COPAN, HONDURAS - The Maya built their city on the banks of the Copan River. But over time, the river changed it course to gnaw at the east side of the Acropolis. Long before John Lloyd Stephens came upon the site, the river had swept away several buildings and washed away thousands of tons of stone, leaving exposed a vertical cut 185 feet in height. As Tatiana Proskouriakoff, one of the great Maya archaeologists, wrote: "Seen thus in section, ancient plaza floors and the remains of partially dismantled walls, covered by layer upon layer of later construction, testify to untold centuries of human effort."

COPAN, HONDURAS - The Maya built their city on the banks of the Copan River. But over time, the river changed it course to gnaw at the east side of the Acropolis. Long before John Lloyd Stephens came upon the site, the river had swept away several buildings and washed away thousands of tons of stone, leaving exposed a vertical cut 185 feet in height. As Tatiana Proskouriakoff, one of the great Maya archaeologists, wrote: "Seen thus in section, ancient plaza floors and the remains of partially dismantled walls, covered by layer upon layer of later construction, testify to untold centuries of human effort."