History
When the Spanish arrived in the sixteenth century, Honduras was populated by a number of different tribes. In the northeast - the Mosquitia, parts of the north coast and Olancho - were the Pech and Sumu , related to the South American Chibchans, while the north-central region was occupied by the Tolupan , migrants from possibly as far away as the present United States. Western Honduras was home to the Maya , while the Lenca , also believed to be descended from the Chibchans, inhabited the centre of the country. The Pipils , migrants from present-day Mexico, lived to the south, along the Golfo de Fonseca, with the Toltec-speaking Chorotega , also from Mexico, inhabiting the area around Choluteca. Of these, it is the Maya about whom most is known. Archeologists believe that settlers began moving south into the Rio Copan valley from around 1000 BC; construction of the city of Copan began around 100 AD. By the time of the founding of the royal dynasty in 426 AD, Copan exerted control as far north as the Valle de Sula, east to Lago Yojoa and west into what is now Guatemala. Home to the governing and religious elite, and supporting a total population of around 24,000, the city was the pre-eminent Maya centre for scientific and artistic development; today it is one of the world's foremost archeological sites. When, for reasons which are not entirely clear, Maya civilization began to collapse around 900 AD, Copan was abandoned, although the area it previously controlled remained inhabited. Following the collapse of the Maya empire, the Lenca became the predominant group in Honduras, absorbing other indigenous cultures and settling in small, scattered communities, supported by subsistence agriculture and hunting and gathering. The Lenca established trade links as far north as Mexico and interacted peaceably with the Maya and Pipil.
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