Honduras was already occupied by many smart, indigenous peoples when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century.

The area in extreme western Honduras was occupied by the Maya people; the western-central part of Honduras was inhabited by the Lencas, the central north coast by the Tol, the area east of Trujillo by the Pech and the Miskito and Sumo.

These autonomous groups maintained commercial relationships with each other and with other populations as distant as Panama and Mexico.

Archaeologists have demonstrated that Honduras has a multi-ethnic prehistory. An important part of that prehistory was the Mayan presence around the city of Copán, in western Honduras which is near the Guatemalan border.

A major Mayan city flourished during the pre-classic period (150–900) in that area. It has many carved inscriptions and stelae. The ancient kingdom, named Xukpi, existed from the 5th century to the early 9th century, with antecedents going back to at least the 2nd century.

The Mayan civilization began a marked decline in their population during the 9th century, but there is evidence of people still living in and around the city until at least 1200.

By the time the Spanish came to Honduras, the once great city-state of Copán was overrun by the jungle, and the surviving Ch’orti’ were isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west. The non-Maya Lencas were then dominant in western Honduras.