An excursion to nearby sites!

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So I just had my lesson in "SAVE OFTEN." Really, do it. Cause now I dont have a lot of time remaining and it sucks.

Anyway, long story short. Yesterday our group went to a few nearby archaeological sites. El Puente and El Pariso. We met up with a group from Yale headed by Marcello Canuto and Ellen Bell (from Kenyon College). They are digging at El Pariso, but they met us at El Puente and we had lunch in a little pueblo called La Entrada. Both may have been controlled by and or traded with Copan. They mimicked some of Copan´s architectural style, however crudely. They were sites probably populated by mostly Lenca Indians (I think thats right) and not Maya people. Copan itself was probably only 1/3 Maya and maybe 2/3 Lenca. It was cool to meet Marcello and Ellen because I have read articles/books by them.

We had fun. There was a bit of carsickness, a bit of throwing up. Rosa had a bag of barf at her feet for a while. She pukes very quietly. Which is good cause otherwise it would have set off a chain reaction. The roads are very curvy near Copan and people drive like maniacs. To get to El Pariso we had to drive on a dirt road for at least an hour. El Pariso is just in the beginning stages of being excavated. It is very exciting! I saw several sherds of pottery on the ground there. Many of the local people in the town just follwed us around while we toured the site. Ok, gonna post some pics real quick.

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Photos

Temple at El Puente
Those stairs are a little sketchy. They move and wobble a lot when you walk on them. A little scary

Rosa, Freddy, and Me at El Puente
Freddy is a 16 yr old Copaneco who is working with us this summer. He does not speak English. But he knows a lot about the plants of Honduras, so we ask lots of questions.

Me at El Puente.
On top of the big temple pyramid thingie (technical term).

Tree at El Puente
Cool flowers growing in the tree branches.

Tunnel
A tunnel through a structure at El Puente. Rosa likes to sniff the rock. Toba or Volcanic Tuff smells very distinct. Apparently. This place just smelled kinda damp and nasty. Andre and Susana in the background.

El Paraiso
An unexcavated mound. Oh the things I could discover....