Cerro Palenque

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cerro Palenque is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, in the Cortés department of Honduras, whose settlement peaked in the Terminal Classic Period (850 - 1050 AD) of the Mayas. It was continuously inhabited across the period of 500 - 1050 AD.

1 Location and context
2 Excavations and findings
3 Conservation and development
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Location and context

The site is perched on the hills in west Sula valley, near the confluence of the Ulúa and the Comayagua rivers. It is located around 40 kilometres from the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras.

The largest Maya settlement in the area, it is named after the highest of the hills, which rises to around 232 metres above sea level. Its strategic location allowed the settlement to control trade and access into the valley, and so it is a significant archaeological site.

The Ulúa River valley, called "the land of feathers and honey" by the Maya, constituted their eastern boundary in the classic Maya period (500 - 1000 AD). Settlements here traded with the relatively larger Maya centres to their west. The valley is regarded as a frontier of the Maya region, where the Mesoamerican culture and way of life mingled with those of the rest of Central America. Political art and the hieroglypic texts characteristic of the lowland Maya societies are not found in excavations here, and therefore the Ulúa river valley is sometimes referred to as "Mayoid", rather than Maya.

The valley is formed by the Ulúa, Comayagua, and Chamelecón rivers, which provided natural transport routes into the rest of present Honduras as well as Central America. The Gulf of Honduras facilitated easy access to Yucatán. The fertile valley as well as other natural resources like shells, quetzal, obsidian and jade made the valley a particularly easy region to settle in.

[edit] Excavations and findings

The first excavations in the area were conducted by Dr. George Byron Gordon, of the Pennsylvania University Museum, in the 1890s, in the valley area in general. Dorothy Popenoe and Doris Stone excavated in the valley, in Playa de los Muertos and Travesia respectively, during the early and mid 20th century. However the valley was largely ignored at the time, due to its Mayoid associations. It was the studies of the Honduras Institute of Anthropology and History (Instituto Hondureño de Antropología e Historia - IHAH), directed by John S. Henderson, in the period 1979-88 that comprehensively explored the region, including Cerro Palenque. Rosemary Joyce and other project members prepared detailed site maps demonstrating the importance of the site, implied by its location, size and the huge plaza and ball court. The apogee of the settlement was first dated by Joyce in 1982-83 excavations.

The earliest signs of settlement are in the area labeled CR-44 at Cerro Palenque. Pottery recovered here indicate signs of life from the Late Classic Period (500 - 850 AD). While this particular area was abandoned later, the settlement actually grew into a community that left 500 structures built across a series of ridges. The fine-paste ceramic artefacts found in these parts of the settlement indicate that Cerro Palenque achieved its zenith in the Terminal Classic Period.

Maya settlements revolve around their plazas, and Cerro Palenque has one 300 metres long. A ball court was found at the south of this plaza.

During the post-Classic period, the valley slowly recovered from the general decline observed across Maya cities, and was part of a network connecting various communities across Maya and Central American regions by the time of the Spanish invasion, in the 16th century. However, Cerro Palenque was virtually abandoned by around 1050 AD, and never reached previous highs subsequently.

[edit] Conservation and development

The World Bank provided assistance to the Honduras for what is called the Copan Valley Regional Development Project. As part of this effort, the Copan Association formed a team in May 2004 to help research and conserve sites of importance, including Cerro Palenque. The Honduran Institute of Anthropology and History (IHAH) obtained 109 hectares of land in the settlement in 1997 to create an archaeological park. The intent of the park is to develop tourism infrastructure as well as benefit rural Honduran communities around the settlement.

The Patromonio of Cerro Palenque is a non-govermental organization with plans to restore, preserve and develop the site. A museum and an interpretive centre are part of those plans.