Editing History of Honduras (section)

==Pre-Columbian era==
{{Main|Copán|Pre-Columbian Honduras|Yax Kuk Mo dynasty}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| image1 = CPN Rosalila 01.jpg|caption1=The Rosalila Temple in the Copan Ruinas Museum
| image2 = CPN ST B 01.jpg|caption2=A [[Maya stelae|Maya stela]], an emblematic symbol of the Honduran Mayan civilization at Copan
}}
Archaeology has demonstrated that Honduras has a multi-ethnic prehistory. An important part of that prehistory was the [[Maya civilization|Maya]]n presence around [[Copán]] in western Honduras near the Guatemalan border, a major Mayan city that began to flourish around 150 A.D. but reached its zenith in the Late Classic period (700–850 A.D.). It has left behind many carved inscriptions and [[stelae]]. The ancient kingdom, named ''[[Copán|Xukpi]]'' or ''Oxwitik'', existed from the 5th century to the early 9th century, and had antecedents going back to at least the [[2nd century]], a period named "predynastic Copán".

Mayan culture extended from what today are the departments of [[Copán Department|Copán]], [[Ocotepeque]] and several villages around these territories, especially near the [[Ulúa River|Ulua river]]. Other Mayan archeological sites in Honduras are [[El Puente (Maya site)|El Puente]], a smaller city that initially was independent for a period, but maintained a close alliance with the political and administrative center of Copán, and [[Rio Amarillo (Mayan Site)|Rio Amarillo]], believed to have been a crossing between the valleys of El Florido in Honduras and El Motagua in [[Guatemala]]. The [[Rastrojón]] archeological site, shows the construction styles of the residences of the upper or noble class of the Mayan society.

The [[Mayan civilization]] began a marked decline in population in the 9th century, but evidence shows people still living in and around the city until at least 1200.<ref>Paine, Richard R and Freter, AnnCorinne 1996 "Environmental Degradation and the Classic Maya Collapse at Copan, Honduras" ''Ancient Mesoamerica'' 7:37–47 Cambridge University Press</ref> By the time the Spanish came to Honduras, the once great city-state of Copán had been overrun by the jungle, and the surviving [[Ch'orti' people|Ch’orti']] were isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west. The non-Maya [[Lenca people|Lenca]]s dominated western Honduras, and had several villages in the valleys. The Lenca were the biggest and most well organized society in terms of military organization by the time of the conquest in the early 16th century.<ref>Newson, Linda The Cost of Conquest: Indian Decline in Honduras Under Spanish Rule. Dellplain Latin American Studies; No. 20, Westview Press, Boulder</ref>

[[File:Los Naranjos Honduras.jpg|thumb|One of the Pyramids of [[Los Naranjos, Honduras|Los Naranjos]], considered the oldest structures of Honduras. |alt=|left]]

Many other regions had large societies. Archaeological sites include {{illm|Naco (Honduras)|lt=Naco|es|Naco (Honduras)}}, La Sierra, and El Curruste in the northwest (thought to have been populated by [[Western Jicaque language|Western Jicaque]] speakers), [[Los Naranjos, Honduras|Los Naranjos]] north of [[Lake Yojoa]], [[Temanpua|Tenampúa]] and [[Yarumela]] in the [[Comayagua]] valley. Some were built by the ancestors of the [[Lenca people|Lenca]] people during the pre classic period almost 1000 years before the Mayan cities. They have complex structures and in the past were prosperous cities thanks to locations that made them active centers of commerce, with access to both the [[Caribbean]] and the Pacific. Imports of merchandise from Guatemala and central Mexico, and traces of products that came from other areas of [[South America]] through [[trade routes]] have also been found.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ray |first1=Louis L. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.134716 |title=Louis L. Ray papers : 1936 |last2=Smithsonian Institution. |date=1936 |publisher=[s.n.]|doi=10.5962/bhl.title.134716 }}</ref><ref>Evans, Susan Toby, ed. (27 November 2000). ''Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America''. Routledge. </ref>

[[File:Yacimiento arquelogico de Yarumela.jpg|thumb|Pyramid 102 of [[Yarumela]], one of the oldest Honduran archeological sites.]]

As part of [[Mesoamerica]], Honduras was home to complex settled societies for several thousand consecutive years, just as in other neighboring regions. It is clear that neighboring Maya societies and more distant Central Mexican societies were a major influence on Honduran communities, both through trade (especially with the Maya civilization, and, during the [[Mesoamerican chronology#Preclassic Era or Formative Period|Formative Period]], and the [[Olmec civilization]]) and occasionally migration. For example, during internal conflict in the late [[Toltec Empire]] around 1000 to 1100 AD, [[Nahuatl]] speakers migrated from Central Mexico and dispersed into different parts of Central America, including Honduras, especially [[Chapagua]]. In present-day El Salvador, they became the [[Pipil people|Pipil]] and founded [[Kuzshkatán (Cuzcatlan)|Kuskatan]], and in Nicaragua, they became the [[Nicarao people|Nicarao]].

Although most Honduran great urban areas belonged to the Mesoamerican cultural area, [[La Ciudad Blanca]] is the major exception. It lies on the very fringe of Mesoamerica and is better described in relation to the [[Isthmo-Colombian area]]. This civilization thrived from 500 A.D to 1000 A.D, and included sophisticated management of the environment in accordance with large urban centers. Despite being outside the Mesoamerican area, studies reveal that the city had Mayan elements, like a [[Mesoamerican ballgame|ball game]], and some pyramidal structures similar to the ones found in western Honduras. Studies in the area show huge structures in the city, and one had a ceremonial area where they performed  rituals to kings and gods.