Copan, Honduras

Major, well-known ceremonial site. First discovered in the 1830s. There has been a lot of work on this site, so much so that many of the original carvings, etc. have been dismantled and moved to a museum on site. Faithfully copied replicas replace the originals to protect vulnerable artifacts from the elements. The site is mostly limestone. So acid rain is a major problem. There will be a post from the museum.
The first pic is one of the temples followed by a detail of one of the gods. The 3rd picture is probably the most important. It's called the hieroglyphic stairs and is the primary driver in this site being designated world heritage by UNESCO. Each block is a hieroglyph recording local history. Most is not yet deciphered.
The next pic overlooks the main plaza with the ball court most obvious. In this case, the winners would be ritually sacrificed on the altar in the 5th picture. At the top center is a hollowed out spot where the head of the victim was placed. You can clearly see the channel down which the blood ran.
The last pic is another altar showing all 16 Kings of Copan.Read more