's the hieroglyphic stairs, the history of the Copan dynasty are carved into the steps, which are eroding. since they've only just been able to read ancient Mayan in the last 20 years or so, archaeologists are scrambling to get it all down before it's gone.

the ball court with the stairs behind it. this is where teams played to continue the sun's motion, then the losing team's best player would be sacrificed!

undersea objects were symbols of the underworld for the Mayan, this turtle is scary!

this swirling seashells are also a sign of power from the underworld.

here's the human sacrifice alter! the player would lean backwards and rest their head in that groove, then they would be decapitated (probably starting with a throat slice) and the blood would run down the grooves and be collected to pour on another alter.

the sacrificial alter is in the shape of the ball (representing the sun) from the ball game. talk about living and dying by your sport!

our guide is pointing to the hieroglyph for "18 rabbits" the 13th ruler of Copan, and the ruler at the civilization's peak of culture and building. he has three dots (each mean 1) and then three bars (each mean 5) and then the symbol for this rabbit/guinea pig thing that lives in the jungle.look at how beautiful the sky is!

scarlet macaws (the honduran national bird) get free meals at the ruins, so they like to hang around, and since we were some of the last people at the ruins for the day, they were hanging out pretty close!

the evening was finished with an approx $6 filet mingon! ;)