The Indigenous History of El Salvador

El Salvador: The Mesoamerican Cradle of Civilization

I believe that El Salvador is the place of origin of the Mayan and other Mesoamerican civilizations. Here is why:

First, as Robert Sharer (The Ancient Maya) and others have pointed out, after the major Ilopango volcano eruption of about 200 AD, which caused the sites of Chalchuapa and San Andrés to be uninhabitable, there was a massive shift in the locus of Mayan activity and culture from the Pacific coast area to the interior. This demonstrates the centrality of El Salvador during the pre-Classic period.

Second, I have traced the location of the Xibalba cave to the Gruta del Espíritu Santo in eastern El Salvador by determining that the place name “Place of Ball Game Sacrifice”, which is associated with Xibalba, is the nearby town of Corinto. Cor-in-toy means 'place of game sacrifice' in Ch’orti’ Maya.

Third, given that corn is central to Mayan cosmology and identity, examining how and where corn was hybridized gives clues to where the Mayans originated. Corn came from teosinte grass and was then continuously hybridized for thousands of years with teosinte to perfect the corn. Curiously, nearly all the place names of Teosinte occur within the tri-national area of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Even more, determining that teosinte means “plants in a row on an island” provides an even bigger clue since there are only two islands in that same tri-national area, both in western El Salvador.

Fourth, the name of Nuevo Edén de San Juán (New Eden of St John) and the name of the village of Jardín (Garden), located in north central El Salvador at the junction of the Lempa and Torola Rivers, indicate that it is a place of origin for some group of people. In addition, it is located at a very logical place for someone who would be escaping or leaving the aforementioned Gruta cave, fleeing north into the deep jungle and then following the Torola River downstream to where it joins the Lempa River.

Finally, this post will provide a fifth point of evidence – by matching the place names mentioned in the Popol Vuh along the road to Xibalba to places in El Salvador. The Popol Vuh mentions several names near their homeland or going from the homes of the Mayans to Xibalba: “Change of Canyons”, “Rustling Canyon”, “Gurgling Canyon”, “Throng of Birds”, "Hacawitz Mountain,” and “Split Place," among others. Many of the names further east, closer to the Xibalbans, are harder to identify since the place names are in Lenca rather than Mayan, and thus do not correspond with the names in the Popol Vuh. Here are some of the place names that can be located in El Salvador.

English (Tedlock)	Quiche (Popol Vuh)	Place Name
Change of Canyons	chuchi' jalja siwanub	confluence of the Rio Desague and Rio Lempa, near Masahuat, Santa Ana

Lago Güija was one of the four islands of civilization. Leaving from Lago Güija, the Rio Desague meets the much bigger Rio Lempa and the "canyons change". The first word chuchi' means 'to its mouth', which would describe the new canyon - heading to the mouth of the Lempa (the ocean).

English (Tedlock)	Quiche (Popol Vuh)	Place Name
Rustling Canyon, Gurgling Canyon	nu' siwanub, k'ulk'uch siwanub	Rio Desague, Rio Lempa

These two names are a further descriptor of the Change of Canyons (above.) This is a play on words by the Mayans. nu' seems to refer to nuhk in Ch'orti', which means 'umbilical cord'. (The k in Ch'orti often becomes an h sound in Quiche, or in this case just dropped.) The Rio Desague drains out of Lago Güija, where güija is 'source' or 'navel'. The birthing metaphor continues with k'ulk'uch, where kur means 'pole' and is also a slang for 'penis' and kuch means 'transport', but also is slang for  'womb' or 'vagina'. (The r in Ch'orti almost always becomes an l sound in Quiche.) The "birth place" of the Mayan people was at the confluence of the Lempa and Torola Rivers, near the present day municipality of Nuevo Edén de San Juán. The Lempa River also opens up into the ocean at its mouth - another possible vagina analogy, since the Mayans are birthed out into the ocean via the mouth of the Lempa.

English	Popol Vuh	Place Name
Throng of birds	tz'ikin molay	Most likely San Salvador volcano (Quetzaltepec)

With this one, we find different meanings in Quiche and Ch'orti'. Since Ch'orti' is older and a purer form of Mayan, it is preferable to use. (Quiche has quite a lot of non-Mayan Mexican influence.) In Ch'orti', tz'ik means 'on the left' or 'to the north'. Mor means hill or pile, but mo' is also the word for 'parrot' or 'quetzal'. As the Mayans left the western part of present day El Salvador toward the Xibalbans, the Quetzal Hill (Quetzaltepec) would have been on their left, assuming travel on a similar course as is used today.

English	Quiche	Place Name
Hacawitz Mountain	Jakawitz	Usulután Volcano

The Popol Vuh speaks of Hacawitz being one of the places of the gods and the source of one of the three gifts from the gods. Hacawitz means 'bald mountain', so a volcano is an obvious choice. The Popol Vuh also seems to describe the gift as fire, which certainly obsidian flintstone would describe. Usulután means 'bald, ashy mountain' and it is a source of obsidian, so it seems to fit the description.

English	Popol Vuh	Place Name
Split Place	Pan Paxil	City of El Congo

The place name El Congo appears to come from K'om k'o or 'split tooth'. This could be a reference to tobacco which was used to treat sore or cracked teeth. In addition, 'split tooth' may have been a reference to a bat. One of the totems of the Quiche people who were based at Lago Coatepeque, next to El Congo, was the bat, since they came out of the bat room of La Gruta.

The last place name is the curiously named village of Siete Principes (Seven Princes) between the city of El Congo and the lip of Lago Coatepeque. While it could be named for a literal meeting or gathering of seven princes, it could also be named for the Mars long-count date of Seven Ahau (Junajpu in Quiche), which means Seven Lord or Seven Prince. Seven Junajpu is perhaps the most important date in Mayan history since it is associated in the Popol Vuh with the death of One Junajpu. His mistake in tracking the planets led the Mayans to discover new astronomical knowledge allowing them to later defeat their enemies. In addition, this date is associated with the first successful cultivation of squash, gourds, rubber, and chilis.

El Salvador is the original land of k'an a'n, ripe spring maize, and the land of ah k'an a'n, the maize spirit, for the Mesomerican people. It is time to see how the great Mexican civilizations of the Olmec, Zapotec, and Toltec fit into this picture.

4 Ak in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

4 Ak, 4th day in the 13-day Tzi' (Dog) Week
4 Ak, (Chorti'): Grass or reed  (Glyph of woven mat)
4 Aj (Quiche) / 4 Ben (Yucatec): Ear of corn or reed
4 Acatl (Aztec): Grass or reed
Direction: East

Note: The early Mayans wove with reeds or grasses to make baskets, mats for sleeping (petate), and reed boats for ocean travel (from torola reeds). The Quiche word aj means 'ear of corn' in addition to grass. In Chorti, cob of corn is k'ab nar, which is where we get the English word 'cob'. Another meaning for this daysign comes from the word ax, which means striped. This sign is often portrayed with stripes, such as those seen in a petate. Ak is one of the roots of 'zacate' which is the word used extensively throughout south Mexico and Central America for 'grass'.

Tzi' Week: In this hemisphere, dogs accompanied and guided early people from the north as the only domesticated animal - the earliest companion to humans. Tzi' also represents Sirius, the dog (guide) star. When Venus is not visible it is the brightest object in sky, aside from the sun and moon. Tracking Sirius through the elliptic the Mayans were able to predict precession of the solar system through the galactic elliptic. This is, in part, how the Mayans were able to set their calendar to end one cycle and begin a new cycle in December 2012. Today, Sirius disappears from the sky in April and reappears in the early morning sky in June in Central America. Its reappearance would have been an indicator to plant, just after the rainy season had started.

Acajutla High Tides: 1:55 AM and 2:31 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 2.08 meters average and increasing. Great night fishing under a full moon.

3 Ch'ak in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

3 Ch'ak, 3rd day in the 13-day Tzi' (Dog) Week
3 Ch'ak (Ch'orti'): Fang (Glyph of face with fang)
3 E (Quiche) / 3 Eb (Yucatec Maya): Tooth
3 Malinalli (Aztec): Twisted; grass

Direction: South

Note: This sign was also called both k'om k'o, or spliced molar tooth, and eh, the more generic name for tooth in Ch'orti, leading to the Quiche and Yucatec names. This day sign might have its origin as a bat sign. This sign then evolved from bat to split tooth (which looks like a bat) as early peoples began to pick tobacco, first to relieve themselves of hunger pangs. Later they cultivated tobacco for medicinal use, such as for tooth aches. But the use of tobacco caused mouth sores and cancers, even death. Thus, many people were sacrificed for the nourishment and healing that tobacco had earlier provided.

Ch'ak means 'fang' in Chorti' but also was the name of the healing god. The Ch'orti's may have changed this daysign to ch'ak rather than k'om k'o or eh in about 1500 BC because of the play on words with ch'a'ak, which means raft of reeds or balsam. The Putun Maya of the late Classic period, upon founding Chichen Itza, transformed Ch'ak into a rain god, with the four Ch'aks or chaacs, one for each direction. Images of Ch'ak always show it with a snake fang.

More than anything, this sign celebrates the healing profession - those who know how to use herbs and plants to relieve pain and cure. How ironic that the healing arts are symbolized by tobacco - similar to how it would be symbolized by the coca leaf in South America! Clearly this shows how tobacco - and coca - have been misused and become part of the exploitative, self-destructive capitalist economy.

Tzi' Week: In this hemisphere, dogs accompanied and guided early people from the north as the only domesticated animal - the earliest companion to humans. Tzi' also represents Sirius, the dog (guide) star. When Venus is not visible it is the brightest object in sky, aside from the sun and moon. Tracking Sirius through the elliptic the Mayans were able to predict precession of the solar system through the galactic elliptic. This is, in part, how the Mayans were able to set their calendar to end one cycle and begin a new cycle in December 2012. Today, Sirius disappears from the sky in April and reappears in the early morning sky in June in Central America. Its reappearance would have been an indicator to plant, just after the rainy season had started.

Ch'ak in Tzi' Week: Today is the day for healing animals, including dogs. This day celebrates veterinarians as well as anyone else who cares for and heals animals.

Acajutla High Tides: 12:54 AM and 1:35 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.83 meters average and increasing. Good fishing and good shore harvesting the next few days with a high tide cycle.

2 Ma'x in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

2 Ma'x, 2nd day in the 13-day Tzi' (Dog) Week
2 Ma'x (Chorti'): Monkey. (Glyph of monkey)
2 B'atz' (Quiche) / 2 Chuen (Yucatec Maya): Monkey
2 Ozomatli (Aztec): Monkey

Direction: West

Note: Ma'x relates back to human evolution, remembering where humans came from. The sign also is associated with the first Mayan writers, scientists, and mathematicians who methodically kept track of astronomical calendars. These first mathematicians were led by the Quiche nation who were most reliant on corn in their diet and thus were the first to suffer from mental illness due to the pellegra epidemic, between 2200 and 1800 BC. This caused the Quiche to lose their leadership status among all the Mayan nations and they were banished by placing them on rafts in the ocean. Since that time, Ma'x also represents mental illness, and, especially, the misunderstanding of mental illness (i.e. not knowing that, in this case, it was caused by over-reliance of corn in the diet). In more modern times, Ma'x is associated with corrupt political leadership, for example, calling Honduran coup leader Michiletti, "goriletti", a reference to a gorilla.

Tzi' Week: In this hemisphere, dogs accompanied and guided early people from the north as the only domesticated animal - the earliest companion to humans. Tzi' also represents Sirius, the dog (guide) star. When Venus is not visible it is the brightest object in sky, aside from the sun and moon. Tracking Sirius through the elliptic the Mayans were able to predict precession of the solar system through the galactic elliptic. This is, in part, how the Mayans were able to set their calendar to end one cycle and begin a new cycle in December 2012. Today, Sirius disappears from the sky in April and reappears in the early morning sky in June in Central America. Its reappearance would have been an indicator to plant, just after the rainy season had started.

Ma'x in Tzi' Week: Today is the day for astronomers and all scientists, especially for those who forgo instant gratification and instead patiently track and record their observations knowing that only those in future generations will benefit from it.

Acajutla High Tides: 12:31 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.58 meters average and increasing.

Possible First Dates for Cultivation of Corn, Cacao, Squash and Chilis

From the four Salvadoran islands, Olomega in San Miguel, Teokan at the mouth of the Lempa River (now under the ocean), Teopán in Lago Coatepeque (Tam Makchan), and Teotipa in Lago Güija, the proto-Mesoamerican people began to experiment with cultivating wild edible plants. This experimentation took place on islands since their gardens were much safer from animals as well as from their human enemies, the Xibalban lords, who were afraid of water. The Xibalbans did not wish to be outdone by their rivals.

The first gardens were planted on the four islands after they moved off of Tulan Zuyua, or Isla Tigre, between 8300 BC and 7900 BC. This would signify that the Mayans and other Mesoamerican people have been living continuously in agricultural villages for about 10,000 years, much longer than previously thought.

The most important item in the garden was corn. Corn was developed from repeated plantings of Balsas teosinte. Anthropologists have found corn present in southwest Mexico from about 6700 BC, in the area where Balsas teosinte now grows. However, during the ice age that ended in about 8300 BC the climate was several degrees cooler in Central America than present day. The range of Balsas teosinte likely extended all the way to El Salvador, where it would have flourished in elevations between 500 and 1500 meters, such as in the hills of Chalatenango.

The Popol Vuh appears to give a Mars long count date for the first sprouting of corn as One Artisan (One Manix). Manix literally means ‘work with earth’. Symbolically it would be fitting that the invention of the corn would be celebrated with its one day sign. The Popol Vuh is quite specific that women were responsible for the invention of corn and this daysign is also associated with the Quiche, since it morphs into Mazatl (deer) in Aztec. The deer is the totem of the Quiche. The Mars long count date of One Artisan corresponds to about 7900 BC. So, my hypothesis: Quiche women hybridized corn from Balsas teosinte about 9,900 years ago on Teopán island in Lago Coatepeque, El Salvador. This is consistent with the Lenca memory of the first cultivation of corn.

The proto-Mayans-Mesoamericans may have waited several hundred years while improving upon the hybridization, before sharing corn with anyone else. The map shows [click to enlarge] the locations of Balsas and Guatemalan teosinte grass that were utilized by the Mayans on Teotipa and Teopán islands to continuously hybridize with the nascent corn. (These sources are identified based on the location of 'Teosinte' place names.)

The Mesoamerican people shared the seed corn with people living in or near the Gruta Guerrero, close to the Guerrero-Morelos-Mexico border, before 6700 BC. Corn also reached Panama no later than 5500 BC. By 5000 BC it was sufficiently hot in Central America, so that the range of Balsas teosinte would likely have been limited to its current area in western Mexico. But by that time, corn was already successfully hybridized.

Another crop associated with the 7900 BC One Manix date in the Popol Vuh is cacao. This is consistent with the Lenca who call themselves the people of corn and chocolate. The Popol Vuh makes it clear that they harvesting honey by this time as well.

The Popol Vuh also seems to associate several crops and products with the Mars long-count date Seven Hunahpu (Sutz') or 7500 BC: squash, chili peppers, rubber, and gourds. Squash appears to be associated with the “Blood River” area, which would be present-day coastal La Libertad and La Paz.

While the present day Usulután ocean flats would have been distant from the ocean until about 5500 BC, there might well have been other ocean flats from which to farm salt prior to that.

The Mayan people can trace their lineage to two of the four ‘civilized’ islands, but who else shares in this early cultural history of corn, cacao, honey, and squash?

1 Tzi' in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

1 Tzi', 1st day in the 13-day Tzi' Week
1 Tzi' (Chorti'): Dog / glyph of dog with torch
1 Tz'i' (Quiche) / 1 Ok (Yucatec): Dog
1 Itzcuintli (Nahua): Dog
Direction: North

Note: In this hemisphere, dogs accompanied early people from the north as the only domesticated animal - the earliest companion to humans. This is one of the oldest day signs. Sirius is the dog star for most early cultures and it appears the Mayans as well. When Venus is not visible it is the brightest object in sky, aside from the sun and moon. This day sign is opposite (10 days apart) the sun sign, Hunapuh - Ahau, showing that Sirius was considered an opposite or a counter to the sun. Today, Sirius disappears from the sky in April and reappears in the early morning sky in June. Its reappearance would have been an indicator to plant, just after the rainy season had started.

Tracking Sirius, the Dog star, through the elliptic, the Mayans were able to predict precession of the solar system through the galactic elliptic. This is, in part, how the Mayans were able to set their calendar to end in December 2012. When they first started tracking Sirius about 8500 BC, it was a rising star during the time of the spring equinox. When Mars turned retrograde in the spring, usually every 17 years, its retrograde station occurred near the black hole at the center of the galaxy. If this occurred near to the galactic void, it could mark the changing of the Mayan Mars long-count calendar.

The word tzi' in Chorti is very similar to the word tz'ihn, which means yuca or manioc. Most day signs are associated with one or more early crops. In addition, tz'ihk is pottery and tz'ok' is snapping in two, sometimes shortened to 'ok or k'o, an onomatopoeia. There is a ritual on this day sign among some Mayans of breaking a piece of pottery in two. In Yucatecan Mayan, ok means dog, and we are back full circle. One word for leg in Chorti is ok, so that uyok etzi is dog's paw, which also likely had an astronomical meaning. Also, tz'ik means left and tz'ik ikar is north wind.

Acajutla High Tides: 11:18 AM and 11:47 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.34 meters average and increasing.

13 Tokar in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

13 Tokar, 13th day in the 13-day Nok (Thread) Week
13 Tokar (Chorti): Cloud, vapor, aether
13 Toj (Quiche); 13 Muluk (Yucatec): Glyph may be of eye of enlightenment
13 Atl (Aztec): Water
Direction: East

Note: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment. It shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Nok Week: Nok describes the fine cotton (tinam) thread used in weaving and this week celebrates the ability of humans to utilize plants for clothing and other articles of higher civilization. This week might have been called ihben earlier, meaning earth spirit. It would have been easy to associate the rocking motion of the weaving loom with the rocking motion of the earth during an earthquake. This 13 day week will never have an eclipse, but follows an eclipse period every other tzolkin year. Mars will usually be retrograde every third tzolkin in Nok week. (Mars has a 780 day cycle or three tzolkin cycle.) Mars is retrograde now throughout this week. On the next Nok week (260 days), Mars will be an evening 'star' almost to disappear from the sky. On the Nok week following that, Mars will be a morning 'star'.

Acajutla High Tides: 10:02 AM and 10:25 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.27 meters average and at its lowest. It will be at its lowest again in 13 days, which could be one reason for the 13 day calendar.

12 K'ante' in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

12 K'ante', 12th day in the 13-day Nok (Thread) Week
12 K'ante' (Chorti): Madre cacao tree (gliricidia)
12 Q'anil (Quiche); 12 Lamat (Yucateca): Glyph of Venus
12 Tochtli (Aztec): Rabbit
Direction: South

Note: The k'an te' or madre cacao was the ruler over the third regent or the third age, which ended about 3100 BC. The first age was associated with white, the second age with black, the third age with yellow, to be followed by red. In the Popol Vuh, the hero twins Hunahpu and Ixbalamque lured their older 'monkey' brothers to the madre cacao where they put an end to their reign over the third age. The madre cacao tree provided shade for the fragile cacao trees along the Mayan Pacific Coast. The thicker madre cacao branches were used to make wood fences.

Nok Week: Nok describes the fine cotton (tinam) thread used in weaving and this week celebrates the ability of humans to utilize plants for clothing and other articles of higher civilization. This week might have been called ihben earlier, meaning earth spirit. It would have been easy to associate the rocking motion of the weaving loom with the rocking motion of the earth during an earthquake. This 13 day week will never have an eclipse, but follows an eclipse period every other tzolkin year. Mars will usually be retrograde every third tzolkin in Nok week. (Mars has a 780 day cycle or three tzolkin cycle.) Mars is retrograde now throughout this week. On the next Nok week (260 days), Mars will be an evening 'star' almost to disappear from the sky. On the Nok week following that, Mars will be a morning 'star'.

Acajutla High Tides: 8:52 AM and 9:26 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.31 meters average and decreasing.

11 Manix in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

11 Manix, 11th day in the 13-day Nok (Thread) Week
11 Man ix (Chorti): Work the earth; artisan
11 Kej (Quiche) - Deer / 11 Manik' (Yucatec): Glyph of grasping hand
11 Mazatl (Aztec): Deer
Direction: West

Note: This sign is named after one of the four original Mesoamerican leaders, Masa Manix, who was the Quiche Maya leader. He received the name Masa or "Deer" for copying the deer in trying various leaves, fruits, nuts, and berries to see if they were edible. He received the name 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. Both doing art - being an artisan - and working the earth are described by the same verb, man, in Ch'orti' Maya. The glyph of the grasping hand describes an action that could either be artisanal or agricultural.

At some point, mostly likely when their leaders were suffering from mental illness caused by pellegra, the Quiche Maya might have mistakenly changed this name from manix to maix, although they retained the 'deer' meaning which they took with them when they were banished to northwest Mexico. Maix means 'not yet' in Chorti and the Quiche-written Popol Vuh says that Not Yet was one of the first four people and the founder of the Quiche. But it is possible that the name maix came from an agricultural rhyme associated with it. One can imagine the saying 'maix manix' or 'not ready yet, work the corn some more'. The tzolkin was used a guide to know when to plant and harvest.

This day sign was the first sign of the week and the year for the Quiches, unlike other Mayans. That makes sense, the previous two days are Serpent and Tapir and the blood of the serpent and tapir are mixed with corn dough to make the first person. It is likely that when the Quiche were banished by the other leaders that the calendar start date was adjusted from Manix to Imix. If not, the Quiches confused this as well.

Nok Week: Nok describes the fine cotton (tinam) thread used in weaving and this week celebrates the ability of humans to utilize plants for clothing and other articles of higher civilization. This week might have been called ihben earlier, meaning earth spirit. It would have been easy to associate the rocking motion of the weaving loom with the rocking motion of the earth during an earthquake. This 13 day week will never have an eclipse, but follows an eclipse period every other tzolkin year. Mars will usually be retrograde every third tzolkin in Nok week. (Mars has a 780 day cycle or three tzolkin cycle.) Mars is retrograde now throughout this week. On the next Nok week (260 days), Mars will be an evening 'star' almost to disappear from the sky. On the Nok week following that, Mars will be a morning 'star'.

Manix in Nok weeK: Women were also farmers and artisans in Mayan civilization, including working the Mayan looms and producing amazing cloth. Being seen as equal in the work is one of the first steps in achieving equality in all aspects of life between the genders.

Acajutla High Tides: 7:53 AM and 8:25 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide range (Difference in High/Low Tides): 1.37 meters average and decreasing.

El Salvador's Four Islands of Civilization

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.