KUHUL COPAN AJAW
A documentary on Maya city planning at the ancient
city of Copan
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KUHUL COPAN AJAW is a documentary film currently in production. It
covers recent archaeological discoveries at the ancient Maya city
of Copan, Honduras and is written and produced by Clement Valla and
Allan Maca.
Clement Valla is a media engineer based in New York City. He has worked
in architecture, web design, film and printed media.
Allan Maca is a professor of Anthropology at Colgate University (NY)
and Co-Director (with Eva Martinez) of the Copan Urban Planning Project
(PAPAC), sponsored by the Honduran Ministry of Culture and the Honduran
Institute of Anthropology and History and funded by Colgate University
and the National Geographic Society.
The film illustrates the advances of PAPAC by exploring landscapes,
textures, and patterns of modern and ancient human settlement. The
Project postulates that Maya religious ideas, especially those centered
on divine kingship, were the basis for the growth and periodic renovation
of ancient Copan. Ongoing research works to discern these ideologies
through strategic mapping and excavations in the Copan Valley. The
film arrives at an important time, when the ancient city is under siege
by looting, modern development, and the indiscretions of landowners.
It heralds science and indigneous Maya ideas as aids to conservation
and the protection of Honduran national heritage.