Given these four great discoveries in a short period of time – the tzolk'in, the Mars long-count calendar, taming animals, and cultivation – at least two of the Maya-ancestor elites became full of arrogance and hubris. This is known because the Popol Vuh says these events took place at Silisib, which translates as "rise up and puff up." Because of that hubris, they continued the practice of heart sacrifice (human sacrifice) which they had first initiated as a price for tobacco from the Xibalba.
The Popol Vuh (pg 165) describes the next events to take place as the "abduction of the people of the tribes" and the "killing of the tribes." "The tribes" are a euphemism for the common people, the common Maya (ancestors). Many sacrifice scenes from the Classic era are likely a portrayal of events on Isla Tigre.
The Popol Vuh then discusses the common people escaping from Isla Tigre: echalamicat or "observe the cats spidering cross the tired water." The "tired water" is the Gulf of Fonseca, which has little tidal movement. The "cats" refer to a group of Maya – while the elite were at times called bahram or (tamed) jaguars, all Maya were called cats. Spidering is a way of saying sailing.
The first group to leave are called Tz’i’ in the 20-day tzolk’in, which means “dogs.” The progression with the Mars retrograde calendar, which moves backward, is B’atz’-Tz’i’-Tohm’ar. B’atz’ meaning “curse,” the beginning of the heart sacrifice, Tz’i’ meaning “dogs,” when the first group left, and Tohmar meaning “the time of the evil sacrifice,” likely indicating when the last two groups left.
In southeast Guatemala there is a non-Maya people called the Xinca. They don’t speak Maya or have Maya customs. Their name and the place names in their historic region reveal that they were the first group to escape from the heart sacrifice practice on Isla Tigre. Xinca is also spelled Szinca. Both spellings indicate that the first letter may not be a simple ‘s’. The closest consonant in early Ch’orti’-Mi to the ‘s’ is the ‘tz’’. In Mi “Xinca” would be tz’i’ in kah or “beginning of the first dogs.” Using both beginning and first is somewhat redundant, indicating a slightly different meaning for in or first. I think in this context “lead” is a better word than “first”. So Xinca would mean “beginning of the lead dogs,” the guide dogs who led but no one followed. The Xinca were the conscious of the Maya community and their move to Guatemala could be seen as an act of protest.
Taxisco is a village at the place where the coastal plain meets the mountains in the Xinca region. Taxisco is ta’ as tz’i’ is k’o in Mi and means “movement of remnant dogs from the practice of the teeth.” This name provides another example of the use of the name “dogs.” It also links the movement of the Xinca to the practice of the heart sacrifice (the teeth). Just a few kilometers from Taxisco is Guazacapan, which is wa’ as sak kap bah an and means “beings running from the practice on the body for the sought-after held in teeth.” This town’s name also reinforces that they were fleeing heart sacrifice but also links that practice to tobacco (the “sought-after held in teeth.”)
Chiquimulilla is the town just east of Guazacapan. Chiquimulilla is ch’i’h ik’ ki im mul li il ha’ in Mi and means “see hearts in the air on the giant hill beside the water.” The giant hill beside the water is the volcano on Isla Tigre, confirming that the heart sacrifice practice took place on top of the volcano. “Hearts in the air” refers to hearts outside of the body. This name more explicitly makes the link to the heart sacrifice practice. Santa Maria Ixhuatan is located about 20 kilometers northeast of Chiquimulilla on the slope of a volcano. It appears to have a name that began sounding similar to Santa Maria. It is san ta am ma ar ri ha is wat an in Mi and means “the time of the remnant moving to make a home beside the swelling after running from the bad spiders.” Spiders refers to sailors (the Maya ancestors).
San Juan Tecuaco is about 15 kilometers east of Chiquimulilla. San Juan Tecuaco is tz’ah an wa an tek’ k’ur ra ak’ k’o in Mi and means “beings running in wetness from fatigued current opening up of skin with points and teeth.” “Running in wetness” refers to fast paddling, afraid they might be followed. “Fatigued current” refers to the Gulf of Fonseca, where there is only gentle surf. A double meaning is “expansion” referring to moving to a new place. The twon of Cuilapa is located about 25 kilometers north of Chiquimulilla. It is k’ur wih la ap ha’ in Mi and means “origin from the fatigued water swinging points” – the body-opening points used in the Gulf of Fonseca fatigued water.
There are also several dialects of the Xinca. Most refer to the event of the escape, indicating that the dialects probably originate with the first Xinca families. One of the dialects is Yupiltepeque, which is yup pi il te pek’ k’er in Mi and means “see cluster of companions split open in tree on the hill.” “Split open in tree” refers to the tree position of sacrifice victims whose arms were spread wide on a stone. The hill refers to Isla Tigre volcano. The use of the word “cluster” seems to imply that the victims were roped together before they were killed. Or it perhaps just means that there were several victims.
Another dialect is called Jumaytepeque. As in a number of cases, the beginning ‘J’ was not originally an ‘h’ sound but a ‘ch’ sound, like ‘j’ in English. Jumaytepeque is chum mi te’ pek’ k’er and means “cats split open in tree (position) on the hill with vultures.” With Yupiltepeque and Jumaytepeque one sees the earliest usage of the ‘-tepeque’ suffix, meaning in both cases “split open in tree (position) on the hill.” These names and those to follow indicate that the Xinca were the first linguistic force that would lead to the Nahuatl language. This would appear to link the Xinca, and by extension the Chibcha, with the Olmeka-Lenca lineage of the Maya. The Mexica, who would later come out of this lineage, would be the primary movement, much later, toward Nahuatl in Mexico. About 400 years after the Xinca naming of Jumaytepeque, the Ch’orti’ Maya would copy the Xinca in naming Texistepeque and Teotepeque.
Other Xinca names from east to west:
- Zapotitlan – sap pot ti’ tal la an – “forced out of fatigued current, stroked to arrive at the opening.” This indicates they came in dug-out canoes rather than sail rafts.
- Jalpatagua – ch’a’ al bah ta’ ak’ wa’ – “the time of the remnant beings from the skin of the horizontal bodies”
- Comapa – k’om ma ap bah – “spliced bodies from the swinging by the bad ones.” This indicates that one or some of the Xinca were injured by the Maya elite before leaving.
- Jutiapa – chu ti ap bah – “swinging to open breast of body”
- Cacahuito (up from Taxisco) – k’ak’ k’a wih toh – “origin from the sacrifice of the content ones for fire (tobacco)”
- Barberena – bar ber ren ha – “sucking in stroking the boat through the water” – another indicator they arrived in dug-out canoes. Like the later Lenca, the Xinca at times used the old form of reb (ren).
- Guanagazapa – wa’ an ak’ k’as ap bah – “beings who broke away from the swinging at the skin of the body”
- Amatitlan – am mah at ti’ tal la an – “remnant arrive to bath (lake) after bad spiders at the fatigued current”
- Atitlan – at ti’ tal la an – “bath in the opening arriving from the fatigued current”
The quantity of names that reference the events in the Gulf of Fonseca show the degree to which the Xinca were impacted by those events. Beside the ‘-tepeque’ suffix, one can see in these names a number of other recognizable suffixes, including ‘-titlan’ and ‘agua’.
After some years, the Maya elite travelled to try to find the Xinca. The first name that indicates a visit is Masagua, on the coastal plain west of Taxisco. Masagua is ma as sak wa’ and means “search for beings from the bad practice.” The Maya elite named this place as they searched for the Xinca. They also used a name that references Managua, Nicaragua, and another group, the Chibcha, that left due to the heart sacrifice practice. This indicates that the Xinca and Chibcha probably come from the same Maya lineage.
The name Escuintla indicates that the Maya elite sighted the Xinca. Escuintla is etz’ k’ur in ta’ al la and means “the time of observing the first remnant tired of the points.” This name is a bit of teasing of the Xinca as the elite Maya mimicked the language of the Xinca, using a non-standard Maya naming protocol. Escuintla also is a play on the word Izcuintli. Izcuintli means “dogs” and more importantly is associated with the day sign Tz’i’ in the tzolk’in. Tz’i’ means dogs and was a name used to describe the Xinca (lead dogs). Izcuintli is ix k’ur in ta’ al li and means “the time of the movement beside of the first remnant due to the points.” It didn’t mean dog so much as a description of the Xinca, the first remnant to leave. Like Escuintlal, Izcuintli is a mimicking of the Xinca deviation from the Ch’orti’-Mi language.
The Tecuamburro volcano north of Taxisco indicates that the Maya elite found the Xinca. Tecuamburro is tek’ k’ur am bu ur ro’ and means “explain spreading out loosely (on their own) from spiders’ cutting open with the points.” Spiders refer here to the Maya elite, who like all the Maya were sailors.
Finally, a place name and dialect name, Sinacantan, located on the ridge east of Chiquimulilla, indicates that the Xinca also saw the tremendous triple planet event of 8208 BCE. Sinacantan is si in nak’ k’an ta’ an in Mi and means “series of yellow ball-shapes (planets) for first running remnant.”
Before the Maya elite would stop the practice of heart sacrifice two other migrations (escapes) occurred - an Ik' lineage migration to northeast Nicaragua who would become the Miskito, and a Mais/Olmeka lineage migration, like the Xinca, to southwest Nicaragua who would become the Chibcha.
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