Copan

Copan is located in the Central American country of Hondurous. It's most renound Mayan pyramid is called the Hierographic Stiarway. The pyramid was built is succession by two Mayan kings named Smoke Shell and his successor Yax Pac. This pyramid was completed somewhere around 800AD, at which point Copal had radius of about 9 miles and a population of about 20,000. The stairway is made of 2200 stone blocks, rises more that 70 steps and holds the longest Pre-Columbian American text todate.

There are also many famous Stelea that give us a glymph of how the rulers used stone carved heiroglyphs to produce their own grandizing propoganda. Altar show, as shown in the picture above, shows the how Yax K'uk Mo' who was the first ruller of Copan, passed on the royal septer of power to Yax Pac, the 16th ruller in the 16th century. This discovery has lead archeologist to beleive that many of the stone carvings found througout the Mayan kingdom are also a form of progeganda, showing us that power and knowlege were important factors in maintaining power amongts the people.