Historical context, anyone?

Yes, this is another post about Copan. Really, I'm going to finish posting about Honduras--some day. I have been distracted by other matters recently.

Anyway, I realized that I wanted to jot down a quick little history of Copan, to go along with the five million pictures. Okay, let's see...

Copan is the southern most major Mayan city. Construction began about 200 AD with the Great Plaza, the ball court, and the acropolis. By the 5th century it had grown to become one of the most important Mayan cities. It was between the 420s and 850s that the large monuments with text were erected, when Copan was ruled by a single dynasty of 16 kings (including, towards the end of the dynasty, 18 Rabbit and his son Smoke Monkey). Copan's population peaked at about 20,000, but declined to just 5,000 by the 9th century. The decline was the result of drought and a depletion of natural resources. By the time the Spanish showed up, the stone city center had long been abandoned, and the valley was dotted with tiny hamlets.

Now you know.