Professor Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, accompanied by William Fash, Bowditch Professor of Central American and Mexican Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard and was previously Chair of the Anthropology Department and the Director of the Peabody Museum, paid a visit to Copan and Tegucigalpa, Honduras from July 5 to 9 as the first step to develop cooperative projects in the near future.  

 

Wang visited both the ceremony center and residential areas of Copan, one of the most powerful centers in the Maya world from the 4th to 8th century AD. During the visit of the residential areas, he discussed with Fash the possibility of a cooperative excavation of a high-level residential complex. They also spend several hours in the Copan working station of Honduras Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) to get an insight of the research and conservation of the artifacts found in Copan.
 

In Tegucigalpa, Wang yielded a warm welcome by Dr. Virgilio Paredes, Director of IHAH. In a friendly meeting, they agreed to sign the COVENANT OF COOPERATION AND RECIPROCAL ASSISTANCE BETWEEN THE INSTITUTO HONDUREÑO DE ANTROPOLOGIA E HISTORIA AND THE INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, to establish the foundation for the future cooperation between the two institutions. 

 

The signing ceremony was honorably held in the Office of the President of Honduras. President ABOG. JUAN ORLANDO HERNÁNDEZ joined the ceremony and signed on the covenant as the “honorary witness”. 
 

This successful visit will be a good start for IACASS’s further projects in Mesoamerica.