The Joya de Cerén, or jewel of Ceren, is an archeological site of an extensive Mayan farming community in west-central El Salvador buried under volcanic ash in about 590 AD. It is nearly perfectly intact and presents the best example of everyday life during the Mayan classic period of any site in Mesoamerica, hence the moniker, the 'Pompeii of Mesoamerica'. It is also significant in that it provides a fossilized record of manioc which had just been planted.
There are already some great websites on Cerén, so I'm not going to repeat all the information here. The University of Colorado - Boulder has a website dedicated to Cerén, on which one can take a virtual tour. Dr. Payton Sheets, a Professor at the university, encountered Cerén in 1976. UNESCO declared Cerén a world heritage site in 1993 and also has some information on its website on it. Travel Radio International did a video visit of Cerén. Finally, you can read reviews of the site on the Trip Adviser website.
The Joya de Cerén area was first developed into a farming community by at least 900 BC. The San Andrés ceremonial center was founded about 1000 BC, about five kilometers west. San Andrés itself was a satellite of the important early pre-Classic site of Chalchuapa. Between 600 AD and 900 AD San Andrés may have had a population of 10,000 people.
Ironically, Joya de Cerén was covered by volcanic debris - ash - twice in the 1,600 years prior to the final covering of lava in about 590 AD, including the Ilopango eruption in about 210 AD which caused the Chorti Mayan elites to emigrate north to Belize and the Peten. Later, in about 400 AD, some of the Chorti elites returned to the Cerén area.
Some of the old Chorti place names of this area have remained through the Pipil and Spanish times, such as Tehuicho and Masajapa. And then there is Yulpico, which means a type of gourd. The Pipiles changed it to Opico and then the Spanish added a saint's name, making it San Juan Opico, in case there was any doubt who thought they controlled the territory.
Most interesting are a number of place names with the word serpent (chan) in them. Chan is the totem spirit of the Chortis and the place names seem to indicate that this area was very special to the Chortis. Five kilometers southeast of Joya de Cerén is Laguna Chanmico. About five kilometers north is the village of Chantusnene. Tutz means 'extended' and neh means 'tail', so this village name means 'extended tail serpent'. Finally, about 15 kilometers west of Cerén is Lago Coatepeque, on the way to Chalchuapa. It is a beautiful volcanic crater lake which is 10,000 to 100,000 years old. Coatepeque means 'hill of serpents' and was an important site to the Mayans - more on that later.
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