The Temple 22 Façade Reconstruction Project, Copán, Honduras

Sculpture Restoration

In 2001, we discovered and reunited 32 larger sculptures with smaller fragments that had broken off and scattered around the building over the centuries, for example an arm was found that fit to a bust. The Honduran Institute’s conservator, Rufino Membreño, expertly restored these, using epoxy and–when necessary–steel pins to secure the pieces together. For example, the Carnegie discovered this maize-god head in 1937. In 2001 I recognized a fragment that had been excavated by PAAC in the 1980s as belonging to this piece and Membreño restored it with the main sculpture (Figure 20).

Previous Page  |  Table of Contents  |  Next Page

Return to top of page