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Copán Maya City-State

Type Object Region Mesoamerica Time c. 426–1200

Copán in western Honduras was a premier Classic-period Maya city-state famed for stone sculpture, hieroglyphic inscriptions, and astronomical archite…

Timeline

  1. c. 600–800Copán Valley · HondurasDuring the reign of rulers such as 18 Rabbit, temples, ballcourts, and hieroglyphic stairways were grandly built; Copán became the pinnacle center of sculptural art and hieroglyphic record in the southeastern Maya area, with city-state population and ritual activity at their height.
  2. c. 800–1000Copán · HondurasInscriptions of the last king ceased after 822; population declined and buildings fell into ruin. Copán declined with the overall Classic Maya collapse, the city-state political entity disintegrated, and the site entered a residual Postclassic use phase.
  3. c. 1171–1180Copán site · HondurasAround 1175, though greatly depopulated, Copán still served as a Postclassic Maya sacred site for ritual and ancestor worship; local chiefs and pilgrims occasionally held ceremonies amid the ruins, maintaining its cultural symbolic significance amid regional political fragmentation.

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