Group 9J-5
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| Group 9J-5 today |
Strategic areas of Group 9J-5 were excavated during the Harvard
University doctoral research of Allan Maca (William Fash, Project
Director; Allan Maca, Field Director). The bulk of this research was
conducted between 1996 and 2001; the results as well as all previous
and associated research on Group 9J-5 are published in Maca's
dissertation (UMI, 2002). The architectural group is located in the
Comedero region, 5 minutes (walking) NW of the entrance to the Copan
Archaeological Park.
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| Reconstruction of 9J-5- top view |
The site is classified as a "Type 4" in the Harvard typology, that is,
"most monumental" (Willey and Leventhal 1979). There are eleven Type 4
units in the Copan alluvial pocket, Group 9N-8 (Las Sepulturas) and
Group 11K-6 (El Bosque) inclusive. Group 9J-5 consists of 25+ mounds,
most of which follow the site orientation of 23 degrees west of
magnetic north. Nearly all visible mounds date to the final Late
Classic period (AD 800) occupation of the valley, though settlement
post-dating the dynastic collapse is in evidence (ca. AD 925). During
the 9th century, sculpture from the dynastic period occupation was
reused to build basal retaining walls on the north side of Structure
88; in the early 10th century we find midden evidence for a distinct
Terminal Classic phase (AD 800-925) site (Fine Orange and Las Vegas
ceramic imports; utilitarian ceramics from the Honduran interior; new
obsidian forms).
Since the 1970s, Group 9J-5 has been excavated or tested by
several projects, including the Harvard Sustaining Area Project
(1975-1977); Phase 2 of the Copan Archaeological Project (1988); the
Harvard University Field School (1995-1997); and the Comedero
Archaeological Project (1996-1999). The site was preliminarily mapped
in the late 1970s, the results of which may be found in the 1983 maps
of William Fash and Kurt Long. In 1999 and 2001, Allan Maca and Marc
Wolf executed a new
map of the site, an effort which is now one facet of PAPAC's
remapping of the entire alluvial pocket.
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| 9J-5 Digitized Line Drawings |
Clement Valla's
digital
reconstructions of Group 9J-5 employ original mapping and
excavation data. These renderings
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| 9J-5 Reconstructed Image |
provide a sense of the monumentality of the site, one of many such
sites in danger of looting and destruction due to their location on
private land. Valla's work has encouraged Honduran government efforts
and local awareness of the need to protect these ruins and thus is
geared to both science and the protection of cultural patrimony. Please
see the
WEBLOG
section of this website for more information on Valla's reconstructions
and some of the
PRESS they have received.
Links to additional resources on this website:
9J-5 Early data studies
9J-5 Digital Reconstructions
9J-5 Excavation Photos
