Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1990 - 30

tars. These inscriptions record his accession on February 8, a.D. 628 (16 days after the death of the eleventh
ruler, Butz' Chan), and his death on June 18, 695. This
reign was the longest in the recorded history of the site
and one of the most eventful. Besides consolidating power in the valley and proclaiming his might through the
dedication of five stelae at the entrances to the Copán
Valley, Smoke-Imix seems to have been successful even
farther afield. According to David Stuart, an altar at the
site of Quirigua, a Maya settlement some 30 miles away,
informs us that Smoke-Imix was present at the inauguration of a Quirigua ruler, indicating that he had some
sort of alliance with or held hegemony over this neighboring community.
Ongoing excavations in the site-core of Copán also
suggest that Smoke-Imix contributed mightily to the
buildup of the Acropolis; huge buildings dating to his
reign have been discovered in the tunnels excavated into
every major building in the Acropolis. Indications are
that he was also a warrior. On one of the last monuments
dedicated to him, Stela 6, Smoke-Imix is portrayed in
full warrior regalia, wearing in his headdress the goggleeyed Jaguar Tlaloc commonly associated by scholars
with war and warriors. Atop the several Tlaloc heads
that appear on this stela is a symbol (the "year" sign)
identified by the Mayanist Tatiana Proskouriakoff in
1973 as a badge of warriors among the Classic Maya.
Tlaloc heads bearing such motifs also burst forth from
the serpent heads of his "ceremonial bar," that quintessential symbol of authority carried by all the rulers
depicted in the stelae at Copán.
Smoke-Imix also seems to have been a successful
scribe, since he left more inscribed monuments detailing historical, religious, and geographical data than any
other Copán ruler. Scribes were more important among
the Late Classic Maya than scholars once believed: they
recorded calendrical and astronomical data, religious
tracts, tribute lists, literature, and historical data. Esteemed for their knowledge and skills, scribes were
members of the upper class who not only wrote, but also
painted and supervised the carving of sculptures.
The position of scribe, moreover, appears to have
been hereditary at Copán. A lavish tomb discovered
beneath the hieroglyphic stairway in 1989 seems to have
been the burial place of a royal scribe who was one of
Smoke-Imix's younger sons, or at the least a close confidante of the king's. This royal scribe had the greatest
number of funerary offerings and the greatest effort and
care lavished upon the construction of his funerary
chamber of anyone unearthed in 100 years of archaeological investigations at Copán. Analysis by Rebecca
Storey, a physical anthropologist at the University of
Houston, showed that despite his 35 to 40 years of age,
his body showed no signs of arthritis or heavy work, indicating that he had led a relatively tranquil life. A boy
whose dental condition indicated that he suffered from
ill health or poor nutrition, and who was therefore most
likely a commoner, had been sacrificed so that he might
accompany the scribe into the underworld. Found in the
30 Archaeology

scribe's tomb were remains of a bark-paper book or "codex," red pigment in numerous paintpots, and a pot
decorated with the image of the patron god of scribes.
The investigation of a scribe's palace in Las Sepulturas,
known as Structure 9N-82, showed that at least one
scribal lineage in the valley attained sufficient social status in the late eighth century to have a hieroglyphic
bench or throne inscribed in its honor and elaborate
sculptures carved on its facade. An earlier (ca. a.d. 450)
burial at the same site contained remains of a codex and
may represent the founder of this scribal line.
Just as scribes were socially important and highly
visible in ancient Maya culture by virtue of the inscriptions and artwork they produced, so too were Maya warriors, at least during the Late Classic Period (a.d.
600-900). It was assumed until recently that martial
themes were not a principal part of the pictorial and hieroglyphic repertoire at Copán. Discoveries over the
past ten years make it necessary to reevaluate our views
on this subject and lend credence to the idea that
warfare was indeed a major part of the Late Classic
Maya political landscape. Indeed, an abundance of warrior imagery indicates the high social status of warriors.
In 1979, investigations of the structure on the Acropolis
known as Temple 18, directed by Claude F. Baudez of
the Proyecto Arqueologico Copán, Phase I, resulted in
the reassembly of the sculptural mosaics in a series of
portrait panels, two of which show Yax Pac, Copán's sixteenth ruler, brandishing a lance and shield in a public
display of his prowess as a warrior. Many other examples
of Late Classic art show figures carrying and wearing
ropes, often engaged in procuring victims for sacrifice.
Ironically, the long and fruitful reign of Smoke-Imix
was followed by a calamitous one that foreshadowed
Copán's eventual demise. The thirteenth ruler of
Copán, known to us as 18-Rabbit, was captured by a
rival ruler from nearby Quirigua and decapitated - a
disastrous event for a society that regarded its ruler as
divine or nearly divine.
The hieroglyphic stairway and temple on top of the
pyramid were built, as noted earlier, by Smoke-Shell,
Copán's fifteenth ruler, in an effort to reaffirm the failing
glory of the Copán dynasty following 18 Rabbit's capture and decapitation. But Smoke-Shell's claims to glory
appear to have been more propaganda than fact. Here
the archaeological record helps us. The fact is that the
fill used to support the stairway and facades of this
building was the weakest we have found in the site-core
at Copán: dry earth and stones were used rather than
mud mortar, materials that were poorly or incompletely
consolidated. We surmise that the economy was so weak
and the level of workmanship so poor that Smoke-Shell's
builders could not construct a lasting edifice. We know
from sixteenth-century accounts that the population paid
tribute to the ruling class in various ways - one of which
was construction work. Ill health and a lack of willingness
on the part of workers may account for some of the poor
workmanship. It is also possible that the poor quality of
construction reflects a lack of support from Smoke-

Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1990

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - May/June 1990