Cerro Palenque

Cerro Palenque is an archaeological site in the department of Cortés in Honduras. The city was founded in the Late Classic (500-800 AD) but reached its peak population and grew to over 500 structures in the Terminal Classic (850-1100 AD).

Archaeologists cannot determine how the people who lived at Cerro Palenque would have identified themselves since unlike the Maya of Copan and far western Honduras, they left no writing. Over the years archaeologists have tried to ascertain the identity of the people who lived on the lower Ulua river drainage at various times in terms of populations known to have existed at the time of the Spanish conquest (1536). Popular candidates include the Tol (formerly Jicaque), Lenca, and Maya. Unfortunately, archaeologists cannot currently determine if it was one of these groups, or some other unnamed group.

The site today is found on top of the hill known as Cerro Palenque (232 meters above sea level), above the town of Santiago, near the confluence of the Ulua, Humuya (Comayagua) and Blanco rivers, and on several hilltops to the north. It is located some 40 kilometers from the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras.

The first part of the site to be settled was on the top of the hill, Cerro Palenque, and along its sides. This part was developed in the Late Classic (500 to 800 AD) and remained fairly small, but impressive. In the Terminal Classic (850-1100 AD) the city moved to the lower hill tops north of Cerro Palenque. In the Terminal Classic, this was the largest city in the lower Ulua river valley.

Because of its location where the major rivers enter the valley from the south and southwest, Cerro Palenque was in a strategic position where it could have mediated access from the interior of the country to goods produced along the coast, and coming in trade with Belize and Yucatan.

The Maya of Yucatan told the Spanish, in the 16th century, that the Ulua River valley was the land of feathers and honey. They also valued it for its chocolate (cacao). Pottery, and other kinds of artifacts, tell us that there was trade between various cities in the Ulua river valley, and the Maya of Belize and Yucatan because artifacts from these Maya centers have been found in cities in the valley at this time, and in turn, artifacts made in the valley have turned up in Maya cities in Belize and Yucatan.

...
Wikipedia