Pictures from the last 2 weeks

The resort in Tela, it got a little cloudy in the late afternoon, but the rain held off :)

A burial from the one of the residential sites complete with replicas of the offerings made.

The base of one of the residential buildings, they are still working on rebuilding these, but the house would sit up on the platform.  Each house was used only for storage and sleeping everything else was done in the center of the residential area.

Just arriving into the ceremonial center.

Sculpture side of the ceremonial center.  It was lined with stairs for seating all around to that the rulers could address the public.

Our guide and one of the sculptures built by King 18 Rabbit, it is also in the sculpture area.

This is the sacrificial rock.  The heart of the sacrificed person would be put on the top and the blood allowed to drip down the grooves to the ground. The shape of the carving resembles that of the ball they used in their game, which is how they decided who to sacrifice.

The ball court: here teams of 5 would line each side and try to get the ball to hit a target on the other side (sculpture of a macaw head).  The MVP was most likely sacrificed at the end.

This is the largest continuation of heiroglyphics anywhere.  They extend for 64 steps, each carved very intricately.  Step 10 is actually at Harvard, given as a gift to them for the work they have done at the excavation site.

One side of temple 11 which is built in honor of the heavens

The backside of temple 11, and our group!

This has all of the rulers of the Copan Mayans on it (18) all the way around.  How the last ruler who built it knew he would be the last is still a mystery to me.

One of the tunnels we went inside.  I believe this wall is part of Rosalita which was covered by the temple to the underworld built by a later king.

One of the sculptures in the museum that has been excavated from the site.

This is a replica of Rosalita from what they uncovered by building tunnels through the temples.

This little guy has found a home near our door...luckily he likes the outside and hasn't ventured inside.  He did give me quite a scare though when I first saw him in the dark.