Solstices brought Mayan communities together, using monuments shaped by science and religion – as well as royal ambitions
K’ahk’ Uti’ Witz’ K’awiil knew its history. For eleven generations, the Mayan ruler dynasty had ruled Copan, a city-state near the present-day Honduras-Guatemala border. From the fifth century AD until the seventh century, scribes painted the genealogies of his ancestors in manuscripts and carved them into stone monuments throughout the city. Around 650 a certain … Read more