Copan Museum

Museo de la Escultura de Copan - Sculpture Museum of Copan	The cave-like entrance to the Copan Museum	The entrance of the museum is supposed to evoke the archaeological tunnels carved into the Copan Acropolis	First view of the "Rosalila" at the end of the tunnel
Full-scale replica of the Rosalila Temple which was buried by later temple construction	The Rosalila Temple dates from ca 550 AD and discovered in 1991	Information about the Rosalila Temple	Rosalila Temple reconstruction, Copan Museum
Elaborate stucco reliefs on the temple façade	While most old temples are destroyed to form the core of the next larger pyramid-temple, the Rosalila was buried intact	The Rosalila was dedicated by Copan's 8th ruler	The Rosalila honors Copan's 1st ruler, K'inich Yax K' uk' Mo' (r. 416-437 AD)
Impressive relief on the Rosalila Temple	Carved head, Copan Museum	Of all the Mayan sites, Copan is most famous for its sculpture	Chronology of the Mayan Kings of Copan
One of Copan's famous stelae preserved in the Copan Museum	Stele P from the West Court of the Acropolis - 11th Ruler, 632 AD	Altar Q from the West Court of the Acropolis, a tribute to the 16th Ruler of Copan, 763 AD	The 16th Ruler receiving the baton of office from the 1st Ruler and the other preceding rulers
Detail of Alter Q showing one of the rulers of Copan	Detail from the west staircase of Structure 16 with skulls and a Tlaloc mask	Skulls from the west staircase of Structure 16	K'inich Yax Ku'k' Mo' as the Sun Deity surrounded by ropes
Skull and bones from the south side of Structure 26	Stela in the Copan Sculpture Museum	Detail of the ruler's crown on a stela, Copan Musuem	Architectural details from Temple 21A, Copan Musuem
Bust from Temple 21 - human figure symbolically brought forth from the supernatural realm	Limestone disk which served as a tombstone beneath the hieroglyphic stairway with the earliest known inscription found a Copan	Cast of the Motmot Disk with Copan's earliest known inscription with the 1st and 2nd Rulers	Cama Zotz - Killer Bat associated with the underworld, death and sacrifice, from Structure 20
Stela A from Copan's Great Plaza portraying the 13th Ruler, dedicated in 731 AD	Stela A - headdress with a woven mat design with 4 serpents	Detail of Stela A, the Ruler Waxaklajun Ubaah K'awiil	Head from an unknown façade which demonstrates the artistic skills of Copan's sculptors
Another head from an unknown façade, Copan Museum	A variety of heads found at Copan	Copan Sculpture Museum	Copan Sculpture Museum
Sculptures discovered in a buried room of a demolished building inside Structure 26 dating to the reign of the 13th Ruler	Water Bird - the highest relief structure found in Copan	Rosalila Temple reconstruction - Copan Sculpture Museum	Rosalila Temple reconstruction - Copan Sculpture Museum
Rosalila Temple reconstruction - Copan Sculpture Museum	Rosalila Temple from the Museum's upper level	Ballcourt I, Copan Museum	Replica of macaw that decorated the earliest Ballcourt at Copan
The "Old Man of Copán" - head of one of the old deities called Pawahtuuns who held up the surface of the earth, from Temple 11	Doorway to the Temple of the Meditation (Temple 22)	Stacked corner masks from Temple 22	Sculpture from the façade of the Scribe's Palace from Las Sepulturas
Scribe's Palace - portrait of the building's occupant (Structure 9N-82)	Sculpture from the façade of the Scribe's Palace, ca 780 AD	Serpent niche from the lower façade of the Scribe's Palace	Sculpture from the Scribe's Palace, Las Sepulturas
Detail of the Hieroglyphic Bench, ca 782 AD	Personage from Structure 22A, Copan	Structure 22A - Popol Nah (Mat House) from the reign of the 14th Ruler of Copan	Sculptural detain from Structure 22A, Copan
Structure 32 from the principal plaza at the royal living compound south of the Arcopolis	Structure 32 from the principal plaza at the royal living compound south of the Arcopolis	Sculpture on the façade of Structure 32	Sculpture on the façade of Structure 32
South façade of Structure 29 - ancestral shrine	Structure 29 - symbols used by the ruling dynasty	Central figure of the south façade of Structure 29	Artist's rendition of Copan used throughout the museum to point out the original location of structures moved into the museum
Detail from Structure 8N-66 - Maize Deities	Structure 8N-66 is from the residential district of Copan, Las Sepulturas	Detail from Structure 8N-66 - Maize Deities	Mask with waterlily vegetation and maize flanking the doorway, Structure 8N-66
Detail from the Skyband Bench, Structure 8N-66	The Skyband Bench was from the interior room of a larger central structure	Skyband Bench - the Sun	Skyband Bench - the Moon Deity
Skyband Bench - Milky Way	Hieroglyphic inscription from the interior of Temple 26, Copán	Detail from the hieroglyphics of Temple 26	Detail from the hieroglyphics of Temple 26
Statue from Temple 26 at the top of the Hieroglyphic Stairway	The 13th Ruler of Copan was captured in battle and sacrificed in neighboring Quirigua	Mayan altar left in a field next to the Copan Musuem	Museo de Escultura Maya de Copan