Copán was a major capital at the southeasternmost extreme of the Classic Maya civilization, serving as a crossroads connecting Central and South America. In 426/427 CE, the city witnessed the establishment of a royal dynasty, which endured for approximately 400 years. Despite extensive historical and archaeological records, there remains limited information regarding the genetic profile of people who resided in Copán. Here, we present genomes from seven Classic Copán individuals, including a potential member of the ruling dynasty and an accompanying sacrificial burial. Our analysis shows that the population associated with the Classic Copán culture forms a genetic cluster with the Late Archaic population from Belize, as well as with the Terminal Classic Maya from Chichén Itzá, the Colonial Maya from Campeche, and present-day Maya, all from Mexico. Using Late Archaic Belize as a source of local ancestry, we identify an influx of ancestry associated with highland Mexican populations from the Early-to-Middle Classic period onward, underscoring the role of gene flow in the formation of the Classic Maya state. Estimates of effective population size suggest a decline at the end of the Classic period, when Classic Maya civilization experienced widespread destabilization and collapse.

Keywords: Classic Maya civilisation; Copán; ancient DNA; civilisation's collapse; gene flow; highland Mexican ancestry; population decline.

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

科潘是古典玛雅文明东南部的一个主要首都，它是中美洲和南美洲之间的重要交通枢纽。公元426/427年，这座城市见证了一个皇家王朝的建立，并持续了大约400年的时间。尽管有丰富的历史和考古记录，但关于居住在科潘的人们的遗传特征仍然知之甚少。在这里，我们介绍了七位古典时期科潘人的基因组，其中包括一位可能是统治家族成员的人以及一名陪同其进行献祭仪式的死者。我们的分析表明，与古典科潘文化相关的人口形成了一个与伯利兹晚期考古学人口、奇琴伊察终期古典玛雅人、坎佩切殖民地时期的玛雅人和来自墨西哥的现代玛雅人的遗传群体相一致的集群。使用伯利兹晚期考古学作为本地血统的来源，我们发现从早期到中期古典时期开始，与墨西哥高地人群体相关的血统有所增加，这强调了基因流动在形成古典玛雅国家中的作用。有效人口规模估计表明，在古典时期的末期，即古典玛雅文明经历广泛不稳定和崩溃时，人口出现了下降。

关键词： 古典玛雅文明；科潘；古代DNA；文明的衰落；基因流动；墨西哥高地血统；人口减少。