th spear and shield in hand. The sculpted column from
the temple shrine has a hieroglyphic text reading "toppling of the
Foundation House" that may refer to the fall of the Copán dynasty.
Shortage and disease afflicted the massively overpopulated valley of Copán when
its last known king, Ukit Took', came to the throne on 6 February 822. He
commissioned Altar L in the style of Altar Q but the monument was never
finished — one face shows the enthronement of the king and a second face was
started but two others were completely blank. The long line of kings at the
once great city had come to an end. Before the end, even the nobility had been
struck by disease, perhaps because epidemics among the malnourished masses
spread to the elite. With the end of political authority at the city the
population collapsed to a fraction of what it had been at its height. This
collapse of the city-state, which people believe occurred sometime between 800
and 830 AD, was sudden. However, the population continued to persist and even
flourish between the years 750 and 900 AD, and then gradually declined soon
thereafter. In the Postclassic period the valley was occupied by villagers who
robbed the stone from the monumental architecture of the city in order to build
their simple house platforms.
Modern history
