Dissertation Research: Evolution and Cultural Meaning of Courts in the Copan Acropolis

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Under the direction of Dr. Robert Sharer, Ms Loa Traxler will collect data for her doctoral dissertation thesis. She will participate in the excavation of the Acropolis of Copan and determine how architectural construction changed over time. Copan, located in Honduras, is one of the major Mayan sites and it documents the rise and subsequent decline of Mayan society. A large mound or "Acropolis" marks the center of the site and consists of superimposed temples, palace buildings and other structures. Although other Mayan sites also contain such a sequence of buildings, Copan is unique because an erosional cut along the eastern portion allows ready access to all major construction levels and presents a rare opportunity for extensive exposure of superimposed architecture. Dr. Sharer and his colleagues have developed a tunneling strategy which lets them follow buried walls and reconstruct building size and shape. Ms Traxler will continue to collect and analyze such data. In Middle America, archaeologists have tended to concentrate either on monumental structures which provide insight into elite behavior or on smaller outlying sites associated with lower class status. The site of Copan is particularly important because of the long term settlement pattern survey and excavations which have focussed on the latter. As a result of this work, archaeologists now understand how population changed over time and how the utilization of the Copan Valley changed. Within this context, the data which Ms Traxler will collect is extremely important because it will permit her to examine how these two levels of society interacted. This research will provide new insight into the rise and decline of Mayan civilization. It will result in data of interest to a large group of archaeologists and assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist.