Open menu Close menu Open Search Close search Open sharebox Close sharebox

. . Flags of the World Maps of All Countries
  • |Main INDEX|
  • HISTORY INDEX
  • Country Ranks
  • ; geographic.org; Home; Page; Country Index

    Honduras The Mayan Heritage
    https://workmall.com/wfb2001/honduras/honduras_history_the_mayan_heritage.html
    Source: The Library of Congress Country Studies
    << BACK TO HISTORY CONTENTS

    [JPEG]

    [JPEG]

    Mayan ruins at Copán
    Courtesy Museum of Modern Latin American Art

    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 Yucatán and Guatemala. Mayan civilization had reached western Honduras in the fifth century A.D., probably spreading from lowland Mayan centers in Guatemala's Petén region. The Maya spread rapidly through the Río Motagua Valley, centering their control on the major ceremonial center of Copán, near the present-day town of Santa Rosa de Copán. For three and a half centuries, the Maya developed the city, making it one of the principal centers of their culture. At one point, Copán 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 Copán. The Maya also established extensive trade networks spanning as far as central Mexico.

    Then, at the height of the Mayan civilization, Copán was apparently abandoned. The last dated hieroglyph in Copán 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. Copán 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.

    Data as of December 1993


    NOTE: The information regarding Honduras on this page is re-published from The Library of Congress Country Studies. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Honduras The Mayan Heritage information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Honduras The Mayan Heritage should be addressed to the Library of Congress.

    Support Our Sponsor

    Support Our Sponsor

    Please put this page in your BOOKMARKS - - - - -



    https://workmall.com/wfb2001/honduras/honduras_history_the_mayan_heritage.html

    Revised 04-Jul-02
    Copyright © 2001-2019 Photius Coutsoukis (all rights reserved)