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Evolution of Classic Period Architecture in the Eastern Acropolis, Copan: A progress report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2010

Robert J. Sharer ,
Julia C. Miller  and
Loa P. Traxler
Robert J. Sharer
Affiliation:
The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA
Julia C. Miller
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA
Loa P. Traxler
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104, USA
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Abstract

Interpreting the social meaning of polity center architecture opens a window onto the organization and history of the society responsible for its construction. Our research is designed to examine the form, function, and organization of Copan's Acropolis architecture. Through a unique program of tunneling, surface excavation, and architectural recording, more than 400 years of monumental architecture (c. A.D. 400–800) are being documented and analyzed to comprehend the evolution of the Acropolis and its role in the Copan polity. The dramatic erosion cut through the eastern Acropolis edge allows ready access to all major construction levels and presents a rare opportunity for extensive exposure of superimposed architectural plans. Our tunneling excavation methods provide a more complete, less destructive, and more efficient means of such documentation. Exposed architecture is being recorded by a computer-assisted mapping program, its first application to the sequential development of Classic Maya architecture, and its first use in tunnel excavations. As a result, our research is documenting the architectural transformation of the Acropolis during the time of Copan's increasing sociopolitical complexity and is doing so at a level of detail impossible to achieve by most projects using traditional archaeological techniques. The correspondence between architectural data and data sets from epigraphy, iconography, and settlement survey is being evaluated in light of current discussion on the political and economic trajectory of Copan in particular, and in general, the architectural expression of political power and integration in complex societies.

Resumen

La interpretatión del significado social de la arquitectura de los centros políticos abre una ventana hacia la organizatión e historia de la sociedad responsable de su construcción. Nuestra investigación está diseñada para examinar la forma, función y organización de la arquitectura de la Acropólis de Copan. Por medio de un programa único de tunelaje, excavación de superficie y registro arquitectónico, se están documentando y analizando más de 400 años de arquitectura monumental (c. 400–800 d.C), para comprender la evolutión de la Acrópolis y su papel en la estructura política de Copan. El dramático corte formado por la erosión de en el lado este de la Acrópolis permite un acceso rápido a todos los principales niveles de construcción y presenta una rara oportunidad para exponer extensamente los planos arquitectónicos superpuestos. Nuestros métodos de excavación por tunelaje proveen un medio más completo, menos destructivo y mas eficiente para tal documentación. La arquitectura expuesta se está registrando por meidio de un programa de mapeo ayudado por computadora, en su primera aplicación a la secuencia de desarrollo de la arquitectura maya clásica y a la excavación por medio de túneles. Como resultado, nuestra investigación está documentando la transformación arquitectónica de la Acrópolis durante el período del acelerado desarrollo sociopolítico de Copan, y está logrando un grado de detalle imposible de alcanzar por medio de técnicas arqueológicas tradicionales. Se está evaluando la correlatión entre los datos arquitectónicos y los de la epigrafía, iconografía y estudios de asentamientos, a la luz de los argumentos modernos sobre la trayectoria politíca y económica de Copan en particular y sobre la expresíon arquitectónica del poder y la integración política en las sociedades complejas en general.

Type
Special Section: The Archaeology of Ancient Copan
Information
Ancient Mesoamerica , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Spring 1992 , pp. 145 - 159
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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