"Copan occupies the premier position among Maya sites as far as the quantity of stone sculptures is concerned, including stelae and altars. It also has the privilege of being home to the longest inscribed text in the New World, the famous Hieroglyphic Stairway. The Hieroglyphic Stairway, with more than 1250 glyph blocks in its inscription, is a historical narrative which highlights the feats of the ancestors of Smoke Shell."
"Updated population estimates indicate that during the 8th century A.D., at the time of peak population, the city of Copan had over 27,500 inhabitants, a sum not to be reached again until the 1980s."
"Archaeological investigations indicate that during its final decades, the city of Copán saw an unprecedented demographic growth. This brought with it a great intensification of the agricultural system, which in turn caused a spiraling rate of environmental degradation.
It is possible that as much as two centuries elapsed before the valley was completely abandoned, and the forest began the slow process of rebuilding the soils that man had abused and destroyed."
"Their favorite vegetables included maize, beans, pumpkin, squash, avocadoes and nances, while their favorite animal food included white-tail deer, pocket gopher, peccary (wild boar), armadillo, wild hens, fish and freshwater snails."
"The surface of the site is filled with thousands of fragments of architectural sculpture, which originally formed striking decorative mosaic designs on the facades of the temples and other structures built atop the pyramids."
"Should you decide to visit the Nature Trail, be careful not to touch or brush against the leaves of the Chichicaste plant, which can cause severe rash."
"The 16th century Spanish chroniclers noted that polygamy was firmly established among the upper classes of Maya society."
"Copan’s sculpture evolved from relatively low relief to the high relief, nearly full-round style for which Copan is now justly famous."
"The majority of the sculpture carved in Copan is not contained in the stelae and altars which have given Copan its widely acclaimed fame, but in the architectural facades."