As is the case with many other important Mayan cities, we sadly know little of Palenque’s early history. The earliest ceramics in the area date to around 100 AD, and we know that Palenque would later emerge as an important commercial center.
From around 300, Palenque would become a major center for trade with Guatemala’s Petén region, while the nearby Usumacinta River helped connect it with cities to the north and south.
In contrast to the cities of the Mayan lowlands further east, Palenque residents didn’t have to worry about digging out reservoirs to prepare for the long dry season. Palenque, in fact, was home to no less than six freshwater streams.
According to dynastic records, a king named K’uk’ Balam would ascend the Palenque throne in 431 AD, founding the dynasty that would rule the city until the early 9th century.
The city’s heyday would begin around the year 600, when many of the magnificent structures still standing today were built. Furthermore, it’s from around this time that many of Palenque’s exquisite carvings and sculptures were created – arguably the finest ever created by the Mayan civilization.
One of Palenque’s best-known kings, Hanab-Pakal II, now better known as Pakal the Great, would ascend the throne in 615 at the age of twelve, ruling for a staggering 68 years.
To this day, the unearthing of his tomb in the Temple of the Inscriptions remains one of Mexico’s most important ever archaeological discoveries.
Pakal’s son, K’inich Kan Balahm, would ascend the throne in 684 at the age of 48. And he would also make a name for himself as one of the city’s most significant rulers.
In addition to constructing three temples representing the Palenque Triad, he’d also complete his father’s final resting place. And it was Kan Balahm who’d go on to to create a history of his lineage, which he claimed was founded thousands of years prior by divine beings.
In the early 7th century, Palenque would engage in frequent battles with cities like Calakmul and Bonampak. Kan-Hok-Xul II, the younger brother of Kan Balahm, would also be captured by nearby Toniná.
Nevertheless, the city’s peak was believed to have lasted until around 783, when Palenque was home to around 10,000 people. Construction had largely halted by the 730s, however.
The city’s last inscription dates to 799 and it was mostly abandoned by 810 for reasons which remain unclear. It was then likely taken over by the Putun Maya from Tabasco to the north, but even they would abandon it by 900.
The site remained largely left untouched for centuries, and it wouldn’t be thoroughly explored until the late 18th century by the Spanish. Amazingly, the early explorers actually believed the site to have been founded by the Romans!
An explorer named Jean Frederick de Waldeck, known as the ‘Count’, would set up lodging in one of the temples in 1832, drawing many of the reliefs. Rather than the Romans, Waldeck believed it was the Egyptians who built Palenque!
In 1840, the famous archaeologist duo of John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, known for their early documentation of many important Mayan sites, arrived at Palenque. And they understood that the splendid city was indeed built by the ancestors of the native population.
Major excavations would not take place until the 1930s, with the earthshaking discovery of Pakal’s tomb happening in 1952. Numerous temples were excavated over the subsequent decades, with plenty more tombs being discovered in the 1990s.