Honduras - Pre Columbian Society

Pre-columbian society

Pre-Columbian Honduras was populated by a complex mixture of indigenous peoples representing a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and linguistic groups--the most advanced and notable of which were related to the Maya of the Yucat�n and Guatemala. Mayan civilization had reached western Honduras in the fifth century A.D., probably spreading from lowland Mayan centers in Guatemala's Pet�n region. The Maya spread rapidly through the R�o Motagua Valley, centering their control on the major ceremonial center of Cop�n, near the present-day town of Santa Rosa de Cop�n. For three and a half centuries, the Maya developed the city, making it one of the principal centers of their culture. At one point, Cop�n was probably the leading center for both astronomical studies--in which the Maya were quite advanced--and art. One of the longest Mayan hieroglyphic inscriptions ever discovered was found at Cop�n. The Maya also established extensive trade networks spanning as far as central Mexico.

Then, at the height of the Mayan civilization, Cop�n was apparently abandoned. The last dated hieroglyph in Cop�n is 800 A.D. Much of the population evidently remained in the area after that, but the educated class--the priests and rulers who built the temples, inscribed the glyphs, and developed the astronomy and mathematics--suddenly vanished. Cop�n fell into ruin, and the descendants of the Maya who remained had no memory of the meanings of the inscriptions or of the reasons for the sudden fall.

Honduras History: Pre-Columbian Society, The Early
Pre-Columbian Honduras - Wikipedia
Honduras History: Pre-Columbian Society, The Early
History of Honduras (to 1838) - Wikipedia
The Pre-Columbian Society of Washington, D.C. - Posts