CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTION. 
LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT. 
The ruins of Copan are situated in the valley of the Copan River, in the 
extreme western part of the Republic of Honduras, lat. 14° 51’ 30’’ N., long. 
89° 9’ W.,' at an elevation of about 2,000 feet (600 meters) above the sea- 
level.? (See plate 1.) At this point the river emerges from a narrow cafion 
and flows in a general westerly direction through an open valley, which is 
about 2.5 kilometers wide at the widest point and 13 kilometers long. The 
sides are formed by sharply rising hills, the higher ridges of which reach an 
altitude of 3,000 feet (900 meters). The bases of these are thickly over- 
grown with underbrush and low deciduous trees, which give way to a sparse 
growth of pine toward the summits. At the western end of the valley the 
hills close in again; the river enters another narrow canon, and, after some 
100 kilometers of wandering in a general westerly direction, turns north and 
empties into the Motagua River at Zacapa. There are many rapids through- 
out its course and it is unnavigable. The beautiful little valley thus formed 
is completely inclosed by steep ranges of mountains and may be approached 
only by rough and precipitous trails, which have effectually discouraged 
general travel in this direction. 
‘The region has been the scene of intense volcanic activity. There are 
several volcanic peaks or domes in the immediate vicinity of Copan, and 
every cut in the road to Zacapa discloses vast underlying deposits of volcanic 
origin, chiefly ash. Maudslay describes the native rock as a decomposed 
trachyte.’ It is, in fact, an andesitic tuff, with occasional small, broken 
quartz crystals and more rarely roughly spherical inclusions of a denser, 
harder rock, sometimes as large as a foot in diameter, which differ from the 
host only in being more indurated and containing more quartz. In some 
cases the latter have successfully defied all efforts of the ancient artisans to 
remove them, and they have been left embedded in the finished sculptures.* 

1Gordon, 1896, p. 1. Maudslay gives the latitude as N. 14° 50’ 30” (1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 14). Galindo 
in two places gives the latitude as N. 14° 45" and the longitude as W. 90° 52’ (1834; see Appendix XI, p. 595, and 
18354, pp. 549, 550) and as 14° 39’ and 91° a7" in a third place (18364, p. 76). Neither Gordon nor Maudslay 
gives the longitude. The longitude 89° 9’ W. is taken from the Hendges map’ of Guatemala published by the Pan 
American Union, and is only approximately correct. It is, however, far more accurate than either of Galindo’s 
readings, which would locate Copan more than 100 miles farther west, in Guatemala. 
Gordon, 1896, p. 1. Popenoe (19194, p. 126) gives the elevation as 1,900 feet (570 meters). Maudslay (1889- 
1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 11) gives 1,700 feet (518 meters). Meye (Schmidt, 1883) gives 550 meters, and Galindo 
(1836a, p. 76), 640 meters. Of these several readings, that of Popenoe is probably the most accurate, having been 
checked with the railroad elevation at Zacapa. 
3Maudslay, 1889-1902, vol. 1 of text, p. 33. See also Gordon, 1896, p. 29. 
4Stela D, 2, and 3, and Altars Gi and U are cases in point. In the case of Stela D there were originally two such 
inclusions, one of which was removed. ‘The other, however, was left in the finished monument, the artisans con- 
tenting themselves with breaking it off flush with the face of the stela. In the case of Stela 3 the inclusion was 
left untouched and the design crowded into the space around it. In Stela 2 the half of the inclusion left in 
the monument has been neatly turned to account in the design. (See pp. 140, 141.) In Altars Gi and U the 
inclusions protrude several inches. 
I 
