Honduras' Past and Present

An Intriguing Cultural Mix

By Joyce Dalton

At an international conference held in Copan, Honduras and devoted to the Mayan culture, Honduras’ president, Carlos R. Flores, declared that the ancient Mayans bequeathed Hondurans the “roots of their nationality and the letter of presentation of their identity.”

Copan, the most studied and best-understood site in the Mayan world, also serves as the nation’s strongest identity in the minds of tourists, who travel to this Central American destination primarily to see the magnificent remains of one of antiquity’s greatest civilizations.

Mayan sites are found in five countries, known promotionally as Mundo Maya (Mayan World): Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. This culture flourished between A.D. 250 and 900 and Copan was one of its regional capitals. The site is generally considered the most artistically advanced and elaborate of all Mayan cities. In 1980, UNESCO declared it a heritage of humanity.

Situated about a 15-minute drive from the small but pleasant town of Copan Ruinas, the main archeological park boasts several areas of particular interest, plus a fine museum. As vast as the area appears, the ruins have been only about 20% restored. Vegetation presses in, seemingly ready to reclaim certain structures and adding an air of mystery plus a strong sense of time past. Early morning, perhaps 8 a.m., is the perfect time to visit the park. The tour buses haven’t arrived, the light is lovely and good for photography and the heat of the day is still a few hours away.

The well-named Great Plaza is dotted with steles (upright stone slabs bearing an inscription or design) and altars. Here and there, traces of red, a sacred color to the Mayans, can be detected. One round altar was a place of human sacrifice. The majority of steles were erected between 711 and 736 during the reign of the 13^th ruler, known as 18 Rabbit. Often called the Mayan King of the Arts, 18 Rabbit implemented the intricate relief style for which Copan’s sculptures are noted. So immense is the Great Plaza that 7,000 people could gather here at once.

While other Mayan sites also claim ball courts, the one at Copan is especially fine as the circular markers high on the two walls, through which a rubber ball weighing up to 17 pounds must pass, resemble the heads of macaws. Although the game was similar to soccer in that hands were not used, the Mayan version was a serious affair with religious significance. At Copan, players dressed in the colors of the macaw. The best player on the winning side was sacrificed, a great honor, for the Mayans believed in life after death. The best sacrifice of all was a still-bleeding heart.

Divided into a pair of large plazas, the Acropolis houses two major temples. The elaborate Temple 11, erected during the reign of Yax-Pac, was meant to be his portal to the next world. Altar Q offers archeologists a key to Copan’s 400-year dynasty. Each of the square block’s sides depicts four of the 16 hereditary sovereigns in chronological order. In one image, the dynasty’s founder passes the scepter of power to Yax-Pac, skipping quite a few rulers in the process. (Not only long-ago leaders like to associate themselves with a great figure from the past. In Iraq, a billboard outside the reconstructed ruins of Babylon shows Saddam Hussein receiving a gift from Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon at the height of its greatness.)

Temple 16, also situated at the Acropolis, was built atop an older temple, known today as Rosalila, or Temple of the Sun, the best-preserved building anywhere in the Mayan world. Traces of Rosalila’s original colors remain, making it clear that ancient Copan was far from an austere monochrome world. In the Copan Sculpture Museum, situated in the archeological park, a full-size replica of Rosalila holds pride of place. The Sun God, key player in the Mayan creation myth and from whom the rulers claimed descent, rises, with wings outstretched, over the doorway.

Hailed as the longest inscription in the world (more cautious spokespersons say in the “New World”), the Hieroglyphic Stairway forms one wall of a temple pyramid and is believed to be a lineage tree of Copan’s rulers from the first through the 15^th, Smoke Shell, who completed the stone memorial in 755 AD. Although the temple has been rebuilt, many stones had fallen out of place so about 40% of the text remains a mystery to archeologists. Each of the 64 steps is carved with some 2,500 hieroglyphics surrounded by sculptures of animals, birds, humans, mythological creatures and gods.

Some 30,000 pieces of sculpture, most quite elaborate, have been found at Copan. Approximately 3,000 are housed in the Sculpture Museum. Visitors, in limited numbers, may explore portions of research tunnels dug by archeologists over many decades, the better to appreciate the Mayan civilization which, so long ago, elevated commerce, government, religion, recorded history, art and architecture to such a high degree.

A visit to Honduras’ Caribbean coast offers the chance to experience the traditions of another culture, that of the Garifuna. While theories differ on just how the Garifuna reached Central America, the most widely accepted version is that Spanish ships carrying slaves were shipwrecked near the island of St. Vincent in the early 17^th century. The Africans escaped and for some 200 years, lived peacefully with the indigenous Carib Indians, intermarrying and blending some of the Caribs’ language, culture and traditions with their own. Called Black Caribs by Europeans at this time, the Garifuna prospered, primarily due to their farming skills and St. Vincent’s rich land. 

During the mid-18^th century, the British came to St. Vincent in large numbers and tried to persuade the Black Caribs to turn over more and more of their fertile land. For several decades, armed struggles took place between the British and the Black Caribs who were aided by the French. Eventually, the British brought in more troops and the Black Caribs were taken to Roatan Island, which today, is Honduras’ main snorkeling and diving spot. Over time, the Garifuna migrated to the mainland, settling primarily along the coasts of Honduras and Belize. According to some ethnologists, the Garifuna are the only Black people in the Americas to have preserved their traditional culture.

Several Garifuna villages welcome tourists. Those along the beach typically provide picnic tables, a few hammocks and a tasty lunch of fish, plantains, beans and rice flavored with coconut. Triunfo de la Cruz, located near the coastal town of Tela, is one such community. Food preparation includes a nifty shredding board made by inserting pebbles into numerous small slits cut into a rectangular wooden tray. Fortunately, the one my group saw wasn’t for sale, or virtually all of us would have bid on it.

While housing in Triunfo is a mix of thatched and more substantial dwellings, the village of Miami is pure African. Reached by a tortuous, narrow dirt road that winds past an eerie forest of dead palm trees, a double row of thatched-roofed, woven palm-leaf houses lines either side of a sandy path. With the sea on one side and a lagoon on the other, the scene is idyllic, a mood enhanced by the friendly, but unobtrusive, demeanor of Miami’s inhabitants. If crafts, or even a cool drink, are for sale, it’s so low-keyed that we missed it.

This village of 200 lies within the boundaries of Jeannette Kawas National Park, a nature preserve boasting 342 species of birds. A late afternoon boat ride on the lagoon offered sightings of hundreds of snowy egrets settling in for the night atop mangrove branches.

Several hotels in the Tela area feature evening shows of Garifuna music and dance. Melodies, chants and movements are distinctly African with dances characterized by rapid movements and high jumps. Also in Tela, a small museum of Garifuna culture is located above the Mango Café.

Still waiting to be discovered by mainstream tourists, Honduras offers an intriguing mix of Mayan, Garifuna and Spanish cultures, plus pristine nature reserves, Caribbean beaches and excellent snorkeling and diving. With an adequate inventory of good lodging and dining options, it’s a destination whose time has come.

Images by Joyce Dalton