76. The Mayan heritage of El Salvador

An unimpressive but present heritage
1
- El Salvador's ruins cannot compete with the grandeur of sites in Guatemala such as Tikal or Honduras such as Copan, but they are fully part of the history of the region. This article is intended to summarize what I learnt from the Salvadoran culture from the pre-Columbian era.
The pre-Maya potteries
2
- The first great civilizations are the Lencas and the Olmecs, of which many potteries have been discovered in El Salvador. However, it was the Maya who left the greatest imprint on El Salvadoran soil. The Maya were renowned for being scientists, builders, artists, hence this predominance.
La Casa Blanca
3
- Located in the charming town of Chalchuapa, this park takes its name from the "white house" to which it belongs. The Casa Blanca contains many ruins whose stones are visible on the green hill covered by a layer of grass that has recovered well. It was an important Mayan center between 200 BC and 250 AD.
- The center also has a rather rich museum on the vestiges found in these places and the artisanal techniques of pottery and weaving of the time.
Joya de Cerén
4
- It is a village that the inhabitants fled after an eruption of the nearby volcano Loma Caldera around the year 600 AD. In short, the Pompeii of America. All this was buried under five meters of ash, which preserved the only current and important traces of the daily life of the ancient Maya. In particular, the discovery of a cassava field provided the first tangible evidence that the Maya of the time cultivated this plant. Contrary to the population of Pompeii, population from Joya de Cerén could flee, certainly alerted by earthquakes.
The Tazumal
5
- Built during the Classical period (250-900), this pyramid is the most illustrious historical monument of that time with dimensions of 73 by 87 meters and a height of 24 meters. It was the gathering point for religious ceremonies of the whole region. This crossroads traded with the great civilizations of the time. The archaeologists found many traces of the Pipils who coexisted and traded a lot with the Maya. Around 1200, the place was abandoned by the Maya and the Pipil for a reason that is still unknown, to settle a little further west in the present city of Chalchuapa.
Museum of Tazumal
6
- The complex of Tazumal also has other minor buildings and a very interesting museum that specifies the highlights, the locations of other historical places in the region and has many objects found during excavations. Among others, there are censers, axe tips, arrow tips, vases, plates, bowls, jewelry including jade stones (reserved for shamans).
Xipe Tótec
7
- Inside this museum is a replica of the God of War and Harvest Xipe Tótec (the original statue is in the capital). The festivities in honor of Xipe Tótec in March and April were called the Tlacaxipehualiztli. During these festivities, the god was honored by offering him corn and also by sacrificing and butchering prisoners of war. Fights to the death of prisoners of war were organized. The skins were offered to Xipe Tótec. At the end of these festivities, people prayed to him by covering themselves with a "skin" which brought them closer to the God. Afterwards, they went to each village to tell about the battles and to emulate the soldiers for the next wars and especially to exchange skins. People with skin problems could use these skins to beg for healing. The end of these celebrations symbolizes the renewal of the vegetation that would take place during the year.
The stone of fertility
8
- This stone was used by shamans to solve fertility problems. Find on this stone the two animals, very strong symbols: the jaguar whose head is in the center of the stone; and the snake whose body covers the face on its entire length.
- But there are also the symbols of fertility: the male sex that makes up the nose of the face; and the uterus at the level of the eyebrows that end with the vagina at the level of the nose.
The victory stone
9
- On this stone is engraved three images of men's bodies, some kind of warriors of the Maya period. Representing soldiers, I suppose that these stones served as a support for the shaman to emulate the warriors before the battles.
Cihuatán
10
- To date, it is a set of stone mounds dominated by a pyramid. Investments are expected to expand and preserve the whole city, which covered about three hundred hectares.
- History:
- "The collapse of the Mayan" world in the ninth century led people to create a new capital for the western territories of El Salvador. This city is Cihuatán. The city has a very Mayan style architecture, with the main pyramid in the center, juxtaposing the royal palace and two playgrounds. Around this city center were more than five thousand houses.
- The city was deserted three hundred years later, following attackers who set fire to the whole city. To this day, the origin of the attackers has not been determined.
The pyramid of Cihuatán
11
- How was it built?
- First, six terraces are prepared, made of earth and stones. Then a layer of volcanic tuff is added. Then it is the turn of the balustrades to be built around the location of the future stairs. They are filled in to make them strong enough to support the stairs, which are built between each pair of balustrades. Finally a layer of white lime stucco is added.
- And here is a beautiful pyramid still as majestic after a millennium!
Las Figuras of the lake of Güija
12
- Here we leave the Maya theme a little, to evoke petroglyphs (drawings on stones) Nahua and Pipils. Las figuras, literally figures, represent symbols apparently related to fertility. I confess that I was caught off guard by these forms. My imagination has only been able to detect the representation of them a few times. More information (in Spanish) on these pages:
- http://www.fundar.org.sv/referencias/igualtepeque.pdf
- https://m.facebook.com/larutamaya/posts/1576552885927898
There are others!
13
- There are also other smaller places that we could not visit like San Andres or Trapiche. But it is said that the natives would have covered the vestiges of other cities at the arrival of the colonists, in order to protect their inheritance of the possible plunders of the conquistadors. The time or the scientific tools will reveal that in a few tens of years!

Here the comments of the article!

From franca - 08/01/2020 18:44
Intéressant. Merci, Pierre

Add a comment

Here is the photo gallery of this article