Lago Coatepeque in El Salvador is a very special place, where one seems suspended from time and space. And when studying indigenous history, any place called Serpent Hill is a subject of interest, given that the Chorti are the serpent people. The name was obviously nahuatalized by the Pipiles, but it is likely that the original meaning in Chorti was also Serpent Hill, or something similar. It is clearly in Chorti country, being so close to both Chalchuapa and San Andres. And this was one of the very first centers of Mayan civilization.
So glancing at the lake’s entry on wikipedia, something caught my eye – 'Isla Teopan' - on the map it said Isla del Cerro. The prefix ‘teo’ is extremely rare in El Salvador – there is the municipality of Teotepeque in La Libertad, but this was the only other example I had seen, other than ‘Teosinte’.
Let’s see – lakes … Lago Güija, 25 kilometers north, on the border with Guatemala. It also has an island – Isla Tipa. A little internet searching and this confirmed it! The key to so many riddles. Isla Tipa was also known as Isla Teotipa. Güija, like Coatapeque is in the mera-mera Chorti country, this was no nahuatalization like Teotepeque might be.
Teo means ‘island’ in Chorti' Maya. There it is. It wasn't in the Chorti' dictionary because there are no islands in the highland region where the Chorti's now live. So, Teotihuacán, means 'Island of Tihuacán' and was founded by people who spoke, or at least knew, some Chorti’ Maya. Wow!
Before getting too far ahead, let’s back up to Teosinte. Si’in means ‘many; extended in a series or row’ in Chorti'. The ending of teosinte was always the easiest – te is the generic word for plant in Chorti. So teosinte means “plants in rows on an island" or “island of cultivated plants”. Was this word describing an experimental biological station where the Chorti’s could perfect their hybridization of corn, beans, squash, tobacco, cacao, etc., in isolation from wild animals that would want to eat the plants? Also in isolation of pollens of other plant varieties, if they were aware of that.
That would mean that one of these islands in Lago Coatepeque or Lago Güija may have been the very center, the very first location of Mayan civilization. Or perhaps both. Isla Teopan means “Sprouting Island” or “Breaking Open Island” and that definitely fits the description. There are also an old Mayan temple and monolith on the island. The first Mayan temple and monolith?
But a case can be made for Isla Teotipa in Lago Güija as well. Ti is a conjunction meaning 'on' or 'within'. Today pa is usually the word for tortilla but originally was a generic term for 'food'. So Teotipa is “Food Island.” That couldn’t be any clearer. And then there are the other two islands on Lago Güija: Iguatepec and Cerro Tule. Perhaps teosinte means 'plants on islands in a row' and 'tule' does sound an awful lot like ... well, that will have to wait for another day. For now, I can say that all the 'teosinte' place names that I found were markers for the sources of wild teosinte that was used continuously to rehybridize with the emergent corn on one of more islands in western El Salvador.
Corn itself, we know, originated in Mexico from Balsas teosinte, so there will be a need to revisit corn in 6700 BC or before. Then we can move on to Teotihuacán. But before that will be a stop on the northwest coast of Mexico.
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