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.