RUINS OF TENAMPUA, HONDURAS — POPENOE 571 



persevering boy excavated another meter ; then we gave up. Whether 

 the tunnel was built by the Indians as a means of escape in time of 

 defeat, or whether it is an old mining shaft I am unable to say. We 

 searched the mountainside toward which the passage leads, but found 

 no opening. 



AVe did not attempt any work in the similar cave lying some 

 meters to the south. Besides this one, there are at least two other 

 caves at Tenampua. One opens out of the wall on the east side of the 

 plateau; the other is situated in the cliff just below the Southern 

 Terrace. Both were entered, and they impressed us as natural for- 

 mations. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



Tenampua is a rocky promontory rising from the southern edge of 

 the valley of Comayagua. It is a natural stronghold, protected on all 

 sides by steep cliffs, except where a narrow hog-back (" cuchillo ") 

 joins it to the adjacent mountain range. Early accounts prove that 

 numerous fortresses of this type were utilized by the aboriginal 

 inhabitants in their struggle against the Spaniards. 



Judging from its locality and physical characteristics, it seems 

 possible that Tenampua may be the Guaxeregui described by Fran- 

 cisco de Monte jo, one of the Conquistadores. There is little evidence 

 to suggest the date at which the site was first occupied. The archeo- 

 logical remains now visible, however, probably date from a period 

 shortly before and extending down to the Conquest. 



From early Spanish accounts we learn that the aboriginal inhabit- 

 ants of the Comayagua Valley called themselves Lencas. Their lan- 

 guage and customs were different from those of neighboring tribes. 



The name Lenca was first applied scientifically to this ethnic group 

 by E. G. Squier about the middle of the last century. It is still con- 

 sidered uncertain whether these people were derived from one of the 

 great linguistic stocks (Maya and Nahuatl) which occupied the terri- 

 tory to the northward or whether they constituted the vanguard of a 

 migration from the south. The investigations at Tenampua reported 

 in this paper tend to strengthen the latter belief. It is to be assumed, 

 however, that the Lencas felt the influence of their more highly 

 civilized neighbors on the north. 



Comparison of the brief vocabularies at my disposal fails to reveal 

 any relationship between Lencan, on the one hand, and either Maya 

 or Nahuatl, on the other. As indicated by the following table, the 

 similarity between Lencan and the Chibchan dialects of Costa Hica, 

 and in a few instances between Lencan and the true Chibcha of 

 Colombia, is sufficiently close to suggest that all may have been 

 derived from the same linguistic stock. 



