The beginnings of Mesoamerican civilization happened at Tulan Zuyua, Isla Tigre, in the Golfo de Fonseca. It was here that the four Mayan-Mesoamerican tribe leaders attained greatness by communicating with the gods at the center of the galaxy, with the aid of a tobacco smoke bath, one of the three gifts of the gods. But the tribe leaders sought to establish greatness on earth and to do that they knew that they needed to begin to work the earth.
Leading this effort was the Quiche Maya leader who was renamed Masa Manix. Masa or "Deer" for copying the deer in trying various leaves, fruits, nuts, and berries to see if they were edible. And Manix or "Work the earth" for having the vision of cultivating edible plants toward the end of establishing a way of life based on agriculture. But the tribes had to find sites that were on islands in order to keep their people, as well as their experimental gardens, safe from the Xibalban lords who were afraid of water. The tribes learned that they were safe in water during the escape from the cave, La Gruta del Espíritu Santo. Even the babies were safe when place on reed baskets in the water.
The four leaders and their tribal followers left Isla Tigre toward the north and then headed west into present-day El Salvador. The four leaders took the Dog star, Sirius, as a sign, and while fasting, watched the eastern horizon to see if Siruis was rising before the Sun. This would have placed their departure from Isla Tigre in the month of July. This also could be a reference for the Mars long-count date, of 4 Tzi or 4 Dog. That would be approximately 8050 BC (+/- 200 years). The Popol Vuh notes that the tradition of silently looking to the east began at this time to honor Tulan Zuyua, the place where the tribes first attained greatness. In the east they also left behind their Bat room brothers and the sisters, the Tams and the Ilocs.
One of the four leaders, Balam Akbar, and his tribe, stayed in the east. [Click to enlarge map.] They went to Isla Olomega on Lago Olomega, in the south of present-day San Miguel Department in El Salvador. This is who the Popol Vuh calls the "Olomans". This includes the "Greathouses": the Lencas, the Uluas, the Olmecs, and many more.
The other three tribes were very sad to leave the Olomecans behind. And the people were very hungry. According to the Popol Vuh, the Quiche leader sniffed his staff and wondered if even the wood could be consumed. At that moment the tribes approached the Lempa River, which was so wide it appeared to be a sea. Somehow the sea seemed to part and they were able to cross. It could be that they approached in a drought and the normal June and July rains had not occurred, allowing people to wade across the river. Or maybe they were able to cross on their rafts.
The tribe of Ik Balam went to an island at the mouth of the Lempa River, to a place called Teokan, or island of learning. At that time the ocean would have been at least 100 meters lower and the mouth of the river several miles further south. The island village that they established would have been flooded over between 8000 BC and 5000 BC during the period of global warming. In fact, it is likely that the village would have been re-established several times.
The Popol Vuh says that Ik Balam had no children. While that might be a literal statement, I think it is more likely that this tribe was wiped out, either by disease, by an attack from the Xibalbans, or, most likely, a flood as the ocean levels rose. In fact, my guess is that the early city of Teokan was destroyed in the Lake Agassiz flood of 6400 BC. Lake Agassiz was a huge lake on the North American continent which emptied much of its huge volume of glacial melt into the oceans in about 6400 BC. It is possible that this event caused a tsunami that impacted most coasts around the world, including El Salvador. The civilization of Teokan would have been destroyed and the Ik Balam tribe wiped out. Or maybe not - but more on that later. The Olomecans then resettled Teokan from Lago Olomega and renamed it Teok'an'an, or "island of ripe spring maize."
The other two tribal leaders, Masa Manix and Balam Kitze settled their tribes on Lago Coatepeque (Tammakchan) and Lago Güija, respectively. These became the Quiche and Ch'orti' lineages, respectively, and all the Mayans can trace back their roots to these two tribes. Tammakchan means "deep inside the rainbow" and Güija means "source" or "navel". Lago Güija is one of the sources of the Lempa River, which has great symbolism considering that Teokan was at the mouth of the same river.
From the four islands the Mesoamerican tribes started the American continents agricultural revolution.
Que hay de la isla en el lago de Ilopango?
He oido historias acerca de una plataforma a la orilla de la Isla de los Patos que servia supuestamente como lugar de adoracion y ofrendas.
He realizado visitas para ubicar el sitio llamado "Asino" pero no he logrado ubicar vestigios, aunque la ubicacion del lugar puede estar erosionada pienso que hay manera de ubicar el lugar correcto.
Posted by: rolando vela | 04/07/2010 at 05:33 PM
El Lago de Ilopango y por supuesto caulquier islas en el lago fueron creado con la explosion volcanica de Ilopango por 200 o 250 DC. Puede ser que Isla de los Patos fue un punto ceremonial durante el tiempo Clasico, por ejemplo 500 a 800 DC.
Posted by: Tim Lohrentz | 04/09/2010 at 02:50 PM