[Aztlan] Copán and the Ch'orti'

[Lawrence Feldman]

Lars

     I suppose I have been more concerned with the Late Postclassic and
Colonial of Copan than anyone else on this list.  Most people who work on
Copan (the archaeological site) are archaeologists and direct their
interests to the Classic period of time.  I am, mostly, an ethnohistorian
and my concern is primarily with the Colonial era.  My area of interest is
the Verapaz highlands and the area to the south and east of Guatemala into
adjacent portions of Honduras and El Salvador.  This includes the area
around Copan.

     I should begin by saying that we know very little about late
Postclassic and Colonial Copan.  Yes, they existed, there are passing
reference in sixteenth and seventeenth century documents but the only more
detailed data is Palacio and is description includes a much larger area than
Copan.  It is also late sixteenth century and superficial. It is little more
than that of an official who passed through the area.

     Given these comments, we can say that Postclassic Copan is at a
different location from Classic period Copan (although in the same area) and
Early Colonial Copan is at a third location.  Colonial Copan is a settlement
of natives moved off their mountain by the Spaniards.  The implication of
the references is that colonial Copan, and late Postclassic Copan, spoke
Chorti.  The colonial settlement vanished in the 17th century and for most
of 17th and 18th centuries, these lands were occupied by Spanish cattle
ranches.  The modern Chorti moved into the area, probably from not far away,
in the 19th century.

     It would be nice, probably very interesting, if someone could locate
the colonial and late prehispanic Copans and excavate.  There are clues to
their location in the colonial land titles.  This has not yet been done.

               Larry Feldman

On Fri, May 8, 2009 at 5:57 AM, Lars Frühsorge <lars_fruehsorge at web.de>wrote:

> Dear listeros,
>
> Here are a few questions for the Copán experts among you. Two years ago
> I performed a few weeks of ethnographic research in eastern Guatemala. I
> am currently comparing my data with the existing ethnographic literature
> on that area and become more and more interested in the historical
> connection between the archaeological site of Copán and the Ch'orti'
> living in that area today.  I am aware of the works by Kerry Hull who
> compared Classic period inscriptions and contemporary poetry of the
> Ch'orti'. He also cites an interesting oral tradition about a king of
> Copán but the real age of such a narrative is hard to estimate.
> According to a dissertation on the heritage industry at Copán by Lena
> Mortensen Ch'orti' claims on that site are relatively recent.
>
> In contrast, back in the 1940s Rafael Girard speculated that the
> original inhabitants of the city were Ch'orti'-speaker. Is there any
> epigraphic evidence from the site itself supporting this hypothesis?
> Girard also reported contemporary Ch'orti' rituals (including the
> burning of candles and sacrifices of birds) taking place in the ruins of
> Copán, more precisely in a patio of Temple 22.
> As Girard is a rather problematic source I was wondering if contemporary
> ritual activities were ever mentioned in any of the older archaeological
> reports.
> When I visited Copán in 2007 local guides described similar ceremonies
> but they were obviously influenced by cultural activists of the
> pan-Mayan-movement in Guatemala and seem to have started in the 1990s.
>
> Of course, this does not mean that there is no historical  background
> for these rituals. For example back in the 16^th century Palacio (the
> first European to describe Copán) mentioned that people in the area
> still remembered the site and that according to a local tradition the
> ancient city was originally built by a king from Yucatán. This idea in
> turn is supported by inscriptions dealing with the arrival of a stranger
> called Yax K'u'k Mo who eventually became a founder of the local dynasty.
>
> I am also aware of the fact that in the Early Postclassical a new group
> moved into this area. These people removed stones from the original site
> to use them for the construction of new houses outside the core area.
> But what about the Late Postclassic and Colonial period?  Did the
> excavations shed any light on how later inhabitants of that area viewed
> and used the site?
>
> Thank you for any comment on this topic!
>
> Yours
>
> Lars
>
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