Answers to Questions about Copan

QUESTION: When did the ancient Maya live at the site of Copan?

The Classic period of Maya architecture and art was from about 400 to about 820 AD. Maya people inhabited the Copan Valley before this time and still live in this lovely valley.

QUESTION: Did the Maya have wars?

Yes. We know very little about how an actual battle would have been fought, but we do know that the Maya waged war. The winners often took captives back home to be sacrificed, beheaded, or made into slaves. The mural paintings at Bonampak show captives' fingernails being ripped out.

QUESTION: Did the Maya sacrifice humans?

Yes. The Maya did sacrifice humans, usually captives taken in battle. Maya royalty would also sacrifice drops of their blood as religious or ritualized offerings.

QUESTION: Did beings from outer space build Copan, or any other Maya city?

No. Evidence shows that the ancestors of contemporary Maya peoples built the Maya cities. There is no evidence that people from other parts of the world - let alone beings from outer space - helped the Maya build these impressive cities.

QUESTION: Were all the Maya rulers men?

No, there were female rulers, too. No female rulers are known at Copan, but archaeologists recently excavated the largest and most complex tomb so far ever found at Copan, and the remains inside were that of a woman. She must have been a very important woman. At Tikal, Palenque and a few other Maya sites, women held the position of ruler.

QUESTION: Did the losers get killed after the ball game?

The ancient American ball game was played for over 400 years in lands now known as Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and is still played in parts of mesoamerica. Like football (soccer), the ballgame's rules have changed over time and we do not know all of the changes. At some sites and during certain eras, there is evidence that the losers were sacrificed.

QUESTION: Did the Maya live inside the pyramids?

No, the Maya did not live inside the pyramids; these are solid structures. The Maya did inhabit the buildings (temples and palaces) that were built on top of the pyramids.

QUESTION: Are the pyramids tombs, like in Egypt?

No, the pyramids are not technically tombs. Structures that look like pyramids, were originally stepped terraces built to support a building on top. People were buried within the buildings on top of these stepped terraces, and over many years, archaeologists find burials deep within the structures, but the Maya of Copan did not bury people deep within the stepped terraces, like the Egyptians buried people deep in their pyramids.

QUESTION: Where did the Maya come from?

The Maya creation stories tell of Maya being created from cornmeal by a creator god. Some say that the Maya people walked fully formed out of a cave from underneath a big mountain after gods wanted someone to worship them. There is DNA evidence that the Maya (and perhaps all American Indians) are the descendants of people who migrated to the Americas from Asia many thousands of years ago.

QUESTION: Why is it called Copan? And what does that name mean? What did the Maya call it?

It is called Copan because Nauatl speakers who expanded into this area in the 1500s called it Copantl. It means "little bridge." We do not know what the ancient Maya called their city, but some scholars have read the site glyph phonetically: Xuk'pi [SHUK-Pee]. Look at the site glyph - a main element is the leaf-nosed bat.

QUESTION: Did the Maya really eat dogs?

Yes. The Maya raised dogs the way we raise cows and pigs for beef and pork. Maya dogs raised for food were hairless and did not bark. The dogs they ate were not their pets.

QUESTION: Did the Maya crawl around in the tunnels inside the pyramids?

No, the tunnels that you hear about were created by modern archaeologists so they can learn about the Maya's layered architecture without destroying the outside layer. You can now enter a section of the archaeologists' tunnels and see the temple called Rosalila.

QUESTION: Did the trees grow out of the buildings while the Maya were here, too?

No. The Maya did have orchards of fruit trees and they planted around the city, but the trees you see today coming out from the walls and temples have grown since the ancient Maya abandoned the site in the 800s.