 Archaeologists cannot determine how the people who lived at Cerro Palenque would have identified themselves since unlike the Maya of Copan and far western Honduras, they left no writing.Over the years archaeologists have tried to ascertain the identity of the people who lived on the lower Ulua river drainage at various times in terms of populations known to have existed at the time of the Spanish conquest (1536).Popular candidates include the Tol (formerly Jicaque), Lenca, and Maya.