A Sacred and Defensible Hill and the Memory of Ruler 12 in Late Classic Copan, Honduras

Summary

Inscribed monuments, iconography and archaeological correlates point out the pivotal role the founder of Copan's dynasty, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo' played in the religious and political ideology of the local community. Moreover, several lines of evidence in the archaeology of Copan show the importance of the long-lived Ruler 12, K'ahk' Uti' Witz' K'awiil (ruling from 628 to 695 CE) in the Maya kingdom of Copan during the Late Classic period (600-820 CE). Recent research in the Copan Valley at the outlying Group 6N-1, in the area traditionally known as Rastrojon, has revealed an ornately decorated residential complex devoted to the memory of Ruler 12, his sacred mountain and defensive system. This paper explores the motives behind the construction and use on this architectural complex at a very strategic place within the Copan Valley and seeks to add to our understanding of the local ideology in connection with the figure of Ruler 12 in Late Classic Copan's multi-ethnic community.

SAA 2015 abstracts made available in tDAR courtesy of the Society for American Archaeology and Center for Digital Antiquity Collaborative Program to improve digital data in archaeology. If you are the author of this presentation you may upload your paper, poster, presentation, or associated data (up to 3 files/30MB) for free. Please visit http://www.tdar.org/SAA2015 for instructions and more information.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Community Diversity in the Archaeological Past and the Complicated Present: Ongoing Field Research and Civic Engagements in the Copan Valley, Honduras   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage