Last Updated on: 24th September 2024, 05:18 pm
While the mighty city-state of Copán had elite residences situated right next to its royal precinct, many of its nobles lived further away in a district we now call Las Sepulturas.
Incredibly, Las Sepulturas contained over 100 structures made of stone. This is quite significant considering how the average Mayan citizen lived in a simple house made of perishable materials.
Las Sepulturas likely wasn’t merely a suburb of Copán built due to urban sprawl. On the contrary, the area was settled since least 1400 BC.
Not only does that long predate the founding of Copán’s royal dynasty that was installed in the 5th century AD by Tikal, but it probably even predates the arrival of the Maya to this region!
During Copán’s heyday, Las Sepulturas mainly housed the city-state’s craftsmen, artisans and scribes. Copán, of course, is now synonymous with Mayan art and sculpture.
But considering how Las Sepulturas long predates Copán itself, it likely continued to be revered as an important and sacred spot. And it may have even remained home to descendants of the area’s original royal lineage.
Nowadays, Las Sepulturas can be reached on foot from the main Copán ruins, while access is free with your basic ticket. Nevertheless, few visitors make it out here, and there’s a good chance you’ll have these ruins all to yourself.
For more information on reaching the nearby town of Copán Ruinas and where to stay, be sure to check the end of the article.
Getting to Las Sepulturas
Las Sepulturas can be accessed by walking further east down the main road (CA11) that connects the town with the Copán archaeological site. Past the main entrance to the ruins, it’ll be another fifteen minutes or so before you reach Las Sepulturas.
Conveniently, you can get there via a long paved walkway. And while Honduras as a whole has a pretty bad reputation when it comes to safety, this rural region in the country’s west is generally considered safe.
In contrast to the elaborate entrance of the main Copán ruins, Las Sepulturas features a small kiosk that doesn’t immediately look like a ticket booth. But a staff member will likely see you and motion for you to come over.
While we’ll be going into more details in our dedicated Copán planning guide, your basic Copán entry ticket allows free access to Las Sepulturas, and you can even visit Las Sepulturas the next day. Just be sure to keep your original ticket!
In my case, I arrived at Las Sepulturas around 8:00 in the morning after having already visited the main ruins the previous day. And I ended up before the only person there for the duration of my visit.
On-Site Guides
After presenting my entrance ticket and getting it stamped, one of the men who appeared to be working there began accompanying me and explaining various things (in Spanish, of course).
At no point did he mention that he was a guide, so I thought perhaps he was merely introducing the site to me.
But after ten minutes or so had passed, I felt the need to clearly ask him if he was a guide who was offering his services. He said that he was. He did not specify the price, only that it was ‘barato.’
Wanting to explore the ruins on my own, I explained that I didn’t need a guide, which he accepted and walked away.
While there’s nothing wrong with on-site guides offering their services, they should always clearly state who they are and what their prices are upfront. This is something to watch out for during your visit to Las Sepulturas.
Group 8N-11
In ancient times, Las Sepulturas would’ve been connected to the main Copán ruins via a sacbe, or elevated stone road. And the residential complex that was situated at the end of this road is what archaeologists now call Group 8N-11.
It was an elite residential compound that housed noble families of Copán from around 600-850 AD. And given its location at the end of the sacbe, it likely played an important role in some of Copán’s royal and religious processions.
As you’ll soon discover, Group 8N-11 is located quite a distance from the core Principal Group of Las Sepulturas. And it also appears to have been more recently excavated.
In any case, the layout of the complex appears similar to many of the other groups you’ll encounter at the site.
Some of the inhabitants here were members of Copán’s royal court, while carvings of Chaak (the Rain God), K’inich Ahau (the Sun God), and Hun Hunahpu (the Maize God) adorn some of the buildings.
The most notable among them is the Palace of the Skyband Bench which overlooks the plaza. It’s believed that these benches played important roles in rituals related to astronomical phenomena during which the priest would be seated on them.
This bench we see today is a replica, with the original said to be on display at Museum of Maya Archeology in the center of town. Unfortunately, that museum was closed during my visit, and there don’t seem to be any plans for its reopening.
Peaking in some of the other rooms, you’ll observe undecorated stone benches that are actually beds. Considering how houses of commoners in the Mayan world were typically built of perishable materials, these stone beds reveal how important Las Sepulturas’ inhabitants really were.
And as with the other groups at the site, numerous tombs were found beneath these structures as well.
The Walk to the Grupo Principal
As mentioned, the area with the highest concentration of residences is some distance from Group 8N-11 and the modern site entrance. To get there, you’ll have to walk for several minutes along a secluded jungle path.
The on-site signage at Las Sepulturas isn’t the best. So if you’re not visiting with a guide, it would be helpful to download a free app like Organic Maps to aid with navigation.
The path will briefly take you past the Copán River, which was long vital to Copán’s survival. Today, you’ll observe a few small farming villages on the other side.
While there aren’t any major residential compunds along this path, you will encounter the remnants of a ruined building along the river’s edge.
Multiple paths branch off from here, but be sure to take the one leading to the Grupo Principal.
Not wanting to miss anything, I’d later return to this spot to try the other paths, but they only led me back to the entrance.
Grupo Principal
Most of Las Sepultras’ many residential compounds can be found in a single area, now known as the Grupo Principal.
An estimated 250 people or so lived in Las Sepulturas, many of whom were scribes and artisans. Interestingly, the area was planned so that the various residences and workshops would surround large courtyards and plazas.
Accordingly, you’ll find numerous plazas throughout the area, most of which are numbered by letter. But the area is so dense that it’s not always clear where one group ends and another begins.
Walking around, you’ll spot some palaces similar to the Palace of the Skyband Bench mentioned above. And behind some of the structures, you’ll even find remnants of the area’s original stone drainage system.
While it’s since been filled in, the Grupo Principal once had its own little lagoon that the community relied on.
During rainstorms, water would flow through the stone drains and end up in the lagoon, revealing how sophisticated and well-planned Las Sepulturas really was.
Many consider Copán to represent the apex of Mayan art, and most of the craftsmen and artisans who produced it likely lived here. But not everyone here was Mayan.
Interestingly, Lenca artisans from central Honduras lived in Las Sepulturas as well. Considering how Copán was situated at the edge of the Mayan world, the city had close contact with other native cultures to the south and east.
As I walked around, I encountered more spacious plazas containing elaborate palaces. And many of them contain what were clearly tombs.
As in many ancient cultures, Copán’s residents would bury loved ones right by where they lived. Las Sepulturas, in fact, means ‘tombs,’ as local farmers first discovered tombs here before many of the residential structures were uncovered.
Structure 9N-82 (Scribe’s House)
Within Group A is the most significant structure at all of Las Sepulturas. Officially known as Structure 9N-82, it’s also known as the Scribe’s House or the House of the Bacabs.
It was the home of a powerful nobleman who lived during the reign of Yax Pasaj Chan Yopaat – one of the last rulers of Copán’s royal dynasty who took the throne in 763.
In Mayan cosmology, the Bacabs – also referred to as Pauahtuns – were primordial creator deities who created the earth. But sometimes the Bacab was mentioned as a single deity who was the son of Itzamna.
In any case, we can see two Bacabs carved on the side of the walls holding up the instruments of a scribe, such as a paint holder and stylus. Furthermore, the four pillars of the bench may represent the four primordial Bacabs of legend.
Fascinatingly, it was also Plaza A where a burial of a priest dating back to the 5th century AD was discovered.
Group 9M-25
If you take one of the forested paths further west, you’ll encounter yet another group constructed separately, though not far from, the main Grupo Principal.
Officially known as Grupo 9M-25, there are even more residential buildings here that are similar to the others, albeit a bit more spread out.
Not much information on this group exists, but it seems to be the most secluded part of Las Sepulturas, which itself is one of the most remote archaeological sites you’ll encounter in Central America.
Nevertheless, I could still hear a shouting voice blaring from a loudspeaker somewhere in the distance – likely part of a Sunday church sermon. Even deep in the jungle, you can never quite escape noise pollution in Central America.
On my way back to the entrance, I walked down an alternate path, which led me past remnants of Copán’s original sacbe, while I also passed by some unexcavated mounds in the forest.
But though I tried exploring all the remaining paths to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, I didn’t end up encountering any new major structures.
All in all, I spent about two hours exploring Las Sepulturas, though one could do a quicker tour of the highlights in much less.
For those making the effort to come out to Copán, Las Sepulturas definitely should not be missed while you’re in the area. For more information on how to plan out your stay and manage your time, be sure to read our dedicated Copán planning guide.
Additional Info
The ruins of Copán (and Las Sepulturas) are situated just outside the confusingly-named town of Copán Ruinas. It’s quite a charming small town with plenty of accommodation options, and regardless of where you stay, you should be able to walk to the main ruins in 15-20 minutes.
I stayed at a hotel called Hotel Brisas de Copan, which was a short walk from the central square. The positives were that I had a private bathroom and management responded promptly to all my questions before my arrival. The negatives were that it was quite noisy in the evenings, while the internet barely functioned.
Other popular options to consider include Berakah B&B- Central Park, Hotel Acropolis Maya and Hotel La Escalinata.
Despite being one of Honduras’ most popular tourist destinations, Copán Ruinas is far from easy or simple to reach. It lies at the far western edge of the country near the border with Guatemala, and is far from any major city.
We’ll be going into more details on transport in our extensive Copán planning guide. But in summary, when it comes to domestic bus travel, Copán Ruinas is currently only directly linked with San Pedro Sula.
Previously, a bus company called Hedman Alas ran direct routes between Copán Ruinas and Tegucigalpa, but it’s currently out of business due to ‘Incidents of extortion towards our company,’ according to their website (Welcome to Honduras!).
Therefore, to get to/from either Tegucigalpa or La Ceiba (from which ferries to Utila and Roatán depart), you’ll have to transfer in San Pedro Sula.
Given its proximity to Guatemala and Honduras’ poor transport infrastructure, you’ll likely have an easier time getting there from Guatemala instead.
While basic public transport exists to and from the borders on both the Honduran and Guatemalan sides, most travelers end up paying for private tourist shuttles. There are abundant routes from Antigua, while I also managed to find one from San Salvador, El Salvador.
Again, learn more details in our dedicated planning guide.