图伦古城：玛雅人最后的古城之一
图伦是前哥伦布时期的一个玛雅城寨，它是科巴古城的主要港口。该遗址位于12米（39英尺）高的峭壁之上，沿着墨西哥金塔纳罗奥州的加勒比海的尤卡坦半岛东海岸延伸。图伦是玛雅人居住和建造的最后古城之一，它的繁荣昌盛是在13世纪到15世纪之间，西班牙人占领墨西哥之后，它还存在了约70年。西班牙殖民者带来的旧世界疾病似乎是图伦消亡的原因。作为一个保存最完好的玛雅海滨遗址，图伦如今已成为一个热门旅游景区。
Old city of Palenque：There are some finest art works of the Mayans
Palenque was a Maya city state in southern Mexico that flourished in the 7th century. The Palenque ruins date back to 226 BC to its fall around 1123 AD. After its decline it was absorbed into the jungle， which is made up of cedar， mahogany， and sapodilla trees， but has been excavated and restored and is now a famous archaeological site attracting thousands of visitors. It is located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chiapas， located about 130 km south of Ciudad del Carmen about 150 m above sea level.
Palenque is a medium-sized site， much smaller than such huge sites as Tikal or Copan， but it contains some of the finest architecture， sculpture， roof comb and bas-relief carvings that the Mayas produced. Much of the history of Palenque has been reconstructed from reading the hieroglyphic inions on the many monuments； historians now have a long sequence of the ruling dynasty of Palenque in the 5th century and extensive knowledge of the citystate’s rivalry with other states such as Calakmul. The most famous ruler of Palenque was Pacal the Great whose tomb has been found and excavated in the Temple of the Inions.
By 2005， the discovered area covered up to 2.5 km， but it is estimated that less than 10% of the total area of the city is explored， leaving more than a thousand structures still covered by jungle.
帕伦克古城：那里有玛雅人最美的艺术作品
帕伦克是墨西哥南部的一座玛雅城市，公元7世纪进入兴盛时期。帕伦克遗址可以追溯到公元前226年，一直到大约公元1123年走向衰落。这座古城衰败以后被纳入了丛林文明，那里有雪松、桃花心木以及人心果树木。帕伦克已被发掘和修复，现在是一个著名的考古遗址，每年吸引着成千上万的游客。它位于墨西哥恰帕斯州的乌苏马辛塔河附近，位于海拔150米以上的卡门城以南大约130公里处。
帕伦克是一个中型遗址，远远小于蒂卡尔或科潘那样的巨大遗址，但这里有一些由玛雅人制造的最美的建筑、雕像、条脊和浅浮雕作品。大部分帕伦克历史已经通过阅读许多古迹中的象形文字铭文而重建起来了，如今的历史学家已经研究了公元5世纪帕伦克执政时期漫长历史，还具备了这个城邦与卡拉克穆尔等其他国家竞争的广泛知识。帕伦克最著名的统治者是巴加尔二世，他的坟墓在碑铭神庙被发现并已经被挖掘出来。
到2005年为止，已知帕伦克遗址的覆盖面积达2.5平方公里，但据估计，已经探索到的区域还不到城市总面积的10%，还有一千多座建筑深埋在丛林之中。
Copan：A historical site that spans the greater part of the Classic period
Copan is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the Copan Department of western Honduras， not far from the border with Guatemala. It was the capital city of a major Classic period kingdom from the 5th to 9th centuries AD. The city was located in the extreme southeast of the Mesoamerican cultural region， on the frontier with the Isthmo-Colombian cultural region， and was almost surrounded by non-Maya peoples.
Copan was occupied for more than two thousand years， from the Early Preclassic period right through to the Postclassic. The city developed a distinctive sculptural style within the tradition of the lowland Maya， perhaps to emphasize the Maya ethnicity of the city’s rulers.
The city has a historical record that spans the greater part of the Classic period and has been reconstructed in detail by archaeologists and epigraphers. Copan was a powerful city ruling a vast kingdom within the southern Maya area. The city suffered a major political disaster in AD 738 when Uaxaclajuun Ub’aah K’awiil， one of the greatest kings in Copan’s dynastic history， was captured and executed by his former vassal， the king of Quirigua. This unexpected defeat resulted in a 17-year hiatus at the city， during which time Copan may have been subject to Quirigua in a reversal of fortunes. A significant portion of the eastern side of the acropolis has been eroded away by the Copan River， although the river has since been diverted in order to protect the site from further damage.
科潘城：跨越古典时期大部分岁月的历史遗迹
科潘是玛雅文明的考古遗址，位于洪都拉斯西部的科潘部，距离危地马拉边境不远，它于公元5～9世纪古典时期是一个重要王国的首都。该城市位于中美洲文化区东南部边缘，边界与峡部哥伦比亚文化区相接壤，几乎被非玛雅民族包围。
从早期的前古典时期一直到后古典期，科潘被占领了二千多年。该城市根据玛雅低地的传统，发展了一种独特的雕塑风格，这也许是为了强调城市统治者所属的玛雅种族。
根据考古学家和碑铭研究家的描述，该城市拥有一部跨越古典时期大部分岁月的历史记载，而且已被重建。科潘是一个统治着玛雅南部地区的强大王国，公元738年该城市遭受了重大的政治灾难，科潘王朝历史上最伟大的国王十八兔被他的前仆从国基里瓜的国王抓获并处决。这意想不到的失败导致了这座城市17年的缺失，在此期间，科潘可能受到命运的逆转而听命于基里瓜小国。这座古城的东侧有相当一部分区域消失在科潘河畔，尽管为了避免该遗址免受进一步损害，该河流已经被人工改道。
Maya art：A high level of aesthetic and artisanal sophistication
Maya art of their Classic Era （c. 250 to 900 CE） is of a high level of aesthetic and artisanal sophistication. The carvings and the reliefs made of stucco at Palenque and the statuary of Copan， show a grace and accurate observation of the human form that reminded early archaeologists of Classical civilizations of the Old World， hence the name bestowed on this era. We have only hints of the advanced painting of the classic Maya； mostly what has survived are funerary pottery and other Maya ceramics， and a building at Bonampak holds ancient murals that survived by chance. A beautiful turquoise color（Maya Blue） survived through the centuries due to its unique chemical characteristics. Late Preclassic murals of great artistic and iconographic perfection have been recently discovered at San Bartolo.
玛雅艺术：较高水准的唯美度和手工成熟度
古典时代（约公元250～900年）的玛雅艺术在唯美度和手工成熟度方面达到了一个较高的水准。帕伦克的灰泥构造成的雕刻和浮雕以及科潘雕像艺术都显示出玛雅人对人类形式的优雅而准确的观察，提醒早期考古学家想起旧世界的古典文明，因此该名字无愧于这个时代。我们只有古典玛雅的先进绘画的线索，如今大部分存世的艺术品是陪葬陶器和其他玛雅陶瓷，还有波南帕克的某个建筑物，那里有偶然幸存下来的古代壁画，壁画中一种美丽的绿松石色（玛雅蓝）由于其独特的化学特征而一直保存了好几个世纪。最近，有关人员又在圣巴托罗发现了晚期玛雅壁画中的完美艺术肖像。
