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262 N o t e s o f M i d d l e A m e r i c a n A r c h a e o l o g y a n d E t h n o l o g y Carnegie Institution of Washington Division of Historical Research No. 68 September 12, 1946 A Reconnaissance of El Rincon del Jicaque, Honduras Gustav Strömsvik and John M. Longyear III also be open to doubt, but at least his description was sufficiently confining to encourage a Honduran archaeologist, Sr. Rafael Girard, to search for the site. In 1944, Girard came upon a place near Esquipulas called “El Rincon del Jicaque,” which not only conformed with Galindo’s (1836) description in almost every respect, but also contained mounds, pottery, and other evidences of previous human occupation . The finding of one, at least, of the “conquest” sites in the literature had thus been established, and the way was open for further investigation. In March 1946, Professor Jesus Nuñez, Director of the Archaeological Museum at Copan, paid a short visit to El Rincon del Jicaque, and a few weeks later Gustav Strömsvik and Prof. Nuñez spent a week at the ruins, making a plane-table survey of the mounds (Map 68.1) and sinking several test pits for pottery. The present report is based on the findings of this last expedition. DESCRipTiOn Of THE SiTE Thanks to the airplane, the site of El Rincon del Jicaque is today readily accessible. The town of Ocotepeque, Honduras, is a 15 minute flight from either the ruins of Copan or the city of San Salvador; and from here mules can be taken to the ruins, which are a four hour ride distant, the road following the left bank of the Lempa River, in the direction of Esquipulas. At the settlement of Piñuelas, about an hour’s ride from the ruins, guides and workmen can be obtained, and it is here that anyone wishing The backbone of organized resistance offered by the Indians of western Honduras to Spanish rule was finally broken in April 1530, when Hernando Chaves besieged and conquered the stronghold of the Maya chieftain, Copan Calel. The story of this siege, told by Francisco Antonio Fuentes y Guzman in 1689 (Morley 1920, App. V), is well known to all students of the literature concerning Copan. In recent years, coincident with the revival of archaeological activity at Copan, much thought has been directed toward locating this conquest site. It would be almost impossible today, however, to find the spot described by Guzman: a site “defended to the south by the extended mountain range of Chiquimula de la Sierra, to the north by that of Gracias a Dios, to the west by a ravine running north and south and filled with the waters of the famous Copan river” (Morley 1920:543). From this it would appear that the stronghold lay in some intermontane basin bordering on the Copan River, but the description is hardly explicit enough for a search, 400 years later, without a great deal of luck, not to mention imagination . Furthermore, Guzman’s account of the ruins of Copan, included in the same document, is so fanciful that doubt must also be cast on his accuracy respecting the site of Chaves’ successful campaign. In 1834, Juan Galindo included in his report (Morley 1920, App. XI) on Copan to the Guatemalan government a brief paragraph describing some ruins known to the natives of this district as “Conquest.” That Galindo, 300 years after the event, had hit upon the location of the fortress besieged by Chaves must A Reconnaissance of El Rincon del Jicaque, Honduras 263 68.1. Rincon del Jicaque, Honduras. to spend more than one day at the site must stay, for camping at the ruins is precluded by the difficulty of obtaining water there. The town of Piñuelas, itself, is of interest to the imaginative historian. The date of its settlement is far in the past, well beyond the memory or knowledge of even the oldest inhabitants. The people of this little valley are light colored, with little Indian admixture apparent, and most of the families bear the name of Polanco. Can it be only coincidence that one of Hernando Chaves most trusted captains was named Gaspar de Polanco, or are these settlers the present day descendants resulting from some of that doughty warrior’s less military conquests? [18.118.254.94] Project MUSE...

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