The Indigenous History of El Salvador

Surviving the Tsunami Part 2: the Huave, Zapoteca, Mixteca, Triqui, and Choluteca

Paddling on Branches in the Ocean under the Stars

The most important event in the ancient history of Mesoamerica was the tsunami which occurred in about 7220 BCE, caused by the bursting of a massive post ice age lake in Canada.

There were at least six groups that were washed out to sea and then floated and paddled from El Salvador to Mexico, following the water currents, after the tsunami: the Huave, the Zapoteca, the Triqui, Choluteca/Itza, Tlapanec, and Otomi (one part), and two groups that survived from Nicaragua to Mexico, the Otomi (other part) and Purepecha (one part). The water current flows from Nicaragua and El Salvador toward Mexico during the rainy season from May 1 to October 31 each year. Three other groups paddled from one of these original Mexican locations to a nearby place on the coast: the Mixteca, the Amuzgo, and the Chatino. All of the names that they took describe the tragic story of the tsunami. Most of these groups had a major impact on the history of Mexico. In addition there were two groups that survived the tsunami and paddled on the Atlantic from Central America: the Tunica and the Mopan. The story begins with the Zapoteca and the Huave.

The Zapoteca and the Huave

The Huave were likely the first people to land in Mexico from El Salvador, having been washed offshore by the tsunami. Various names indicate that they were Totonac from coastal present-day La Libertad. Probably several hundred years before the tsunami the Totonac had given up the human sacrifice practice. But for some reason - religious or power - the small group of Totonac who paddled in the ocean toward eastern Oaxaca decided when they landed to reintroduce first-born child sacrifice. Their name explains: Huave is wa ap per and means “beings who swing at the collapsed (newborns).”

It seems it was the Huave who named Oaxaca, or wa as tza ak’ ka, meaning “beings who practice on the skin of the beginners (newborn) at the wetness (the Laguna Superior).” The ‘x’ in Oaxaca likely had an ‘s’ sound. A ‘ch’ sound also refers to newborn sacrifice: wa ach cha ak’ ha or “double skin from the turtle beings at the water,” with double skin referring to wearing the peeled skin of the sacrifice victim. And turtle is an expression for pregnant woman. Oaxaca with the ‘x’ sounding like an ‘h’, as it is most commonly stated today, does not have a good translation with Mi.

Within a few days or weeks, the Cuscatlan (Zapoteca) survivors landed at the very same place as the Huave - they started from a more easterly point so it would have taken them longer to arrive. The Zapoteca would have heard the names Huave and Oaxaca and have known exactly what was going on and would have been horrified. They would have been living about 100 kilometers from the Totonac-Huave in El Salvador and likely knew them.

Like the others, the Zapoteca ancestors still spoke Mi when the tragedy happened. Zapoteca is tz’a ap pot te’ ek’ ha’ and means “pressed by the swinging wetness on branches under the stars in the water.” They survived on branches out in the ocean, the ocean current took them west-northwest and they paddled to move closer to shore until they landed at present-day eastern Oaxaca. Like the name Tecoluca, Zapoteca mentions navigating or being under the stars, and references the lineage name Ehecatl, leader of the migration from Chile to El Salvador about 1400 years before. This reference links the Zapoteca to the Tecoluca-Lower Lempa area of El Salvador and with the Ik’ (Ehecatl) lineage.

The name Zapoteca has a double meaning meant specifically for the Huave people: “shelter by wood (dugout) under the stars for the swung-at beginners (newborn) at the hole (Laguna Superior).” Not only did the Zapoteca name let the Huave know that they would be there to support them if they escaped but also told them the best way to escape - by canoe along the coast at night. This simple but clear invitation to Huave pregnant women existed for the thousands of years that the Zapoteca lived alongside the sacrifice-practicing Huave. No wonder that the Huave male leaders had so much enmity for the Zapoteca.

Salina Cruz is located near the ocean at the western edge of Laguna Superior, perhaps where the Zapoteca landed. It is sal li in nak’ k’er rus and means “beside the swimmers in the wall who gash the first sperm (firstborn).” This name indicates that the Huave decided from the beginning to practice sacrifice.

Further to the west, Tehuantepec is te’ wa an tep ek’ and means “beings on the hard logs in the current under the stars.” This name recalls the cultural name Tehuacan, El Salvador, where the Zapoteca had come from, making it clear that the Zapoteca, not the Huave, named this place. The double meaning here is te uh an tep pek or “those of the sacred plant (corn) run to the hard hills” - running away from the Huave.

While Tehuantepec talks about the floating journey to Oaxaca, Juchitan de Zaragoza, north of Tehuantepec, looks back at those who died in present-day El Salvador. This name also links Tehuacan, in the lower Lempa of El Salvador, with these tsunami survivors. It is an indicator that the name Tehuacan, El Salvador, came before the name Tehuacan, Puebla. Juchitan is huch’ ch’i’h it ta’ an and means “large blow of current pressed the remnant,” with remnant or remainder referring to those who didn’t make it to Oaxaca. Juchitan has a similar sound as Ojushtada, with both using the uncommon syllable huch’, indicating that the Cuscatlan in El Salvador likely named Ojushtada after they had visited Juchitan. Zaragoza was used by the Zapoteca to identify for others the ethnicity of the Huave, since Zaragoza refers back to Zaragoza in the present-day day department of La Libertad of El Salvador, where the Totonac were based. In this context Zaragoza is tza ar ra ak’ k’o os ha’ and means “tired of blades on skin on those set down at the water by the wall.” The Zapoteca left the lagoon area because they were tired of the sacrifice practice.

A little to the north, the town of Ixtepec Oaxaca is at the base of the mountains that lead to Oaxaca City. It is ix tep pek’ Oaxaca and means “moving to the hard hills, from the Oaxaca.” Oaxaca refers to the Huave. A double meaning of Ixtepec is “separate and move in the trees under the stars,” indicating that they snuck away at night, likely at risk of death.

One hundred sixty kilometers west of Ixtepec Oaxaca is Miahuatlan, which is mi ar wat la an and means “time of the cats from the fatigued current to make a home.” This may be the first place that the Zapoteca survivors settled upon arriving to the Oaxaca valley. The ending syllable lan or “fatigued current” is the same as that often used to describe the Gulf of Fonseca. But here it is referencing the Laguna Superior and is not meant to suggest that the Oaxaca people were of the same lineage as the Gulf of Fonseca people (Olmeca/Lenca/Anahuac). The hidden ‘r’ after ‘Mia’ could also be a hidden ‘p’, giving a meaning of “run to make a home, tired of the swinging of the cats (Huave),” which indicates that not only were the Huave practicing sacrifice but also were violently opposing those who challenged their sacrifice practice, like the Zapoteca.

Names on the north and west side of the lagoon are likely Huave names or were named by those who escaped from the Huave. Just like the Ch’orti’ earlier in Central America, the pregnant women of the Huave began to flee the first-born sacrifice practice, first going by canoe along the coast and later going to the hills to the northeast of the coastal lagoons. Santiago Niltepec is san ti ak’ k’o on ni il te’ pek and means “previously at the mouth, covered by the biting swelling, saw the knobby hills and trees.” It has a double meaning of “healing plant for skin,” indicating they found a healing plant. It has a third meaning of “run from the blades opening skin by wood on the wetness and trees to the hills.” This name was named by those running from the Huave and refers to escaping by canoe on the water or running through the trees to the hills to the north. It also has a meaning of "previously putting blade on skin" which refers to the Totonac who earlier had practiced human sacrifice but then stopped that practice before the tsunami.

San Francisco Ixhuatan is san ber ra an si ix k’o ix wa’ ta’ an in Mi and means “movement of beings tired of the blade on the collapsed, remnant running movement from the wetness of the fatigued current." It has a double meaning of "make a home in the interior.” This name speaks of the remnant of escaped Huave women who ran to Chiapas and became called Mocho. Ran is a cultural indicator for the Olmeca, suggesting that the San Francisco portion of the name was added after the Olmeca arrived along the Gulf Coast and Chiapas in about 1600 BCE, when the Olmeca began to assist the escaping Huave women.

The next town north is Reforma de Pineda. Using the whole name provides rep po or ma te hep pi in ne eht ta or “challenge of paddling from the bad leaders, remnant of the treed separated tailed first ones.” “Tailed first ones” refers to the firstborn who still were attached by the umbilical cord. This that after some time it became impossible for the Huave pregnant to escape by water toward the western Oaxaca coast and instead began to run by land to the north into the mountains, given the double meaning of “separating by the trees.

Xocotepec on the north coast of the Laguna Occidental, the lagoon to the east of Laguna Superior-Inferior, also speaks of the escaping Huave women. The obvious meaning of Xocotepec is cho ok’ k’o ot tep pek or “shelter in the hard hills for those splitting from the blades of the reputed ones (Huave - Totonac Ch’orti’) for the hard hills.” The name indicated to escaping women that Xocotepec was a place to go up to the hills. The Xoco- prefix was meant to mimic the Joco- prefix of Jocotan, Guatemala. And similar to Jocotan, Xocotepec had a hidden pronunciation. Like the ‘x’ used in much of Mexico, the ‘x’ here had a second pronunciation, a ‘z’. The hidden Zok prefix of Xocotepec refers to the Mixe-Zoque or Olmeca, which let women know that the Olmeca would shelter them in the hills, but in the more distance mountains of the Central Highlands rather than the coastal range. This would have been more than 5,000 years after the tsunami, after the Olmeca arrived from Central America.

Santo Domingo Zanatepec or san to om mi in k’o tza an aht tep ek’, which means “first ones sacrificed by the teeth of the swollen bath, cats in current of foamy wetness on hard pieces under the stars,” describing both those who perished and the journey on the hard branches. It also has a double meaning referencing the Huave women who ran up to the hills from here: “cats’ blades sacrificing first ones at the foamy wetness, run to the hard distant hills.” Inserting the adjective far into the meaning informed women to run to the more distant mountains.

The lagoon southeast of the Laguna Occidental is Laguna La Joya or la ach cho ya, meaning “turtles (pregnant women) tired of the pain of the Cho (Huave).” A double meaning is lach or “strip,” telling women to use the strip of islands on the south part of the lagoon for cover. These islands will be covered later. Cabeza de Toro is on the east coast of Laguna La Joya. It is k’ar ra ab etz tza at te eht to or ro and means “challenge of those tired of the swinging, observe the bath and trees to retain those freeing themselves of the sacrifice demanded by the leaders.” This place was named by the Huave as they watched the lagoon for women who tried to escape. It has a double meaning of “disappearance.” The women who did disappear called themselves Mocho, mo och cho or “trapped by the reputed ones at the entrance (Laguna Superior).”

The Huave likely originated from the Playa San Diego area east of present-day Puerto La Libertad. The name Playa Toluca, site of the ancient sailing stones from the journey from Chile, appears to be referring to the Huave. It is to ol uk' ka and means "sadness for the beginners (first-born) sacrificed by the leaders." The name Toluca is very similar to Tecoluca, indicating that it was the Cuscatlan, sister people of the Zapoteca, who named it. One kilometer from the sailing stones is the village of Santa Cruz, which is san ta ak' k'er rus or "remnant that swam in the swollen and gashed the skin," another reference to the Huave.

While the Zapoteca names at times refer to the mouth - the mouth of the Lempa River - as an origin point, it is also possible that they or a portion of them were from the peninsulas just west of the Lempa River. Peninsula La Colorada is k’ol lo or at ta or “remnant loose in the crest of the bath and transported.” Peninsula El Zapote, now called Costa del Sol, is west of Colorado and appears like it may have been named after the Zapoteca. Zapote is tz'a ap po ot te, meaning "pressed by the swinging wetness, on branches" with a double meaning of "shelter for those on wood (dugouts) from the swinging at the wet hole."

Monte Alban and the Zapoteca

Returning to the Zapoteca, soon the descendants of the survivors of the tsunami created a memorial on top of what they would call Monte Alban hill, perhaps with a few stones to begin with. Monte Alban is moh on ter ra al bah an in Mi and means “ridge for the time of the ancestors’ bodies which tired trapped in the current.” The use of the term “ancestors” seems to indicate that those who created the memorial were at least one generation beyond the survivors. Monte Alban has an alternate meaning as well: “the time of the ancestors who ran through the trees tired of the constricting of the bodies.” It seems to be a memorial both for those who died in the tsunami and for the ancestors who escaped the Huave by running through the woods at night. Another name for Monte Alban is Daniban, which, for the Zapoteca, has the meaning of “sacred hill of the dead.” Its original Mi meaning was similar to Monte Alban. Daniban is ta’ ni’ ib bah an and means “hill for the spirits of the remains of the bodies in the current.” An alternate meaning here is “run for the hills from the remnant at the current.” The presence of the Huave is a reason that the Zapoteca went up to the mountains so quickly and the continued pursuit of the Huave may also explain their later move to Tehuacan, Puebla.

Another name of a Zapotec-related people also seems to have its origin at the time of the tsunami: Ixcatec: ix k’at te’ ek’ – “cross (from El Salvador) moving on wood by the stars.” This name repeats k’at, a syllable found in Cuscatlan, the name for El Salvador, and was found in the name of founding ancestor Ehecatl. K'at was associated with the Ik' lineage.

Other ethnicities closely related to the Zapoteca include a group of Cuscatlan (Ik’ lineage) swept off the coast of present-day La Paz of El Salvador, landing ashore in western Oaxaca, the Triqui, and the Amuzgo, a group of Zapoteca who moved to eastern Guerrero.

The Date for the Tsunami

It would appear that the Zapoteca arrived at Tehuacan, Puebla, soon after they arrived to Oaxaca in the tsunami. The Tehuacan name indicates that it was likely the Zapoteca who arrived at Tehuacan, Puebla, since they were from Tehuacan, El Salvador. The nearby cultural name Coxcatlan cave indicates why. Coxcatlan is k’o och k’at la an, meaning “crossed because of the blades at the entrance of the fatigued current.” This indicates that the Zapoteca went to Puebla from Oaxaca in order to evade the Huave who had pursued them up into the Oaxaca mountains. Coxcatlan also refers obviously to Cuscatlan.

The 7220 BCE date for the tsunami is arrived at by the archeological record at Tehuacan, Puebla, which shows a consistent presence a little after that date and the dating of the end of Nipigon stage at Lake Agassiz, estimated to be 7150 BCE. MacNeish studied the history of habitation at the Coxcatlan cave and other sites near Tehuacan, Puebla. Douglas S. Byers and Richard S. MacNeish, ed. The Prehistory of the Tehuacan Valley, 5 vol. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967. He found sporadic habitation or visits prior to 7200 BCE, some as early as 9000 BCE and others just prior to 7200 BCE. The earliest visits were likely made by the ancestors of the Xibalba, although after the arrival of the pre-Maya from South America, either group (Xibalba or pre-Maya) could have made long distance journeys to Mexico. MacNeish’s findings are consistent with a tsunami date between 7250 and 7200 BCE.

Like many other Mesoamerican people, the Zapoteca have a flood story as part of their story of origin. While some of the Zapoteca flood myth closely parallels the Biblical story, making it hard to know which parts were original and which were borrowed from the Spanish, one part of the myth states that Petela, a great Zapoteca chieftain, descended from flood survivors. Petela is pet tel ha’ and means “water pouring over the ridge.” It has a double meaning of pet te hel la or “women tired of the tree (position) at the pouring.” The pouring refers to the tides pouring in and out of the Laguna Superior. This indicates that the earliest Zapoteca leaders assisted Huave women to leave. Petela also contains the cultural prefix pet- which is found in Purepecha and Miwok names as well, linking these ethnicities.

The Triqui and the Mixteca

The Triqui may have been from the Rio Jiboa area of present-day La Paz, El Salvador. They appear to have landed near the southernmost point of Oaxaca, Puerto Angel - just east is Salchi, tza al chi, or “time of the large wetness,” with “wall” as a double meaning. One link to Rio Jiboa is the name Tilapa, a very early name next to Rio Jiboa in El Salvador which appears to identify a mastodon in the very first weeks that the Mesoamerican ancestors were in Central America. There is also a Tilapa close to the Triqui center of San Juan Copala. In addition, with ik’ in their name, the Triqui identifed as an Ik’ lineage, like the Zapoteca. They landed west of the Zapoteca, which would likely mean that they were from an area to the west of the Zapoteca Lempa River origin in El Salvador. The Rio Jiboa mouth is the most likely place of their origin. A further reference to the area currently named La Paz, El Salvador, is the town of Zacatepec in western Oaxaca, a reference to Zacatecoluca, El Salvador, named in the aftermath of the tsunami.

Soon pregnant women from the Huave, facing the sacrifice of their first-born, began to escape toward the Triqui on the coast, paddling 140 kilometers on the ocean current. Puerto Angel is an che hel or “women handled the current.” They may have hid and slept in the day and paddled at night. They became the founders of the Mixteca. Mixteca is mi ix te’ ek’ ha’ and means “cats moving on water under the stars and among the trees,” a hint that they slept among the trees of the shore to hide during the day. The autonym mi (in Mixteca) was much more frequent among the Ch’orti’-Totonac lineage (including the Huave) than among the Ik’-based lineage, like the Zapoteca and Triqui. The name Triqui makes sense alongside the Mixteca founders. It is ta’ ar ri ik’ ki and means “time of the dear remnant beside the Ik’,” with a double meaning of “arrive.”

East of Puerto Angel is Playa Estacahuite, which is etz’ ta ak’ k’ar wi te, which is “observe for the wood (canoes) of the remnant from the blows to the navel skin of the retained (newborn).” It was the Triqui who were waiting there to observe and help the escaping Huave women. The name also carries a cultural lineage syllable hui, which indicates a Ch’orti’ lineage originally from Güija. The name has a second meaning regarding the Triqui's first landing on the shore themselves, “observe trees on dry ground since beginning of explosion (blast),” with another meaning of "dry," i.e. dry land. Nearby El Radar is hel ra at tar in Mi, meaning “women arrive tired from the bath.” To the east, Tahueca is ta wer kah or “remnant whose beginners were torn away.” Inland is Santa Maria Huatulco. It is tza an ta am ma ar ri wat tu ul k’o and means “time of the remnant who explained the corpses from the blades and ran in the wetness from the bad spiders, make a home beside.” Huatulco describes the first home of the pregnant Huave women who became the Mixteca. The syllable tul recalls Tulan, the island home of the Maya where human sacrifice began.

Also inland a few kilometers is San Pedro Pochutla, which is tza an pet tar ro po och chu ut ta la and means “arrival of remnant tired of the guards at the entrance of the hole, through the pouring (tides) current at the opening of the wetness, free,” with a double meaning of “peeled skin.” This is another indication that Huave pregnant women and perhaps men too escaped by boat from Laguna Superior and made it to the Mixteca coast. One of the barrios of San Pedro Pochutla is Guaydiguelle. This appears to be as old as Pochutla. It is way ti Ik’ hel lep and means “women paddling through the opening dreaming (at night) to the Ik’.” This meaning reinforces the meaning of Pochutla.

Names on the west side of Puerto Angel indicate that the Triqui and Mixteca also lived there. First, is Cometa or k’o om et ha’, which means “challenge of the teeth (rocks) in the foamy water,” indicating the difficulty in reaching shore there. But Cometa has a second meaning, “challenge of joining the remnants,” perhaps indicating a challenge in bringing the Mixteca and Triqui together, being from different lineages, although it could also be speaking about the Chatino, a remnant from the Otomi.

Just inland is Mazunte, ma as su un te, “on wood (canoes) from the bad practice to the children on a layer,” describing the child sacrifice practice of the Huave. There are two double meanings: “wrap-around,” which describes the umbilical cord still attached to the newborns at the time of sacrifice, and “foreign,” which indicates a belief that the practice originated much earlier with the foreigners (Xibalba).

Just east on the coast is San Agustinillo, which directly references the name San Agustin in the Ik’ (Cuscatlan) area of El Salvador. San Agustin, El Salvador, describes the first death of the ancestors at the hands of the Xibalba. San Agustinillo, Oaxaca, is very clear about the first-child newborn sacrifice practice. It is tza an nak’ k’us ti in ni il lo and means “see from the hill those running from the wetness free from the opening up of the first sperm at giving birth.” It has a double meaning of “curing” - their leaving cured them from the practice. Another meaning is “come to life” which describes the hope that the Mixteca had in a new place.

Another nearby name is Chacahua or cha ak’ k’ar wa’ is “beings retained for the two skins.” This name references the two-skin practice of the god Chaac, usually used to invoke rain. I understand this name to refer to a practice back in the Huave area, not along the Mixteca coast. Chacahua recalls the name Chalagua found back in the Jiboa area of El Salvador, near where the Triqui were likely from. El Carnero is k’ar ne her ro or “women free from being retained for the tail (umbilical cord).”

Cuatode is ka wa at to ot te and means “wood shelter for the beings from the sacrifice of the beginner (newborn) at the bath.” It has a double meaning of “make a home” and Totonac, another link between the Mixteca and the Huave (and Totonac). Inland from Cometa is Santa Maria Tonameca. It is tza an ta am ma ar ri at to on nam ek’ ha and means “time of the remnant beside who ran in the wetness from the bad spiders at the bath in the water under the stars, disappearance of the previous sacrificing.” It has double meanings of “depths” and “wrestle” which might indicate that a woman (women) was drowned when a Huave guard caught up with her. The name also makes it clear that the bad practice of the Huave did not continue with the Mixteca. The closest nations to the Mixteca are the Mocho Maya, followed by the Kanjobal, the Ch’orti’, the Chol, the Tzetzil, and the Choluteca.

Inland to the west is Santa Rosa de Lima Tututepec which became a Mixteca kingdom in the Classic period. It is san ta ar ro os at te hel li im ma tut tu ut tep ek’ in Mi and means “small opening in the hard plug from swollen bath, corpses beside from the bad blast, time of remnant of women set down after loose under the stars.” This indicates a knowledge of the cause of the tsunami, describing Lake Agassiz (Winnipeg) and the deaths that took place there, followed by a brief description of the Mixteca remnant who began a new life after surviving the tsunami and the conditions of the Huave. The phrase "hard plug" can not be translated in another way and is the key to linking this name to Lake Agassiz.

Finally, the place name Santa Cruz Zenzontepec, 60 kilometers north of Zapotalito, is a direct link to the Cuscatlan and Ulua and the place name of Sensuntepeque, El Salvador, an Ulua place name 10 kilometers off the Lempa River and 80 kilometers north of the mouth. Sensuntepeque references the Xibalba, therefore it was named at least 200 years earlier, when the Maya defeated the Xibalba. Because the Ulua and the Triqui came out of the same lineage, Santa Cruz Zenzontepec would be a Triqui name and means "hard hill of those with knowledge of the ancestors in the curve (tsunami)."

The Mixteca have a similar flood myth as the Zapoteca. It says that the earth was well populated but humans were punished with a flood due to a significant fault. One can imagine that this fault related to the violence display of power (human sacrifice) which afflicted the Totonac for a time prior to the tsunami. Like the Zapoteca, the Mixteca people descended from the few survivors of the flood, according to the myth.

The Choluteca (Itza)

The Huave were not the only part of the Ch’orti’-Totonac lineage to be washed offshore by the tsunami and to float from present-day El Salvador to present-day Mexico. Names along the coast of western Oaxaca indicate the Choluteca (Itza) also floated from west-central El Salvador to Mexico.

The Choluteca consists today of groups in the Yucatan, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. The Choluteca migrated to Puebla, Mexico. Later the main group of the Choluteca (Mangue) migrated to southern Central America during the late Toltec period when they were attacked. Their strongest tie to the Oaxaca coast is linguistic – they are part of the Oto-Manguean language group. The name Mangue appears to come from when they were attacked in Puebla, while Chorotega was probably a name taken upon arrival to Honduras and Nicaragua. While the Chiapaneco are grouped together with the Choluteca linguistically, it is possible that the Chiapaneco originated from the Huave, another Totonac-related group.

The Choluteca seem to have arrived on the southwest coast of Oaxaca near San Jose Manialtepec. The cultural name Choluteca probably dates from this time. They used the convention of the -teca suffix, similar to their neighbors Zapoteca and Mixteca. Choluteca is cho hol uh te ek’ ha and means “esteemed sacred one (shaman) on crest of water on branches under the stars.” The spiritual leader mentioned in the name is likely the same one mentioned in the names Sunzacuapa and Chiltiupan on the La Libertad coast of El Salvador. San Jose Manialtepec is san cho os tze em ma an ni al te pek and means “time of descending the hills in the bad upright swelling, in the current on branches, Cho set down by the hills.” Cho is a cultural marker for the Ch’orti’ lineage. It has a double meaning of “swollen lungs in the current.”

La Alejandria is just east of San Jose Manialtepec. It is la al leb ba an tar ri ha and means “time of tired bodies arriving beside by paddling in the water current.” East of there is Bajos de Chila, a name which was chosen after a visit by those in La Libertad, as it mimics La Shila there. It is ba os tech’ chi’ il ha’ in Mi, meaning “see the expanded bodies set down by the large water.” It discusses seeing bodies washing up on shore after they arrived there.

To the west is El Cacalote. It has three meanings. First, ka k’al lo ot te is “wood shelter for those retained and then loose (in the ocean) at the beginning.” The second meaning is clear, kaka al lo te’ and means “time of the loose cacao pods.” This indicates that the Amuzgo shared cacao pods with the Choluteca to be planted. Using the adjective “loose” makes it clear that they were pods, not plants. A third meaning of Cacalote is k’ak’ k’al lo ot te’ and means “shelter for those free on wood (dug-outs) from the retentions of the fire,” with fire (k’ak’) referring to the Kakchiquel. This indicates that in addition to the Amuzgo (to be discussed), the Choluteca assisted Otomi women escaping from the sacrifice regime of the Otomi men. Both the Huave and the Choluteca were from the Totonac (originally Ch’orti’) lineage, but unlike the Huave, the Choluteca did not re-initiate human sacrifice once in Mexico.

A couple kilometers northeast of El Cacalote is San Isidro Campechero San Martin is san ni is it ta ar lo ok’ k’a am pech che’ her ro’ os san ma ar ti in and means “loose Pech women remnant handle spidering (paddling) in the wet current, happy to be free from the blows which split open the set down first ones (newborns), movement to the swollen hills.” They used a cultural identifier “orphan” Pech that pertains to the Poto (Olmeca-related) lineage: in this case referring to an Otomi woman. If the Choluteca themselves practiced human sacrifice they would not have assisted the Otomi women fleeing the practice of human sacrifice. San Isidro Campechero San Martin was likely the source for the name of the Mexican state Campeche, named thousands of years later by the Choluteca (Itza).

Tiltepec is 10 kilometers inland from San Jose Manialtepec. It’s ti il te pek’ and means “see the opening in the hard hills.” It has a double meaning of “see the wood (dug-outs) under the stars” indicating the boats of the escaping Otomi women. Another 12 kilometers is Santa Lucia Teotepec, perhaps the strongest link to La Libertad, El Salvador. Teotepeque was the first center for the Ch’orti’ (Totonac) in La Libertad following the flood at Lago Guija. Santa Lucia Teotepec is san ta al lus si at Teotepec and means “time of the many swimmers in the swollen bath, shelter for remnant in trees of the hard hills,” with a double meaning of “arrival.”

San Pedro Mixtepec to the east speaks about the arrival of the Mixteca, next to the Choluteca. It is tza an pet ta ar ro om mi ix te pek and means “time of the remnant cats who moved in the wet current then to the hills to be free from the foamy tree at the pouring.” Foamy tree refers to human sacrifice. The pouring refers to the tide pouring through the entrance of the Laguna Superior. The Choluteca and the Mixteca were from the same lineage, so there was a natural affinity.

It seems that the Choluteca may have moved quite early to Puebla. The names there indicate a possible early habitation while names from El Salvador were still fresh in their minds. San Pedro Cholula is san pet tar ro och cho ol uh lap, meaning “arrival to the entrance (between the volcanos) by the esteemed shaman who had been loose stroking in the swollen crest of the pouring (tides).” San Pedro Cholula lies near the saddle (the “entrance”) between two 5,000 meter (17,000 ft) mountains, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The name also recalls San Pedro Mixtepec. Interestingly, Cholula also seems to mimic the name Ulua. That would not be a lineage marker, but rather a political marker to indicate that they had chosen not to resume the human sacrifice practice, unlike the Huave.

Iztaccihuatl Mountain is it tza ak’ si wat ta al in Mi and means “time of the movement of the remnant to make a home by the blowing residue covering (ash from Popocatepetl).” The name has a double meaning of is tak or “move to the dry one” to indicate that it was a dry volcano (not active). Popocatepetl was named by the Purepecha rather than the Choluteca.

While the Puebla part of Puebla de Zaragoza probably comes from the Post-Classic period, the name Zaragoza is likely ancient and links it to the same name in La Libertad, El Salvador. Zaragoza here is sar ra ak’ k’o os tza, meaning “setting down by the wall (Iztaccihuatl) and the wet one (Popocatepetl) tired of the blade on the skin.” It is another confirmation that they did not resume the sacrifice practice. The Huave also used the name Zaragoza to link back to El Salvador.

Later, in the Classic era, the main portion of the Choluteca began to call themselves Chorotega and Mangue. It was from the mountain, Iztacchihuatl, that the Itza (Choluteca) took their name, although by switching letters, the name seems to refer to Popo, as Itza means “the wet one (active volcano) blowing.”

The next installment will describe the amazing struggle to end the practice of human sacrifice among the Otomi. Cuauhtemoc finally prevailed.

Seven Lineages of Chicomoztoc and Teotihuacan and Aztec Migration from Aztlan

Three of the most important concepts for the founding of the Mexican people are Teotihuacan, Chicomoztoc, and Aztlan. In the case of Teotihuacan it is not just a concept but also a site with structures. What the first two have in common is a cave motif. At Teotihuacan there is a human-made cave under the Pyramid of the Sun. The Chicomoztoc theoretical cave is a place of origin for most of the peoples of central and northern Mexico. Aztlan is the almost mythical homeland of the Aztec (Mexica).

The Pyramid of the Sun cave at Teotihuacan has four chambers while in the legend the Chicomoztoc cave has seven. The Teotihuacan cave probably came first and is an attempt to hark back to the four founding families of the Mesoamerica who arrived on four boats from South America in about 8680 BCE. On the other hand, the Chicomoztoc cave speaks to the seven specific ethnic groups who eventually populated Teotihuacan and who created a language new to them all, called Nahuat or Nahuatl.

The four lineages represented as founders at the Pyramid of the Sun are Ak'bar, Ik', K'inche (Kitze), and Maix (Majukutaj). The name Teotihuacan also speaks to this same mix of founding lineages, with Teo representing the three Maya-related lineages, and Tihuacan representing the Ik' (Zapotec) lineage, named after their first sacred site in El Salvador, Tehuacan, meaning "island of learning."

The seven cave chambers of Chicomoztoc represent the seven ethnic groups who came to populate Teotihuacan, rather than the founders, and who came to form central Mexican culture, including the Nahuat language. These ethnic groups were Totonac and Huasteca from the Ak'bar (Chol-Ch'orti') lineage, the Zapotec and Otomi from the Ik' lineage, the Quiche (including the Cakchiquel, etc.) from the K'inche lineage, and the Olmeka (Mexica) and Purepecha from the Maix lineage.

The Totonac were among the closest to Mexico's central valley, coming from directly east, and probably one of the strongest groups at Teotihuacan. The Huasteca came from much further north up the Gulf Coast and were likely a minor group in the central valley. The Zapotec came from Oaxaca, quite a distance, yet there is strong Zapotec influence at Teotihuacan. It could be that those that went to the central valley became the Mixteca. Mixteca means "beginning of the expansion of the cats" in Ch'orti'. The Otomi-Pame are cousins of the Zapotec and didn't have much pre-Classic presence but they were located in the Puebla area, near to the central valley.

The Quiche included the Cakchiquel and other sub-lineages and may have been the largest contingent at Teotihuacan. They would have come from the northwest coast of Mexico where they lived due to their pellagra banishment. The Olmeka sent a migration group the Valley of Mexico soon after their arrival to the Veracruz Coast. This migration group became the Mexica and they joined the Teotihuacan formation. The Purepecha were cousins of the Olmeka and lived relatively close to the central valley in northern Michoacan and southern Guanajuato. The lead four lineages would likely have been the Totonac, the Zapotec, the Quiche, and the Olmeka/Mexica, one from each of the four founding Mesoamerican lineages.

Chicomoztoc cave. By Nanahuatzin at en.wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia) [Public domain, GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

The Chicomoztoc cave shows seven chambers with a group of people in each who smoke a peace pipe and then join together to populate Teotihuacan. Whether speaking of the four founding lineages of Teotihuacan or the seven Central Mexican ethnicities, they had to find a common cultural icon to form their union. This means they had to go back before 7000 BCE when the Zapotec and Otomi moved from El Salvador to Mexico. The main choices would have been the Corinto cave and the sight of the rising triple planets of 8208 BCE on Isla Tigre. The earliest symbols of Teotihuacan contain both of these cultural touch points.

None of the Mesoamerican people were cave dwellers - they lived out in the open. Using a cave as their founding symbol can only mean the Corinto cave in northeast El Salvador. This cave figured most prominently when, only days into Mesoamerica, the four founding families were captured by hunters they later called Xibalba, and taken to Corinto cave. Soon they escaped and ran toward the Lempa River. Later the cave was the scene of astronomical contests and battles. Eventually, by way of cunning, the Xibalba were defeated. Corinto cave was a place of bondage, a place of contest, a place of triumph, and the ultimate bonding between the four founding families. The caves of the Pyramid of the Sun and Chicomoztoc carry this symbolism.

All seven ethnic groups at Teotihuacan left or were forced out of El Salvador by the lead Ch'orti' lineage. For the Huasteca, Totonac, Quiche, Olmeka-Mexica, and Purepecha the reason was the pellagra crisis from 2400 to 1600 BCE. For the Zapotec-Otomi it is less clear but one explanation is Zapotec-Otomi unhappiness over the location of their home island of Teokan/Tehuacan at the mouth of the Lempa River while the ocean was rising following the end of the Ice Age. They went to Mexico in about 7000 BCE.

It is clear that the seven ethnic groups in central Mexico also identified with the rising planets of 8208 BCE, the beginning of the Third Age. In fact, there were seven rising luminaries on November 1, 8208 BCE, with Saturn rising first, then the triple star of Venus-Mars-Jupiter, then the Moon, then Mercury, and finally the sun at dawn. The symbolism of seven - the seven rising luminaries and the seven ethnicities - was surely not lost in the Valley of Mexico.

One place associated with Chicomoztoc is Culhuacan, a village/city in the Valley of Mexico. While it has a meaning in Nahuat, Nahuat likely did not exist yet when it was named. Instead its original meaning derives from Ch'orti', the language that several of the seven ethnicities would have spoken, at least as a second language, when Culhuacan was founded. In Ch'orti' it is kur wa' k'an or "being yellow points" or "yellow point beings." Yellow points is one way of describing the planets. Culhuacan associates the village's identity with the triple star event of 8208 BCE that was the defining moment of the Mesoamerican people.

Another place associated with Chicomoztoc is the Cerro de Culiacan, a high point in southern Guanajuato state. Culiacan references the triple star of 8208 BCE, rising over the Gulf of Fonseca, more clearly than Culhuacan. In Ch'orti' it is kur li ha' k'an and means "yellow points beside the water." The Cerro de Culiacan was likely a meeting place of the various ethnic groups before they chose the Valley of Mexico as their settlement area and before their founding of Teotihuacan.

While all seven ethnic groups no doubt thought about returning to El Salvador, their unity and construction of something fabulous like Teotihuacan, allowed them to forget about El Salvador. This is clear from the name of their common language Nahuat. In Ch'orti' it would be nab wat or "forget about returning home."

The Chicomoztoc cave symbolism does not represent humans emerging out of the earth. Rather, it symbolizes the escape of the four founding families out of the cave, Corinto, and into freedom in a land, El Salvador, which became the founding ground of all the Mesoamerican peoples. The founders of Teotihuacan used the same symbolism of escape and freedom as they created a new city.

The Mexica and Aztec of Aztlan

The Chichimeca and Mexica are two of the most important founding people of Mexico. The Chichimeca are a catch-all term for the semi-nomadic people living in the north of Mexico and the present-day southwest U.S. The Mexica are equivalent to Aztec and were the major power at the time of the arrival of the Spanish.

The term Chichimec or Chichimeca is a name in Ch’orti’ and is a play on the important site of Chinameca, El Salvador. Chinameca means “wrestle giant over disappearance of water” and was the site of a wrestling match between the Maya ancestors and the Xibalba hunters just a few days into the Maya ancestors living in Mesoamerica, circa 8680 BCE. The “chi” in Chinameca means “giant” but in Ch’orti’ a different vowel tone also gives “small” for chi. In Chichimec it is ch’i (small) ch’i’ih (giant) mek or “small ones wrestle giants.”

The Xibalba “giants” were long gone but their cousins were still around in the New Mexico area, the Zuni. Both the Xibalba (Manik) and the Zuni are distant relatives of the Ainu in Japan, lighter skinned and taller people. What may have happened is that each lineage was asked to send a contingent of warriors and their families to the north to protect the new populations in the north (i.e. Quiche, Otomi, Huasteca) from the Zuni. While at once protecting the populations in northern and central Mexico, the Chichimec warriors became a threat to peace in the Valley of Mexico.

The name Mexica has a similar meaning as Chichimec but they have a different path. Where the Chichimec were warriors of common descent, the Mexica are the elite of one of the original four founding Mesoamerican lineages. The names tells us which one. Mexica is mek ch’i’ih kah and means “wrestle giant at beginning.” It was the young Olmeca/Lenca lineage founder, Maix, who fought the Xibalba hunter at Chinameca at the beginning of Maya Mesoamerican history. Olmeca has a similar meaning: “wrestle leader over water."

One group of the Olmeca became the Mexica (Aztec). Two of the closest relatives of the Mexica are the Lenca and the Purepecha. In fact, the close relationship between the Mexica and Purepecha could explain why the Mexica never defeated the Purepecha – they didn’t really try since they were family (until a fierce 1479 war).

The Gemelli Aztec Migration Map

The Aztec provide us with an additional historical source to the Popol Vuh, a view from the Olmeca Maya lineage rather than the Ch’orti’ or Quiche Maya lineage. One of the best abbreviated Aztec views of history is provided in the Gemelli Aztec migration map.

By ... [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Following an extensive visit in Mexico, Italian Giovanni Francesco Gemelli Careri drew a map in 1704 of the Aztec migration from Aztlan to Chapultepec Hill. The map was a rendering copied from indigenous sources, maintained by D. Carlos Siguenza. The stops along the way of the map include a Nahuatl (or what was thought to be Nahuatl) element, a loose English translation, and a drawing. According to legend, on May 24, 1065 CE the Mexica (Aztec) began this journey. The original drawing was 12 by 16 inches and full size is available.

The first part of this map corresponds to the history of the Popol Vuh and the names in the first third of the migration map are in Ch'orti', the language the Aztec ancestors spoke when those events occurred, rather than Nahuatl. In the middle the names are likely close to the Olmeca language of Veracruz rather than Nahuatl. I have numbered various stations to help explain what is happening.

1 - The first station is a hill and tree with a stand-off involving the ancestors of the Aztec (and Maya, Zapotec, etc.) on the left and the Xibalba hunters on the right with the horns. (Click on map to enlarge.) This does not seem to symbolize any particular event as much as the 1000-plus year conflict between the two sides, starting a few days after the Aztec ancestors, et al, arrived in El Salvador in about 8680 BCE. The droplets coming out of the mouth of the bird on top of the tree likely represent blood spilled and lives lost due to the Xibalba.

2 - Station 2 is also in the shaded square, the time prior to the cultural formation of the Aztec ancestors, et al. This depicts the god Auilix or Ahwilix, one of the three gifts the Aztec ancestors received in eastern El Salvador before they had a permament home. Ahwilix means "the wing movement" and was a raft for babies and small children which the women would secure under their arm, like a wing. With the ahwilix raft, families were able to enter the water to escape the Xibalba hunters, who were not too keen on water. Ahwilix was probably first used at the junction of the Torola and Lempa Rivers.

3 - The group of people walking likely symbolizing the wandering of the Aztec ancestors, et al, for several dozen years in eastern El Salvador. Places they likely lived at during this time include San Juán de Edén, Laguna Alegría (Tecapa volcano), and Laguna Jocotal. Their heads are bare, indicating that they did not yet have special abilities or knowledge.

4 - The five people walking represent the migration from the mainland to Isla Tigre, Honduras. Each of the five walkers have an item above their head. My best guess of what these represent, from left to right: red ochre paint (most likely a re-connection with Taltal, Chile); an edible bird; skins for clothing; honey from bees; and turtles (for food).

5 - Aztlan. First, translating Aztlan: as tal lah ahn or "arrive to practice at the fatigued current." The fatigued current or lan is a quick way to say the Gulf of Fonseca where tidal action is limited (fatigued). Isla Tigre is where the ancestors went to and began to practice. They were practicing the beginning of Mesoamerican culture - the calendars, astronomy, animal husbandry, and cultivation.

The text says, "A place of Magpies where the Mexicans were called Aztlanechi." Aztlanechi would be Aztlan nechi. Neh ch'i' in Ch'orti' is "grow bushy ferns" and would refer to the tobacco that the Aztec ancestors, et al, learned to grow on Isla Tigre. To the right of the tree is an image of a parrot. It was at Aztlan (Isla Tigre) that the Aztec et al ancestors first learned to tame animals, beginning with the macaw parrot. To the left of the tree is a pyramid structure. While no pyramid structures have been found on Isla Tigre, there was a possible ceremonial structure on top of the volcano. In addition, the volcano of the island may have been an inspiration for later pyramid structures. The pyramid also may represent the formation of an elite.

6 - The next station is the migration off the island to the four islands on the mainland of El Salvador, represented by ten men. Each of the ten has a special ability or significance symbolized above their head. Some of these abilities were acquired soon after they left Aztlan, but they are all from the Maya formation period before 7600 BCE. The first, from the right, might be ability to navigate the oceans. The second might be cacao, first grown in Nicaragua. The third appears to be an underwater fuse to ignite gunpowder charges in plugged up lakes and waterways. The underwater fuse was first used at Lago Guija after a landslide blocked the egress. The fourth appears similar to the glyph in the first station and may represent the defeat of the Xibalba. The seventh one appears to be Ahchuk (One Hunapuh), the leader who was beheaded by the Xibalba but who made major advancements in astronomy. The eighth one is tobacco and is similar to the atl glyph. The ninth one is corn, first hybridized at Teotipa.

7 - The station in the top right corner has a near-naked man in an odd position and a cave-like structure with a door. The man has the words "Tocolco, Humiliation" by him. Tocolco in Ch'orti' is toh kol kot or "kneeling naked sacrifice." The Xibalba stripped their enemies naked before killing them. The cave structure has the words "Oztotlan, A Place of Grotts." Oztotlan is os t'ot' lan or "fit inside, knocking, near fatigued current." It appears the method of death was to lock the subject in the grotto with no food or water. There is one grotto-like hole at Corinto Cave that might have been used.

This refers to the story in the Popol Vuh of Xibalba warriors hearing loud noises from the Maya ancestors, capturing the ancestors and placing them in the Dark House. The place names in northern La Union department make it clear that the Aztec ancestors - the Olmeka - were practicing with gunpowder to make better water flow on the rivers. (The Olmeka were based in eastern El Salvador, next to the Xibalba, while the Maya were based in western El Salvador.) Some of these rivers would have been within ear-shot of Corinto Cave where the Xibalba were based. For example, Lislique, no more than 10 kilometers from the cave is li is li k'er and means "beside the movement, beside the dividing."

8 - The next set of two scenes took place back on Isla Tigre, so the order is slightly off. There is a scene marker, then an image of a baby perhaps, being carried by a bird; a pyramid; and then a tree with the word "Mizquiahwala." This word in Ch'orti' is mis ki' ahwa'al ha' or "cat hearts to jaguars by water." The cats are the common people and the jaguars are the elite. This is the story of heart sacrifice that led to many orphans (image of the baby).

9 - The image here is a thistle bush, with the words "Huitzquilocan. The place of Thistleflowers." Huitzquilocan is witz ki' il lok' ahn and means "see escape by current from heart mountain." This matches the Popol Vuh story of the escape of the masses by boat to Nicaragua where the escapees became the Miskito and Chibchan people. As a result of the heart sacrifices and the escape of their own people, Aztec et al ancestor elites began the practice of bloodletting by attaching thorns to a string and running it through their tongue, to promise to never harm their own people.

The fact that the events in the 8th and 9th stations have a prominent place in this abbreviated Aztec history, are an indication that one of the fleeing groups, either the Miskito or Chibchan people, come from the same lineage as the Aztec-Olmeka.

10 - There is a stone circle with the words "Tetepanco. Wal of many stones." This event skips forward 6,000 years to the migration to Monte Alto and Izapa. Tetepanco is tet' tep ahn k'ot and means "arrival by current to hard flaps." This is not completely clear but might be a reference to the large stone carvings at Monte Alto.

The migration trail continues to the bottom right portion of the larger drawing.

11 - There is a tree with fruit and the words "Teotzapotlan. A place of Divine fruit." Teotzapotlan is te' ox ap ot lan and means "place of sheltered plants with penis-shaped fruit." This refers to the cacao and its phallic shape as well as to the aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate. Much cacao was grown along the Chiapas and Guatemala coasts.

12 - An interesting symbol with the word "Ylhuicatepec". Ylhuicatepec is il wih k'at tep pek and means "cross to see source of hard knob." The Aztec ancestors (Olmeka) crossed from the Pacific coast over to the Atlantic Gulf Coast of southern Veracruz. This tells us that they crossed in order to check out vanilla, also an aphrodisiac, which can cause a hard knob. The Olmeka had heard about the vanilla from the Totonac and went to live close by them. The symbol seems to have a crested vanilla orchid on the right and a vanilla vine on the left.

13 - A symbol of the crested vanilla orchid and the word Papantla, the Totonac city associated with vanilla. The English words are "an Herb with broad leaves." Papantla would be bah ban tal or "arrive to thing valuable to the body" and refer to the vanilla. I think Papantla here is referring to the vanilla plant rather than a move to the site of Papantla.

14 - It is not totally clear but this most likely refers to Lago Tzumpango in the Central Valley of Mexico. Tzumpango is sum pahn k'o or "twisting teeth over a pit" and perhaps teeth could be a skull. Then it would match the picture. It doesn't look like a happy scene. This does seem to indicate that the Mexica were the group of Olmeka who decided to move from Veracruz to the Central Valley very early (1400-1200 BCE).

Tlatilco ceramic. By Wolfgang Sauber (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

15 - Apazca is ahp as k'a or "practice happy swinging." This refers to the movement and meditation also practiced at Chalchuapa, El Salvador at this time. Tlatilco may be the oldest settlement in the Central Valley, settled no later than 1200 BCE, and is famous for its acrobat ceramics (right), dated to 1300-800 BCE. The nearby site of the same culture is Tlapacoya and is tul ahp bah kor yah in Ch'orti'. This means "sore body condition due to free swinging." Both sites were named at a time when gymnastics was common. This indicates that it was the Mexica ancestors who practiced movement at Tlatilco and made the ceramics.

16 - Atlycalaquian - "a whirlpool where the water is swallowed." Apparently they built some pools, but it's not clear where. Atlycalaquian is aht li k'al lah ki' ahn or "fatigued (relaxed) heart next to retained current baths."

From there, the names in the map vary too much from the Ch'orti' to understand. In addition, it is hard to translate without knowing the context.

The Gemelli Aztec migration map makes it clear that the Aztec have common heritage with the Olmeka and the Maya. Many of the events shown on the map have parallels in the Popol Vuh. It also helps to clarify some of the unknown questions, such as why the Olmeka moved to the Veracruz Gulf Coast from the Chiapas/Guatemala coast.

The Mexica continued to use Ch'orti' as a naming language long after the end of the Maya Classic era. The first example is the city of Tenochtitlan, which the Mejica built in the middle of Lake Texcoco in 1325. It is built on an island, just like the ancient home of the Mexica ancestors at Lake Olomega, El Salvador. In Ch'orti', Tenochtitlan is ten noh ch'i' ti' (plus Nahuatl suffic tlan) and means "important growth after opening of flatland (valley). Tenochtitlan was built after some of the water was drained out of Lake Texcoco.

At the center of present-day Mexico City is the Zócalo, one of the largest public squares anywhere in the world, at 240 meters by 240 meters. It was used by the Mexica or Aztec for a variety of public events. Most or all of Tenochtitlan's 200,000 to 300,000 population in 1519 would have been able to fit in the Zócalo. In Ch'orti', Zócalo is tzok k'al lo', meaning "opening up the slack retention." This signifies that in order to build the city of Tenochtitlan, including the Zócalo, Lake Texcoco, and likely all five lakes in the Valley of Mexico, had to be partially drained. The trick was to drain it sufficiently to keep Tenochtitlan above lake level, but not so much that it lost its island condition, an important cultural attribute. Either the Mexica used the Ch'orti' language to name Zócalo because of the spiritual-political significance of the Ch'orti' language or the Ch'orti' (Putun) themselves assisted the Mexica to drain the lake and were given the right of naming the newly partially reclaimed lake bed.

A remaining chinampa. By Jflo23 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

A second method of reclaiming the lake bed along the shore of the island was the chinampa. A chinampa is a lake-recovered field, formed by creating a rectangular fence and piling neighboring lake bottom material into the fenced area. These were right next to the city of Tenochtitlan. Canals separate the chinampas. Like Zócalo, Chinampa is a Ch'orti' word, which may point to Ch'orti' assistance in creating the chinampa: chinam is town or city and pa' is food. Chinampa is "city food" or we would say "urban agriculture." Chinampa has a clever second meaning that makes it likely that the Ch'orti' picked this name. Chinam itself is ch'i' nam or "lack of growith (cultivation)." A city was a place where there was no space for cultivation. Chinampa broken down would be ch'i' nam pa' or the contradictory "cultivation of food where there is a lack of cultivation."

The Mexica at Tenochtitlan continued to gain strength and power in central Mexico. In 1428 they formed the Aztec triple alliance with two other city-states Texcoco and Tlacopan. Texcoco was Acolhua, who were likely linked to the Otomi. Tlacopan was Tepaneca and were possibly linked to the Quiche, i.e. Quiche who decided not to migrate to Guatemala. Tlacopan was also called Tacuba, a name of a town in western El Salvador that is associated with the return of a group of Quiche in the post-Classic period.

The Mexica, Acolhua, and Tepaneca created a new term for the leaders of the Aztec triple alliance: Huetlatoani. Using Nahuatl this is translated as “Elder Speaker," but Huetlatoani is a Ch'orti' phrase constructed to also appear Nahuatl, for local people. Using a Ch'orti' phrase would add legitimacy for populations outside the Valley of Mexico, especially for non-Nahuatl speakers. Every city or ethnic group would have had Ch'orti' translators. Huetlatoani is wet lat toh ahn ni' and it means “pointed tips supported by neighbors with sacrifices and currency.” Pointed tips refers to the weapons of the triple alliance. Neighbors near and far would have then known that they would be expected to provide human sacrifices and tribute to the triple alliance. And they would be taken by force if not given freely. Not so neighborly.

What's especially curious about this name is the ni' at the end. It seems that the Ch'orti' may have gotten the last laugh with the name. The -ni' suffix could have been changed to ni by some neighboring groups. The -ni suffix negates the statement so that it means “not supported by neighbors with sacrifices and currency.” This may mean that the Aztec triple alliance asked the Ch'orti' to support them by creating a name for their new leadership and the Ch'orti' obliged by slyly creating a name that suggested to neighboring peoples not to support the triple alliance.

Examining the history of the Aztecs and their ancestors has been useful for four reasons:

• Bringing to light previously unknown details that are helpful in better understanding Aztec history
• Understanding the extensive use of the Ch'orti' language, as protocol or naming language, even up to the point of European contact. It was the old, sacred language that was used to legitimate.
• The Ch'orti' assisted with the public works projects of neighboring people, such as draining the Valley of Mexico lakes and helping construct the chinampa, including in the late post-Classic period.
• The Aztec history is consistent with details of Maya history presented here for the first time. In other words, the Aztec history is consistent with the Popol Vuh, as translated herein.

Origins: Cacao, Corn, Cotton, and Calabasa

The ancestors of the Maya were always on the gatherer side of the hunter-gatherer spectrum, leading them to be the probable first culture to begin cultivation - horticulture. The Maya began horticulture by first learning cultivation of tobacco on Isla Tigre, Honduras in about 8300 BCE. Tobacco led to the darkest time in Maya history, resulting in the escape of the Miskito and Chibcha people. The Maya soon risked moving off the protected island to the mainland in order to pursue their destiny - horticulture, the cultivation of plants for food and other human use. The risk was that their enemy Xibalba would challenge their living on the mainland - El Salvador. But since the Xibalba were generally afraid of water, the Maya moved to four islands to have a greater level of protection from their enemy, approximately 8207 BCE. They immediately began to search for plants to cultivate.

El Salvador: Four Island Homes and Agriculture Origins (click to enlarge)

This blog post will look at the origin points for the domestication of squash, cotton, cacao, and corn. Corn was probably the earliest of the four, around 8200 BCE, with squash quickly following. The research for this is based on place names, keeping in mind the places of habitation and meetings at the time.

Squash

Squash were important to the Mesoamerican diet. They provided starch and were a major source of anti-oxidants. Squash would have helped the Maya to live longer and prevent memory loss. The first squash to be cultivated was a striped squash, perhaps the cucurbita sororia, which was hybridized into cucurbita argyrosperma (below).

By Shaun Case (nl:Afbeelding:Hindu2.jpg) [GPL (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

The first squash used for domestication was found near Sesori, El Salvador, based on an examination of place names. Sesori is a municipal seat located in the northern part of San Miguel department, in the eastern part of El Salvador. It is 200 meters above sea level and about 60 kilometers north of the Pacific Ocean. It's curious how close the sound of the name c. sosoria is to Sesori. Sesori in Ch'orti' is: tze' tzori or "squatted in rows." The term "squatted" or "squat" was used to describe the way that the squash plant grows very close to the ground. The fact that the Sesori name also includes "in rows" shows that squash was planted there, most likely the first place it was planted, although surely the seeds were soon planted at the four island habitations.

(click to enlarge map) The place names around Sesori point toward the municipality being the origin of squash. About five kilometers to the northeast is Charlaca, which would be ch'a'ar lahch kah in Ch'orti' and "start of the horizontal striped one" in English. This indicates that the first squash was striped, like the cucurbita sororia and its domesticated offspring, above. The hill above Charlaca is called Chequere or tze' kere, "open up the squat one" - the place the wild squash was split open. About a kilometer to the southeast is a village (and creek) call Caulote. Caulote is k'a ur lo' te' or "explain the desirable dangling plant." It was likely the lineage which found the squash which explained how to grow and use the
squash to the other three lineages. Finally, south of Sesori is a touri-center called Chagüite. It is possible this name came from elsewhere in the municipality. Chagüite is ch'a' wih te' or "source of the horizontal plant" - one more indication that Sesori is the source of the first squash to be cultivated.

The Maya used the seeds from a very early time, mashing up the toasted seeds into a paste. That paste is called alguashte, which is ahr wax te' or "time of the round gourd plant." It is possible the round gourd is referring to c. sosoria or its offspring c. argyrosperma.

Up until now, the earliest known location for domesticated squash is Guila' Naquitch cave in the Oaxaca Valley. Domesticated squash dates from no later than 6000 BCE there. This is about 2000 years after the squash domestication in El Salvador. The Zapotec-Otomi ancestors likely took squash seeds and the know-how to grow squash when they migrated from the San Vicente region of El Salvador to Oaxaca/Puebla in about 7000 BCE.

Cotton

In BC or Before Cotton, people had to wear animal hides no matter the weather. That may not seem like a big deal in a temperate climate, but in a tropical climate, a jaguar or puma skin must have been nearly unbearable. From a translation of place names in El Salvador, the second home of the earliest ancestors of the Maya, it is possible to determine that the origin of cotton is from Intipucá, El Salvador.

Intipucá is a municipal seat in La Unión department that is 10 kilometers north of the Pacific shore - in those days it may have been even closer to the shore. It is 101 meters above sea level and is in the very hot part of eastern El Salvador. Intipucá in Ch'orti' is in tih buhk k'a = "first desirable clinging clothing".

The place names around Intipucá fill in more details of the story of cotton. Chichipate, about 7 kilometers north of Intipucá, is ch'i' chih bah te' = "growing body fiber plant." This might be the first place of planting the wild cotton. "Body fiber" describes a fiber placed over the body (clothing). Chirilagua, west of Intipucá (click to enlarge map), may have been the first place to weave cotton. It is chir ir ak' wa' - "see covering being woven." This might have been named by a visiting member of another community since it uses the verb "see".  

Where did the Maya learn to weave? Either they figured it out on their own or they learned in South America. Woven containers from plant fibers, dating from before 8000 BCE, were found in Guitarrero Cave in Peru. But place names indicate that the Maya might have learned in Chile rather than Peru. The first clue is the name Chile, which just as likely may have been Chili, which in Ch'orti' is "to weave." While it may seem presumptuous that the Maya would name Chile, the Maya appear to have named many countries in South America. The village in Chile where the Maya may have gone to learn weaving is Pichilemu, on the coast about 200 kilometers southwest of Santiago. Pichilemu is pi chil ehm uh or "companions' sacred descending weaving."

By ArtProf (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Other place names in the region of Intipucá hint about cotton and how much people liked cotton compared to their previous skins. The beach just south of Intipuca is Icacal or ik' ak' ahr - "time of the breathable coverings". Ik' means air or wind but I think breathable is a good translation here. A creek several kilometers to the west is Icaco or ik' ak' ho(y) - "pleasurable breathable covering." Cotton clothing in the tropics was a big deal. Both of these names use the noun ak' which is "skins" or "covering" - they didn't seem to have a word yet for clothes or shirts.

The oldest archeological record of Mesoamerican cotton is at Guila' Naquitch cave in the Oaxaca Valley and at Tehuacan in Puebla. Both of these are Zapotec-ancestor sites and the Zapotecs migrated from El Salvador to Mexico in about 7000 BCE. This is a strong indicator that cotton was discovered and domesticated prior to 7000 BCE in El Salvador. The short distance from Olomega to Intipucá - less than 15 kilometers - should indicate that cotton was first found closer to 8200 BCE, when Olomega was settled, than to 7000 BCE. It also indicates that it was the Olmeka-Lenca lineage which found cotton, since they were based at Lago Olomega.

Cacao

Next to corn, cacao may be the most important food product in Mesoamerica. Cacao in Ch'orti' is k'ahk' ka ho or "beginning of heated pleasure" - cacao was usually consumed hot. The first cacao was found by the Miskito people, originally Maya, they escaped the heart sacrifice period in about 8250 BCE to Nicaragua. Because the words describing the discovery of cacao are still in Ch'orti', it is likely that cacao was discovered within 1000 years of the Miskito arriving in Nicaragua, or by 7250 BCE.

Cacao was first found in or near Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Matagalpa is mat ak' k'ar bah or "retain the brown one from wrap-around skin." This describes the process of shelling or de-skinning the cacao beans. Matagalpa is about 700 meters above sea level. The hill just south of Matagalpa is Cerro Apante, ap ban te', "good swinging plant." Swinging is the word used for fruit or any seed that hung from a tree. The Miskito also found cacao at Jinotega, now a city 25 kilometers to the north. Jinotega is hin ot te' k'a or "picking the satisfactory sheltered tree." Cacao trees are somewhat delicate and often sheltered from the wind or sun by larger trees. Nearby at Apanas the Miskito planted the cacao. Apanas is ap ban as or "practice the good swinging one."

The Miskito also discovered chocolate, grinding the toasted cacao beans and mixing with hot water. Chocolate is choh kor ha' te' and means "freeing the esteemed plant in water." "Freeing" could also be translated "loosening" and describes the process of mixing up the crushed cacao with hot water. They found a word chocolate that sounds like cacao but shares none of the same syllables. Just west of Matagalpa is the town of Waswali. In Ch'orti', it is wax wahr ri or "blow air beside the gourd cup." This could be from making the first cups of hot chocolate.

The small village of Yasica is about 15 kilometers northeast of Matagalpa. In Ch'orti', Yasica is yatz' tzik ka or "beginning of counting the squeezed ones." This most likely refers to cacao beans and their use as currency, which was common in the pre-Classic and Classic eras. Yasica gives an indication that cacao may have been used as a currency very early and that this practice may have begun by the Miskito in Nicaragua. Because Yasica is translatable in Ch'orti', this practice likely began before 7000 BCE, that is, before the Miskito language diverged from its parent tongue. The Miskito who lived in Matagalpa - the cacao growers - became known as the Matagalpa people.

At some later point the Maya appear to have invited a group of the Matagalpa-Miskito cacao growers to El Salvador to grow cacao there. This group settled alongside the Torola River and named their village Cacaopera, cacao ber ha' - "cultivate cacao at the river." Interestingly, the land that the Maya gave them is very close to the Corinto cave and likely not desirable to the Maya given the history of Xibalba at the cave. It is difficult to determine the date of the arrival of the Cacaopera-Matagalpa. They had to have arrived before 2000 BCE, though, when the Ulua separated from the El Salvador-based Cacaopera and went to the Atlantic coast of Honduras. The Cacaopera can say that they are half-Maya and half-Miskito.

Another community settled at the same time by the Cacaopera is Joateca, about 15 kilometers to the northeast. Joateca is wat te' k'a and means "return home with desired trees." Even if they spoke a different language by then, they still used Ch'orti' as the naming language. The Joateca name is also interesting in that it makes it clear that they considered El Salvador to be home even after hundreds of years in Nicaragua. And it makes it clear that they came with the cacao trees.

Corn

The Maya were born from corn - it was their key cultural crop. Corn was hybridized from teosinte. There wasn't one hybrid moment - it took repeated hybridizing over thousands of years. Earlier I mapped the teosinte place names which tell us at least some of the sources of teosinte that the Maya used to continue to hybridize corn. Aside from two in western Mexico, the "Teosinte" place names are clustered near where Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador come together, that is, around Lago Güija and Teotipa, the site of the senior Maya lineage. This is not inconsistent with the Balsas teosinte theory since the range of Balsas teosinte could have drifted northwest in the several thousands of years of warming temperatures following the Ice Age.

By Mbhufford (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

The most likely of the Teosinte sites for early Maya activity is Arcatao, in the mountains of eastern Chalatenango, El Salvador. This is because Arcatao was the location of the get-togethers of the four Maya sites, probably on an annual basis. This is known from the meaning of Arcatao: "the beginning of the gathering times." In addition, the Lempa River near Arcatao is nearly the mid-point, from a water travel point of view, for the four Maya sites. The annual Maya get-togethers at Arcatao probably started as soon as the Maya moved from Isla Tigre in about 8207 BCE.

The place names surrounding Arcatao leave almost no doubt that Arcatao was the place that teosinte, the predecessor to corn, was found. The first clue connecting Arcatao to teosinte is the name of the village Teosinte there. Teosinte means "plants in a row on an island" and refers to the rows on Teotipa island, where hybridization first took place. Just a mile west of Teosinte is Sicahuite, si k'a wih te', which means "origin of the desirable row plant." This is an indication that Sicahuite is likely the place that teosinte was first found.

The river just next to Sicahuite is Gualsinga. It also forms the boundary with Honduras here. Gualsinga is wa'ar sin k'a or "desirable rows rising/standing." The Gualsinga River area may have been the first place where teosinte was planted. The nearest town in Honduras is Zazalapa, which is tzatz ahr lab pa' or "time of pounding hardness to masa." Teosinte may have first been pounded into water and meal - masa - near Zazalapa.

The Guayampoke River goes through present-day Arcatao before it flows to the Sumpul. Guayampoke is wa' yam bohk ker, which means "pull wild vegetation from circle being broken open." After the circle was cleared they would have planted teosinte. This was probably the first step before it was later put in rows. Plant circles were also made at Teotipa (left, in photo) dating to about the same time as the one(s) at Arcatao (~8200 BCE).

In addition to the initial corn hybridization, I wish to discuss two innovations: grain storage and large-size corn cobs. The grain storage moves us back to Nicaragua. Several place names are based on a trip of the Maya from El Salvador to the former Maya, the Chibcha, in southern Nicaragua, to investigate grain storage. Sometime previously the Maya had shared corn seeds with the Chibcha.

Perhaps the first place they visited was Tipitapa, not far from Lake Managua (see map above). Tipitapa is ti' pi t'a'b pa' or "companions' storage of mouth food." "Mouth food" means corn, from the syllables ti' and pa' and is found in the name Teotipa as well. Next stop was the department of Chontales to the southeast. It is choh on tal ehtz or "arrive to observe the previously reputed thing." When combined with the department seat of Chontales, Juigalpa, we understand what the reputed thing is. Juigalpa or wih k'ar pa', "the origin of the retention of food."

Three other towns around Juigalpa fill in more details on the food storage, with the best description provided by Tecolostote: te' k'or os t'ot' te' or "tap the plant matter to fit into wooden carrying box." This makes it clear that the storage unit was mobile. Likely it was strapped on the back - they didn't have any pack animals. Supporting the idea of flattening the corn, Rodeo is lo'ht' te' ho - "flatten liked plant matter." Further north is Teustepe, in Boaco, which may have been the source of the wood to make the corn carrying boxes. It is te' us tep or "useful hardwood."

It took thousands of years for corn ears to reach a large size. In fact the ears stayed quite small until about 1100 BCE, at least in Mexico. It is likely that the larger ears pre-date that by several hundred years in El Salvador. Place names in El Salvador indicate where the large corn ears first appeared: Copinalapa, Cabañas. Copinalapa is the name of the primary river in central Cabañas, flowing north into the Lempa, as well as a village about 15 kilometers north of present-day San Isidro. Copinolapa is k'op in nol lab pa' or "gathering the first large rubbing masa (corn)."

El Salvador and Nicaragua were key for many of the plant products that were so important to Mesoamerican cultures - squash, cotton, cacao, and corn. With the place-name research highlighted here we are able to know much more about how these plants developed.

 

Tobacco, Bloodletting and the Escape of the Maya Common People

Perhaps the saddest period in Maya history is also when they were advancing the fastest, at least in terms of intellectual accomplishments. Their hearts seemed to lag behind the heads. This is the story of human sacrifice and the reason behind the subsequent bloodletting ritual. The story begins with tobacco and ends with perhaps half of the Maya common people escaping the human sacrifice. This story takes place on Isla Tigre, Honduras, and in Nicaragua, roughly from 8400 to 8250 BCE.

This blog post will trace the need for tobacco to the human sacrifice story in the Popol Vuh, will link that story to place names near Isla Tigre, and will then link the human sacrifice story to the surviving Maya who escaped, by translating the names of the tribes that descended from the escapees - the Miskito and related people and the Chibcha people. Finally, the blog will show that in the aftermath, a bloodletting ritual was started to deal both politically and spiritually with the crisis brought about by human sacrifice.

During their very first days in El Salvador, the Maya ancestors were exposed to tobacco. They soon named two of their first three gods after tobacco: Hakawitz, which means "beginning of happiness mountain," and Tohil, which means "see the offering" and is associated with a visual offering, i.e. animals, given for the right to tobacco. Tobacco was not allowed on the first day of the 20-day-week, Tohmar, when animal sacrifices were made, but was allowed on the other 19 days.

Things became more complicated when the Maya ancestors were forced by their enemy, the Xibalba, to move from the mainland to an island in the Gulf of Fonseca, Isla Tigre, and Xibalba took over the tobacco area. No doubt the Maya ancestors sent tobacco raiding parties back to the mainland to cut tobacco leaves and bring them back to the islands. But the Xibalba may have tightened up security. To try to get more tobacco, the Maya ancestors sent a messenger to Xibalba which resulted in a Xibalba negotiator coming to Isla Tigre.

The Xibalba were very shrewd. Not relying on only brute strength they tried to corrupt the Maya ancestors and weaken them spiritually. Keeping in mind the translation by Tedlock may need to be adjusted somewhat, the Xibalba negotiator said:

"Truly, since you have your god, your nurturer, and he is the representation, the commemoration of your Maker and your Modeler, don't give the tribes their fire until they give something to Tohil. You don't want them to give anything to you. You must ask for what belongs to Tohil; to him must come what they give in order to get fire." -- Popol Vuh, pg. 154.

"Fire" in this passage means tobacco. Instead of "is the representation" I would translate it as "require twine," tying this event to the later practice of bloodletting with twine of thorns run through the tongue. Basically, Xibalba is asking for a sacrifice to be made directly to Xibalba. This sacrifice would be a human sacrifice. If people wanted tobacco they would need to offer up one of their own as a sacrifice. From the place names it is possible to determine where this human sacrificing took place. Right across the water from Amapala, Isla Tigre, is Coyolito on Isla Zacate Grande, which is separated from the mainland only by a tidal channel. Coyolito means "sacrifice for smokes beside the large one":

k'oy - smoking, chewing
hol - large one
li - beside
toh - sacrifice

The verb k'oy, meaning smoking or chewing, could not be clearer that it refers to tobacco. The "large one" is clearly indicating the Xibalba hunter tribe who were taller than the Maya ancestors, as shown in the place names where the Maya ancestors were marched after they were captured a few days after arriving in El Salvador. The sacrifice was done beside the large one, while the Xibalba representative was watching. The name Coyolito does not directly indicate human sacrifice but a Popol Vuh passage soon following the visit of the Xibalba messenger connects the dots by discussing the abduction and killing of the tribes (the non-elite Maya ancestors).

It is about this time that the Maya ancestors began making very quick progress in their science, discoveries that are at the heart of what made them into Maya. The first was the 260-day tzolk'in calendar and with it the Mars retrograde long-count calendar. This was developed when the Mars retrograde calendar was pointing to the day-sign 9 Tzi'kin, or Clay and Sticks. A double meaning of Tzi'kin is Tzik'in, which means "counting days." This tells us that it was during 9 Tzi'kin or 8404 BCE to 8357 BCE that the tzolk'in was invented. Then, as already discussed, they learned how to tame the jaguar during the next daysign in the Mars retrograde long-count calendar or 8 B'ajram, which was 8357 BCE to 8325 BCE. Finally, they learned to cultivate tobacco during the next daysign in the Mars retrograde long-count calendar of 7 B'ajk (Cultivation), which was from 8325 BCE to 8278 BCE.

Given these four great discoveries in a short period of time: the tzolk'in, the long-count calendar, taming wild cats, and cultivation, 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). The Popol Vuh (pg 165) describes this 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 like the one above, are likely a portrayal of events on Isla Tigre.

The Popol Vuh says that the killers (the elite) would roll the heads onto the main trail and make it look like a jaguar had done it. This was done at a time called ikolbal iwib - "the time of the exposed bodies and the time of the source of ghosts." And these actions would lead to ritzum, the "twisting twine," linking the actions to the bloodletting twine of thorns.

It is clear that these actions happened after the Maya learned to cultivate tobacco. The Popol Vuh says kakan ri xa kipich or they "had already learned fire when piercing hearts." They did not have the excuse of needing to provide Xibalba with a human sacrifice for tobacco, nor of needing to provide Tohil with a human sacrifice in order to urge tobacco plants to grow. They knew how to grow tobacco and the sacrifices continued.

At about this time a bee swarm occurred, attacking the common people. While the Popol Vuh translated by Tedlock makes it seem like the elite caused the bee attack, the text is not so clear to me: q'eqal jab' musmul jab or "time of the furious honeybees, crumbling mound of honey bees." It may have just happened.

The names of the two oldest Maya lineages also hint at this time of heart sacrifice. Ch'orti' means "language of the breast" but could also mean "opening at the breast," which would be one way to describe the heart sacrifice. Similarly, Quiche means "speaking from the heart" but if the second syllable is che' instead of che, Quiche becomes "handle hearts."

The Popol Vuh then discusses the common people escaping from Isla Tigre: echalamicat or "observe the cats 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 time called (tamed) jaguars, all Maya were called cats. The Maya ancestors had learned how to tame the jaguar less than 100 years earlier and make them into cats.

The Popol Vuh backs up to explain how the escape happened. Two young women were sent to seduce the Maya elite so that they wouldn't notice the escaping folks, who were "looking for an escape through the teeth (of the jaguars)": saq loq' oj. It says that the women were from esteemed homes: "ch'om" (choh ohom) and that they were desirable - "pulpy" and "hanging": xtaj xpuch'. In being deceived by the women, the Popol Vuh blames the Maya elite: ki b'atz'unja, or "cursed with greed and rotten hearts."

The women pretended to be catching turtles: chaka chaxinaq, which is "lying down in skin (naked) (catching) turtles with our nets," and xil kiwach - "sleeping turtles raised," which has a sexual double meaning. Then the Popol Vuh makes a sexual pun with the name Nicaragua, soon to be the place of residence by the escaping Chibcha and Miskito, using the metaphor of a turtle: chiyulinik wach(i), "our growth to break through (by means of) trembling sleeping turtle." "Trembling and sleeping" - nikwa - sounds somewhat like Nicaragua.

Those escaping took sail rafts off the island, "solowik:" which is "extended arch (sail) into source of wind." The departure of the common people greatly pained those who remained. The Popol Vuh says katzonon uq uxik, or "the beginning of the pain in our hearts; mournful painful search." The Maya elite tried to find the escapees. And joxol ch'ek, which is "this choice caused ulcer in (their) chest."

The Popol Vuh explains that very young children escaped, including orphaned babies still breast-feeding whose mothers had been killed through the heart sacrifice: tz'alam ch'ut kej b'ej, or "from the fatigued current, still wet from the opening of the breast, orphans were transported."

The Popol Vuh tells us that the tribes were called the Tam and the Iloc and that these tribes had begun to speak differently. These were the ones who were killed. Raphael Girard in Esotericism of the Popol Vuh, provides a more complete translation when he names them the Tamup and the Ilocap. Tamup is tam mup - "showing the interior," with a double meaning of tam up, "hearing the interior." Both meanings are consistent with a heart sacrifice, with the second meaning showing the possibility of wanting to hear the inside of the body (perhaps due to a tobacco rasp?). Ilocap is il lo'k kahp or "see the opening up and escape." They saw the heart sacrifices and decided it was time to leave. This implies that the Ilocap were not sacrificed themselves but they knew they might be next. So among the two groups who escaped there were people who were directly affected and those who saw it happening.

Were did the Maya refugees go and who did they become? The groups immediately to the south are a place to start: the Miskito and related groups, who are in Nicaragua, and the Chibcha speaking nations, who are in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia. A look at the names of the major groupings in these two groups demonstrates that these are the two lineages who escaped from the Maya elite at Isla Tigre and place names show that both were in Nicaragua before most of the Chibcha moved further south.

Today the Miskito live on the Atlantic Coast of southern Honduras to southern Nicaragua. The name Miskito could not be clearer: mis ki' toh, "cat heart sacrifice." Cat could refer to the Maya elite - the tame jaguars (b'ahram) - or it could refer to the Maya common people - cats as opposed to jaguars. The Matagalpa lineage has a name associated with an agricultural advance that I'll discuss later. The third main language group is the Sumo which is sum mo' or "parrot on a rope." Perhaps the Sumo are from the lineage that first tamed the parrot or macaw on Isla Tigre.

The names along the north Atlantic coast of Nicaragua indicate that is where the Miskito, etal, escaped to. Puerto Cabezas, the center of Miskito life, is Bilwi in Miskito. In Ch'orti' this is "bir wih" and means "path from the origin (Isla Tigre)." Zelaya, the Miskito name of the region is xel lah ha' or "torn from the fatigued waters." Fatigued waters or current is one way of saying the Gulf of Fonseca. Tuapi, a town on the coast just north of Puerto Cabezas, seems to be "wahpi," or "continue on." Another town near Puerto Cabezas tells of the refugee status of the Miskito - Quaquel, which is kah ker or "separated at the beginning."

On their escape, the Miskito, etal, may have turned inland a bit south of Isla Tigre on the Choluteca River and boated to the present-day city of Choluteca, Honduras, whose name is hard to explain except for this flight: ch'or' ut tek kah or "opening of the breast beginning to open up." This would make sense if there are women wet nurses for the orphan babies. The village a couple kilometers to the east supports the idea of the flight of the Miskito: Santa Ana de Yusguare or yux wa'ar, "dividing the jaguars." This may indicate the switch from boat to foot, the jaguar people were divided.

The next town where the trail may pick up is Somoto, Nicaragua, which is soh moh toh - "offering for the closed up arch," which may have been a place to sleep. The journey was hard. The next town is Yalagüina or yah lah wi'nah: "sickness, fatigue and hunger." The next town to the east, Palacagüina, indicates that they may have made boats to go downstream to the Rio Coco, which flows to the Atlantic: pala kah wi'nah, "beginning of hunger on the boats." There is a river branch near town that reaches the Rio Coco which goes all the way to the Atlantic Coast.

Several miles downstream is the town of Quibuto, which is ki' but toh or "cut up from the heart sacrifice." But this also has a double meaning from a similar phrase ki' buha' toh, or "cured from the heart sacrifice." Later, very near to the Atlantic Ocean, the town of Iralaya would be ir ahl ha' yah or "the occasion of seeing the swollen water."

It is likely that the new Miskito people settled at Bilwi or Puerto Cabezas. Many other names around Puerto Cabezas are understandable in Ch'orti' - named at the time that the Miskito people had first escaped from Isla Tigre and therefore still spoke the Ch'orti' of that time. Tuara is a village several kilometers north of Puerto Cabezas in a marshy area. Tuara is wa'ar h'a - "standing water." Bismuna Tara is a large lagoon near the Nicaraguan border with Honduras. It is bis mun ha' tara - "arriving to measure the filling up with water."

Laguna Taberis is a lagoon about halfway between Puerto Cabezas and Bismuna Tara. Taberis is tah ber ix - "pulling motion in the forest," describing the tidal motion in the mangrove forest around the lagoon. Karata is a small lagoon south of Puerto Cabeza. It is k'ar aht tah or "retained water forest." A town south of Puerto Cabezas is Huaunta or wa'an tah, "forest at the rising," the rising sun over the Atlantic next to the forest. The Coco River along the Honduran-Nicaragua is also called Wangki, which is wa'an ki' or "rising heart."

The belief system of the Miskito also reflect this early history of the Miskito. The phrase for heaven is Yapti Pura which in Ch'orti' is ya'b ti' pur lah or "mixing in the mouth of the tired up-and-down." The "mouth of the tired up-and-down" would refer, as before, to the Gulf of Fonseca and Isla Tigre. "Mixing" would be the time of all the tribes together before they separated and some, like the Miskito, were repressed. That early time on Isla Tigre was like heaven. Yapti Misri is the Mother Scorpion Guardian in Miskito and in Ch'orti' is ya'b ti' mis ri or "mixing in the mouth beside the cats" which speaks of the later time when the tribes were not so close. Perhaps the mother scorpion guardian helped protect the Miskito from the cats (Maya elite). And maybe scorpion is also an astrological reference.

Liwa, is considered the ruler of the ocean for the Miskito. In Ch'orti' Liwa is li wa' or "beside the beings." Liwa, the ruler of the ocean, is beside the beings, the Miskito refugees at the Nicaraguan Atlantic coast. Wan Aisa is the Miskito creator. In Ch'orti' Wan Aisa is wa'an ah tz'ah or "rising over the wetness." This refers to the triple star of Venus, Jupiter, and Mars which was visible for several mornings in 8208 BCE and for the Miskito would have been over the ocean. It is hard to emphasize how important this sight would have been for the Miskito only a few years from being refugees from the Maya.

The Miskito name implies that they were the victim of heart sacrifice, which makes the Tam or Tamup name in the Popol Vuh fit more for them. That would mean that the Chibcha correspond to Ilocap. The names of the primary language groups of the Chibcha confirm that they, like the Miskito, are refugees of the Maya elite. Wikipedia lists seven languages, along with the macro name, Chibcha. Each one, translated with Ch'orti', tells part of the story of the repression and escape, which means that each one existed as a family or clan at the time of the escape.

Waimi, at contact, found in Costa Rica and Panama

(Ch'orti'): way mis - "sleeping cats" (describing their escape from the sleeping elite)

Boruca, at contact found in Costa Rica

bor uk' kah - "beginning of the increase in sadness"

Talamanca, at contact found in Costa Rica and Panama

tal ha' ma ahn kah - "beginning of the arrival from the bad water current" (Gulf of Fonseca)

Pech, at contact, on Atlantic Coast, Honduras

pech - "orphans" (a lineage made up of children whose parents were killed by the heart sacrifices. Their main town in Honduras is Kulmi, which could mean "cat penis" which seems to indicate that rape was also part of the repression faced by the Chibcha refugees.

Dorasque, present in Panama

tor as quer - "practice dividing open mutilation," referring to what was practiced at Isla Tigre

Voto (Votic), present in Nicaragua and Costa Rica

po' toh - "deep spot sacrifice." This is not completely clear but "deep spot" could refer to the heart. The name of the Rama who are part of this group and who remained in Nicaragua, means lah ma or "tired of the badness," the badness of the Maya elite.

Kuna, present in Panama and Colombia

k'un nam - "disappearance of tenderness"

Chibcha, as a language it is present in Colombia

chip ch'a' - "bit lying down" (reference to the heart sacrifice, bit by a jaguar)

The Chibcha did not seem to go straight to Costa Rica or Panama. There is evidence they stayed in Nicaragua for some time. Most indigenous names in Nicaragau are in Ch'orti'. It is possible that the Miskito named all the locations, but since European contact, western Nicaragua has been outside their domain.

There is also a strong clue of a Nicaraguan point of debarking for the rafts carrying the Chibcha refugees from Isla Tigre: the port city of Corinto. Corinto shares a name with Corinto, El Salvador, which means "first naked sacrifice," from the very first encounter of those called Xibalba. The first syllable of Corinto, El Salvador, was kor, while for Corinto, Nicaragua, it would have been k'or, meaning "first transport sacrifice." This implies that a person died on the passage over from the Gulf of Fonseca to Corinto. The next town Chinandega is chin ahn te' k'a or "satisfied with logs on throbbing current."

It appears that the Chibcha group made its way to present-day Managua. Managua is ma ahn wa' or "having a bad current," referring to the poor egress of Lake Managua. Nicaragua is nihk k'ar ha' wa' or "being shaken at retained water," most likely referring to an earthquake. Then there are the Acahualinca footsteps frozen in time in volcanic ash. The most current dating places the footsteps at 2120 years ago. The name is Ch'orti' so if it wasn't the Chibcha it was some other group of Ch'orti'-speaking visitors or immigrants. But the meaning of the name fits the situation of the Chibcha in 8250 BCE very well. Acahualinca translates as Ak' kah wa'al in k'ah, which is "our happy beginning, skin walking." I assume "skin walking" means to walk barefoot. Perhaps the Rama, aware of what their ancestors had done, repeated the ceremony 2120 years ago.

Some of the other Ch'orti' place names in Nicaragua include:

• Rio San Juan - san wa'an - "swollen and rising"
• Rivas - ri pas - "beside the purging" (Isla Omotepe volcano)
• Carazo - k'a ratz so - "desirable narrow arch" (not clear)
• Jinotepe - hin noh tepe - "pick large hard ones"
• Masaya - max tsa ya - "wet and toxic cavity" (Masaya volcano)
• Estelí - ehtz tel li - "observe the ridge beside"
• Ocotal - ok ot tal - "arrive to shelter on foot"
• Momotombo - mo motz t'om po' - "payment for the constricting and shutting off of deep hole" (ceremony for the end of volcanic eruptions)
• Ometepe - ohom eht tep pek - "challenging hard peaks in the foam"

Then there are several names that indicate that several hundred years later relations with the Maya improved and the Maya taught corn production to the Chibcha.

• Nagarote - na'k' ahr lo' te' - "time of the long kernel plants"
• Chichigalpa - ch'i' chik' ahr pa' - "the time of growing the crushed masa"

Chontales, Matagalpa and Jinotega have also been translated but they will wait for a blog section about agricultural roots. The place names of Nicaragua are a strong indicator that the Chibcha people lived for several thousand years in southwest Nicaragua before most (all but the Rama and Pech perhaps) moved south to Costa Rica and Panama. Corn has been dated to about 5800 BCE in Panama which could be an approximate date of when most of the Chibcha moved south.

The Maya Practice of Blood Letting

The Maya day signs of B'atz (Chuen) and Chichchan (Chikchan) tell us more about the meaning of these events. The original meaning of B'atz seems to be ba'x, which is "curse" or "malice." This indicates that the malice - the heart sacrifice - and the curse - the dividing of the Maya - happened when the Mars retrograde calendar was lined up to 5 B'atz, which was from 8278 BCE to 8246 BCE.

Earlier, from the Popol Vuh translations, we learned that for the elite Maya these events were a curse which caused an "ulcer in chest" and was a "source of ghosts." They haunted the Maya. Surely the spirits of the ancestors visited the Maya incessantly. The way that the elite Maya dealt with this was bloodletting - the Popul Vuh calls it ritzum - the "twisting twine." Perhaps they believed that their spilling of blood would appease the ancestor spirits of those killed and those who sought refuge in Nicaragua. But the bloodletting was also likely a sign, a promise, to their own people that they would never again deploy the heart sacrificing, the sacrificing of their own people.

The Tzolk'in day sign Chichchan (Chikchan) tells us more. While it is generally translated "large serpent," I think that is a secondary meaning. If it were a primary meaning it would be spelled "Chichan." Chichchan would be chich chan or "serpent through hard flesh," and clarifying meaning is provided by ch'ich', which is "blood," and ch'an, which is "twine". The bloodletting is done with a twine where thorns have been attached which pulled up through a pierced tongue - the "serpent through flesh." They tried to think of the most painful thing to do to themselves to make the ghosts of the curse go away. Bloodletting most likely would have begun on 12 Chichchan in the Mars retrograde calendar which was 8120 BCE, about 130 years after the curse. The bloodletting practice persisted for more than 9,000 years and some still do it today.

One can also see the remorse in the song Camacu, from the Popol Vuh. It appears to be sung at the time they were leaving Isla Tigre. They wonder where their brothers and sisters who fled watched the great rising planets of 8208 BCE. The song's name Camacu is kah mak uh and means "beginning of constricting goodness." The onset of the practice of heart sacrifice was when their goodness or sacredness began to be limited.

Camacu - Beginning of Constricting Goodness

Alas!
We were lost at Tulan!
We shattered ourselves!
We left our elder brothers behind!
Our younger brothers!
Where did they see the sun?
Where must they be staying,
now that the dawn has come?

After this the Maya seem to have given Hakawitz, where they were introduced to tobacco, a double meaning - from "Beginning of Happiness Mountain" to Hak'awitz, meaning "Diminishing of Happiness Mountain."

The Capture of the Maya Ancestors Upon Arriving in El Salvador

[versión español]  This is the story of what happened to the Maya ancestors after they arrived at Playa Toluca in four rafts from South America, most likely from Taltal, Chile. The story takes place in about 8680 BCE. A few days walking from Toluca, they were captured in Usulután by a hunter tribe, named by the Maya ancestors "the large ones," "the giants," "sticks," and Manik, and later Xibalba. They were marched about 80 kiolometers to the Corinto cave, where they soon escaped and followed the Torola River until arriving to the confluence with the Lempa River. After some time they then went to the lagoon of the Tecapa Volcano, where there was a little more security since the tribe of large ones did not like to go in water. Eventually the large ones forced them from Tecapa and the Maya ancestors went to Isla Tigre, Honduras, where the Maya culture really began to develop. Below is the route taken from the ocean to Usulután, the march from Usulután to Corinto, and the escape from Corinto to the Lempa River. (Click to enlarge)

The story will be presented in three parts: the first days in the country when they walked east from Toluca Beach (close to where surfers come now from all over the world) to the Lempa River, crossing the river and going toward the volcanos of Usulután. One knows of this story due to the meaning of the names of the villages and rivers where they passed in proto Ch'orti', the language they spoke. To keep these names alive no doubt that the Maya ancestors covered this same path on foot each generation, telling stories along the way. The second part begins with the capture of the Maya ancestors by a tribe of large people in Galingagua. From there they made a dramatic march to the base of the large ones in Corinto cave. Earlier I described the colors of the cave and presented photos of it. Soon they escaped and ran back along the same path probably at night, turning off it near Yoloaiquin and then followed a few kilometers off the south bank of the Torola River until they arrived at San Juán de Edén. There they had a little more security because, as they soon found out, once they waded into the Lempa River the large ones would not follow. They made mini rafts for the babies call auilix or ahwilix, the first of the three dieties that provided to them in the wilds of El Salvador.

[Note on the letters: The l and r were equal. The b and p were equal. The k' was normally pronounced by the Lenca, Pipil, and Spanish like a g. The w was pronounced by the Lenca like gü. At times the t was pronounced like a d by the Spanish.]

The four rafts land on the shore. The stones are still there.

1 - Toluca: tor uk' ka: Beginning of sadness caused by the bruisers. Place of arrival, named later. The same with the neighboring beach, Amatal, which is "arrival to the bad ones."

2 - Rio Huiza: wih tz'ah: Source of wetness (water)

3 - Rio Comalapa: ko' mar lap pa': Preparation of gourds for food brought from ocean (carried with them on the rafts)

4 - Nuevo Eden: eht ten: challenge to clear. Place to sleep

5 - Rio Jalponga: ch'a ahr bon k'a: time of lying down abundant and satisfying (2nd night)

6 - Longaniza: lo'on k'an ix ha': extended yellow moving water. Rio Huiscoyolapa

7 - Rio Huiscoyolapa: wis koy hor lahp ha': water-poultice payment to the great guardian

8 - Rio Chalagua: ch'a ahr ak' wa': time to lay down being with skins (covers) - third night

9 - Rio Acomunca: ah ko' mun kah: beginning of stuffing (ourselves) with gourd

10 - Rio Sapuyo: tz'ah pur yo'b: "arrive to up and down wetness"

11 - Rio Guayabo: wa' yah po': being deep and swollen

12 - Rio Ojushte: hoy uhutz' te': trees with pleasant scent

13 - Rio Guajoyo: wa' hoy: pleasure in our beings

14 - Laguna Talquezal: tal k'ech tz'ah: arrival of Carry Bright Colors. The quetzal. This might be why they had pleasure in nearby Guajoyo. From this day the quetzal has its name.

15 - Quebrada Roldan: lor tahn: dark spot in the interior. Upon crossing the Lempa River, they walked up Roldan Creek, seeing the darkness of Taburete Hill and the mountains of Usulután, until arriving at Galingagua.

16 - Galingagua: k'ar in k'ah wa': remembering being first retained. A thought of one who made it through the ordeal and returned to the place of the capture.

17 - El Zúngano: tzun k'an noh: the greedy yellow large ones. Greedy (tzun) is almost like foreigner, tzur. So this could be "yellow large foreigners."

18 - Los Horcones: hor kon ehtz: observe the intention of the crested ones

19 - Los Chapetones: ch'a' bet ohn ehtz: Duty to watch previous lying down. They took turns watching through the night. First night of being captured

21 - Tecapán: te' kap ban: brown leaves held by the teeth. The large ones stopped to get some tobacco. Perhaps they were in the area getting tobacco leaves when they heard the Maya ancestors.

22 - El Tigre: ti' k'ere': slicing mouth. The jaguar. In a bit we will learn that one of the large ones was scratched. This is the first encounter of the Maya ancestors with the jaguar. El Cerro Tigre has always carried the name of the tiger, slicing mouth.

23 - El Amaton: ah mah aht ohn: bad one in previous (old) bath. To clean his scratch he cleaned himself in dirty water.

24 - El Amate: ah mah te': the bad trunk (mid-section)

25 - Chagüite: ch'a' wit te': lying down at opened up tree. Second night captured. Perhaps this type of tree later became named Amate.

26 - Jucuapa: huk' wa' bah: being scrapes his body

27 - Chinameca: ch'i'ih nam mek ha': wrestle with a large one over disappeared water

The names of the villages around Chinameca tell more of the story of the injured large one and the wrestling match there, some have names that sounded like Spanish words/names and were given a similar-sounding Spanish name:

Boqueron: pok ker on: opened up from previous rinsing
Zaragoza: xar ak' os ha': scratched skin opened fitting (himself) in water
Nueva Guadalupe: wa'at ahr lup: the occasion of returning to re-submerge
Oromontique: hor ohom on ti': crested one foaming at opening from previous slash
Ojo de Agua: eye of water. Perhaps the large one threw water in the eye of the Maya ancestor, further precipitating the struggle
Copinol: k'op in hor: first time lifting up crested one

28 - Lolotique: loh lot' ti' ker: "hit slacker slashed opening." One Xibalba hits the wounded Xibalba who was falling behind.

29 - Amaya: ah mah ya: The bad poisoned one. The scratch was clearly infected.

30 - Rio Censo: xe'en soy: doubled over vomiting

31 - Los Amates: ah mah te' ehtz. Study the bad trunk. Perhaps the large ones let the Maya ancestors look closer at the injury.

32 - Chapeltique: ch'a' per ti': lying down rasping mouth. The infected one could barely breathe. Third night captured. One of the names the Maya gave to the large ones, Manik, means "bad convulsions" or "convulsions of the bad one."

33 - Guatajiagua: wat ah yah wa': being of infected one returns home. The death of the infected one.

34 - Yamabal: yah mah par: Carry a sick bad one. Seems another one was sick.

35 - Sensembra: xe'en tzem pura: Vomiting, stomach moving up and down.

36 - El Chaparral: ch'a' bar ahr: heavy sleep time. Fourth night captured

37 - Gotera: k'ot ter ha': Arrive water edge (river). [Note: now ter is tzer.]

38 - Lolotiquillo: loh lot' ti': hit slacker mouth. Again

39 - Hualindo Abajo: wa'ar in toh: First jaguar sacrifice. Jaguar killed a Maya ancestor.

40 - Rio Yubulba: yuh pur bah: Cluster moving up and down (over) body. Seems like a family of jaguars

41 - Ocotillo: ok koht ti': on all fours, mouth by the legs. Seems like the moment of attack of the jaguar.

42 - Sunsulaca: tzun sur ak' kah: foreigners begin peel off skin. Seem like they peeled off the skin of the dead one (what skin was left). Could be the basis for the much later practice of peeling the skin off of victims.

43 - Yoloaiquin: yor loh way kin: stick hits slacker sleeper. One or some slept late and were hit. Stick seems to refer to the large (tall) ones. Fifth night captured

44 - Rio Achiotes: ah ch'i'ih ot ehtz: observe shelter of giants

45 - Rio Tepemechin: teb ehm mech in: first descent to the hard shell. That is, to the Corinto Cave

46 - Cueva de Corinto: kor in toh: first nude sacrifice. First sacrifice at the hands of Xibalba, the victim of the jaguar, later their skin peeled (nude to the extreme). Hundreds of years later Hunahpu would be stripped before being killed here.

The Maya ancestors were held for some days in the cave. Hard to know how many but probably not a lot. At this point in the story is the escape of the Maya ancestors, perhaps in the night along the same path that they were already familiar with. After several hours near Ocotillo they may have turned northwest to follow the Torola valley. The trail picks up a bit later at Guiligüiste.

47 - Guiligüiste: wihri wis te': flying guardian in tree. Bird spirit protector

48 - Rio Osicala: ox sihk kar ha': Search water (for) handful (of) greens

49 - Gualococti: wa'ar lok' ok ti': Leg escapes jaguar mouth

50 - Rio Riachuelo: ri ach we'h lo': turtle food beside slack (water). They grabbed a turtle to eat.

51 - Miracapa: nir ak' kahp bah: Scratch of skin of body heals. This probably refers to a scratch from the jaguar at Gualococti. Note: Seems that "nir" was changed to a more Spanish sounding "mir" in colonial times.

52 - Carolina: kar lor in ha': first greens (from) dark spot (in) water

53 - Rosas Nacaspilo: lox as nak kas b'i'r lo': Practice hitting stomach (with) fist, slackers breaking away (from) path. The first self-defense training of the Maya ancestors

54 - Rio Riachuelo: ach we'h lo': slacker turtle food. Again, more slacker turtles

55 - Cucurucho: kukur uch choh: Tumbling (with) pleasure love. Was this amorous place named on the escape trip or perhaps on a more relaxed return visit later on, easily within a few hours walk from the camp at the Lempa?

56 - Rio Jalala: har lar ha': Coming (to) woven water. The little river is very curvy.

57 - San Juán de Edén: san wa' ahn te' eht ten: Current being swollen, challenging clearing (of) trees. The clearing was made at a place called Jardín and people stayed probably some weeks or months where the Torola River joins the Lempa River (the swollen water). This is an example where a place with an indigenous name that sounded like Spanish words, was given that Spanish name, even if, in this case, St. John had nothing to do with Eden.

Discussion of the Wrestle at Chinameca

The wrestle at Chinameca is an important event in the Maya-Lenca-Olmec history. According to Raphael Girard, at least up to the 1950s when he wrote, the Ch'orti' did a wrestling ceremony in which a white giant (the blonde large ones) is against a black giant (the Maya ancestors, even though Girard had these characters in reverse order). The white giant is called "Gavite" by the Ch'orti', which is k'abi te', "seepage from trunk," a clear reference to the infected large one. The black giant is named Golillo which comes from k'ori, porter, one who hauled the things of the large ones. At the end of the drama, the black giant defeats the white giant, although in a final act the white giant defeats the black one, representing the later death of Hunahpu at the hands of Xibalba. The wrestling drama of the giants, with the names "Seepage from the Trunk" and "Porter" seems to be a clear reference to the events of Chinameca, some 10,600 years ago.

Other links to Chinameca comes from the name Olmec or Olmeca, which is based on hor mek' ha', or "Struggle with Large One over Water." This means that the person who wrestled the giant was Maix (Not Ready Yet), Majukutaj in the Popol Vuh, the founder of the Olmec and Lenca lineage. The wrestle could have been the moment in which Maix's name changed from Not Ready Yet to "Wrestle a Giant over Water." Surely the young Maix wanted to show to the others that he was ready. Chinameca also corresponds to Olomega, the lake home of the Olmec and Lenca for thousands of years: Olomega: hor ohom mek' ha': "froth (of) ones (that) wrestled large ones (over) water. Froth is a figure of speech that means lake or ocean but also home. It is not surprising that a name as important as Chinameca was carried to Mexico by the Olmecs and given to a village of Veracruz.

It was the same Maix or Olmeka (Holmekha) that had a partner woman of the large ones. The Maya ancestors named her Xb'akiyalo or xib pak'i yah lo', which means "molded by extended infected scraped." That seems to mean it was the daughter or possibly widow of the large one who died on the trail. This also makes it appear as though it happened very quickly after they arrived at Corinto Cave and that she was given to Olmeka as an honor for the wrestling match. The Olmec-Lenca lineage began as a half-and-half mix between the large yellow ones and a Maya-ancestor.

Another place where the history of the Chinameca wrestling match emerges is with the name Chichimeca of Mexico - a nomadic tribe of the north that, according to rumor, arrived to central Mexico as part of the make-up of the Aztecs. Chichimeca has two contrary meanings: chi can mean large or small depending on the inflection, so that Chichimeca could be "small one who wrestled against a giant over water" or "giant that wrestled a small one over water." The former is more likely and would indicate a residual Olmec population that had drifted north before the Aztec period. The latter case is interesting in that it would indicate a remnant population of the large ones (that would have separated from the El Salvador group sometime before 8700 BCE) in northern Mexico or the New Mexico area. Perhaps Chichimeca was meant as a warning, like Azteca, which in Ch'orti' is as tech' ka, that is "beginning of the practice of opening up."

Discussion of the Large Yellow Foreigners

I already discussed the evidence that there was a race of large people in Central America before the arrival of the Maya ancestors, that in the Popol Vuh were called Xibalba. With the name of the village Sungano there is clear evidence that the Maya ancestors called them "yellow". This could point to a European origin - consistent with the Solutrean Hypothesis, but other evidence points to Asia and specifically Japan.

There is one Native American group that carries in its name the word foreigner in Ch'orti' and that is the Zuni, which means "foreigner" or "foreign nose." The Zuni have blood, DNA, teeth, and skeletal structure that is different from all other Native Americans, but very similar to the Japanese and specifically the old population of the Jomon and Ainu, on the north island. They probably crossed the Bering Strait passage to the Americas somewhat after the Maya ancestors (and the ancestors of most other indigenous in the Americas) landed by raft in Chile.

Descendants of the Bering Strait passage group would be the people of the Clovis points who may have almost died out with the end of the large game in North America. At least one group of descendants made it to Central America. Besides Corinto, there is evidence of very early presence in Honduras and skeletal remains at Tulum, Mexico have a probable date of up to 14,500 years ago. In Ch'orti' Tulum means "beings (under) earth," signifying that the Maya had also found the skeletons. The passive treatment of the "beings" suggests that they were not Maya ancestors. And a second group may have gone to South America. The name Surinam means in Ch'orti' "first disappearance of the foreigners."

La Captura de los Antepasados Maya al Llegar a El Salvador

Se presenta la historia de los antepasados maya después de llegar a la playa Toluca en cuatro balsas de Sud América, mas probablemente de Taltal, Chile. (Vínculos en inglés.) Estos eventos tomaron lugar mas o menos en 8680 AEC. Pocos dias de camino, fueron capturados en Usulután por tribu cazador, nombrados por los antepasados maya como "los grandes," "los gigantes," "palos," y Manik, después como Xibalba. Fueron llevados a la Cueva Corinto, donde escaparon siguiendo el Rio Torola hasta llegar a la confluencia con el Rio Lempa. Después llegaron a la laguna del volcán Tecapa (inglés), con poca mas seguridad porque al tribu de grandes no les gustó el agua. Después mas tiempo fueron a la Isla Tigre, Honduras, donde la cultura Maya se comenzó de veras (español). Aqui se ve la ruta del mar a Usulután, la marcha de Usulután a Corinto, y la guinda de Corinto a la Lempa. (haga clic para agrandar)

Esta historia se hace en tres partes: los primeros dias en el pais cuando caminaron al este de Playa Toluca hasta el Rio Lempa, cruzaron el rio y anduvieron rumbo a los volcanes de Usulután. Se apriende de la historia por el sentido de los nombres de los pueblos y rios donde pasaron. La segunda parte comienza con la captura de los antepasados maya por un tribu de grandes en Galingagua. De alli hicieron una marcha muy dramática hasta la base de los grandes en la Cueva de Corinto. Yo describí los colores de la cueva (inglés) y con una presentación de fotos. Después escaparon corriendo por el mismo camino de noche, desviando cerca de Yoloaiquin para seguir la orilla sureña del Rio Torola, llegando a San Juán de Edén. Allí tenían mas seguiridad porque pudieron entrar el Rio Lempa mientras los grandes no pudieron nadar.

[Nota de letras: Los l y r fueron iguales. Los b y p fueron iguales. Los k' normalmente fueron pronunciados por los Lenca y Pipil como g. Los w fueron pronunciados por los Lenca como gü. A veces los t fueron pronunciados como d por los españoles.]

1 - Toluca: tor uk' ka: "Comienzo de tristeza causado por los matones". Lugar de llegado, nombrado despues. Igual la playa a la par, Amatal, que es "llegada a los malos."

2 - Rio Huiza: wih tz'ah: "Fuente de humedad (agua)"

3 - Rio Comalapa: ko' mar lap pa': "Preparación de comida de calabaza de mar" (calabaza traida en las balsas de viaje de mar)

4 - Nuevo Eden: eht ten: "aclaramiento desafiante." Lugar de dormir

5 - Jalponga: ch'a ahr bon k'a: "tiempo de acostado abundante y satisfactorio" (segunda noche)

6 - Longaniza: lo'on k'an ix ha': "agua extendida amarillo con movimiento." Rio Huiscoyolapa

7 - Rio Huiscoyolapa: wis koy hor lahp ha': pago de agua-emplasto al gran guardián

8 - Rio Chalagua: ch'a ahr ak' wa': tiempo de seres acostarse con pieles (cobija) - tercera noche

9 - Rio Acomunca: ah ko' mun kah: el comienzo de engordarse con calabaza

10 - Rio Sapuyo: sahp puha': ayuno curativo. Parece media broma con Acomunca.

11 - Rio Guayabo: wa' yah po': poso de agua siendo tóxico

12 - Rio Ojushte: hoy uhutz' te': olor agradable de árboles

13 - Rio Guajoyo: wa' hoy: placer in nuestros seres

14 - Laguna Talquezal: tal k'ech tz'ah: llegado de Llevar Colores Brillantes. El quetzal. Por eso tenían tanto placer por el Guajoyo. De aqui el quetzal tiene su nombre.

15 - Quebrada Roldan: lor tahn: oscuridad en el interior. Al cruzar la Lempa, caminaron por la Quebrada Roldan, viendo la oscuridad de Taburete y las montañas de Usulután, hasta llegar a Galingagua.

16 - Galingagua: k'ar in k'ah wa': recordar ser detenido por primera vez. Pensamiento de un sobreviviente al regresar al lugar de la captura

17 - El Zúngano: tzun k'an noh: los grandes amarillos codiciosos. Codicioso (tzun) es casi igual a extranjero, tzur. Creo que igual puede ser "extranjeros grandes amarillos." 

18 - Los Horcones: hor kon ehtz: observar la intención de los grandes

19 - Los Chapetones: ch'a' bet ohn ehtz: Deber de observar previos acostados. Se turnan observando en la noche. Primera noche de ser capturado

20 - El paso de Gualache: wa'ar lahch: acantilados estriados. Volcán de Usulután.

21 - Tecapán: te' kap ban: hojas de color café guardado en la boca. Los grandes pararon por hojas de tobaco. Talvez estuvieron en la area por cosechar las hojas.

22 - El Tigre: ti' k'ere': boca que corta. El jaguar. Despues se sabe que uno (o dos) de los grandes estuvieron rayados. Primer encuentro de los antepasados mayas con el jaguar. El Cerro Tigre siempre lleva el nombre del tigre.

23 - El Amaton: ah mah aht ohn: el malo se baña en agua previa (vieja). Para limpiar el rayado se baña en agua sucia.

24 - El Amate: ah mah te': el malo de tronco

25 - Chagüite: ch'a' wih te': acostado a base de árbol. Segunda noche capturados. Tal vez fue árbol ya despues llamado Amate.

26 - Jucuapa: huk' wa' bah: ser se raspa a su cuerpo

27 - Chinameca: ch'i'ih nam mek ha': luchar con gigante por agua desaparecido

Los nombres de los pueblos arrededor a Chinameca cuentan mas de la historia de la lucha y el herido del grande, algunos dados nombres parecido a nombres españoles:

Boqueron: pok ker on: abierto por el enjuague previo
Zaragoza: xar ak' os ha': la piel rasgado abierta encajada en agua
Nueva Guadalupe: wa'at ahr lupe beh: la ocasión de regresar a sumergir la cola
Oromontique: hor ohom on ti': el grande previamente echando espumo de la boca
Copinol: k'op in hor: Primera vez le cogió al grande
Ojo de Agua: Talvez, el grande le tiró agua en el ojo al antepasado maya, precipitando la lucha

28 - Lolotique: loh lot' ti': golpea al vago en la boca. Parece que un grande golpeó a un antepasado que anduvo atrasado.

29 - Amaya: ah mah ya: El malo tóxico. Su rayado estuvo infectado.

30 - Rio Censo: xe'en soy: doblado vomitando

31 - Los Amates: ah mah te' ehtz. Estudiar el tronco malo. Parece que los grandes permitieron que los antepasados mayos ver de cerca la lesión de un grande.

32 - Chapeltique: ch'a' per ti': acostado raspando de boca. El infermo casi no puede respirar. Tercera noche capturados. Se anota que el nombre de Manik para los de Xibalba quiere decir "convulsión del malo."

33 - Guatajiagua: wat ah yah wa': Ser del infermo llega a casa. La muerte del infermo.

34 - Yamabal: yah mah par: Llevar un infermo malo. Parece que otro está infermo.

35 - Sensembra: xe'en tzem pura: Vomitando, pecho arriba y abajo.

36 - El Chaparral: ch'a' bar ahr: tiempo de acostado pesado. Cuarta noche capturados.

37 - Gotera: k'ot ter ha': Llegar a la orilla de rio. [Nota: ahora ter es tzer.]

38 - Lolotiquillo: loh lot' ti': golpea al vago en la boca. Otra vez

39 - Gualindo Abajo: wa'ar in toh: Primer sacrificio al jaguar

40 - Rio Yubulba: yuh pur bah: grupo moviendo arriba y abajo por el cuerpo. Parece una familia de jaguares

41 - Ocotillo: ok koht ti': a gatas, boca por las piernas. Parece al momento del ataque de jaguar.

42 - Sunsulaca: tzun sur ak' kah: extranjeros comienzan de se despojar la piel. Parece que le quitaron la piel al muerto (la piel que quedaba). Puede ser la base de porque mucho despues se despojaron a la piel de las víctimas a veces.

43 - Yoloaiquin: yor loh way kin: palo golpea al dormido vago. Uno o unos durmieron tarde y fueron golpeado. Palo quiere decir un palo o los hombres altos como palos. Quinta noche capturados

44 - Rio Achiotes: ah ch'i'ih ot ehtz: observando el abrigo del los gigantes.

45 - Rio Tepemechin: teb ehm mech in: Primer descenso a la cáscara dura. O sea, a la Cueva de Corinto.

46 - Cueva de Corinto: kor in toh: primer pago desnudo. Primer sacrificio a las manos de Xibalba, la víctima de jaguar, después despojado de piel (desnudo al extremo).

Ya venimos a la escapa de los antepasados Maya, talvez de noche en el mismo camino que ya conocen, hasta Ocotillo donde desviaron.

47 - Guiligüiste: wihri wis te': guardián volante en el árbol. Pájaro de espíritu de protector.

48 - Rio Osicala: ox sihk kar ha': Buscar en el agua por puñado de verduras.

49 - Gualococti: wa'ar lok' ok ti': Pierna escapa boca de jaguar

50 - Rio Riachuelo: ach we'h lo': Comida de tortuga vago. Nota: El "Ri" al comienzo no es de Ch'orti', talvez fue una combinación de tiempo colonial de Rio Achuelo.

51 - Miracapa: nir ak' kahp bah: Cortado de piel de cuerpo se sana. Se refiere a la cortada por parte del jaguar de Gualococti. Nota: Parece que "nir" fue cambiado a "mir" en los tiempos coloniales.

52 - Carolina: kar lor in ha': primeras verduras de lugar oscuro del agua

53 - Rosas Nacaspilo: lox as nak kas b'i'r lo': Practicar golpear al estómago con puño, vagos despegarse del camino. El primer entrenamiento auto-defensa de los antepasados maya

54 - Rio Riachuelo: ach we'h lo': Comida de tortuga vago. Otra vez otro vago

55 - Cucurucho: kukur uch choh: Voltear con placer y amor. No sé si este nombre amoroso fue dado en esta guinda o después en un viaje de dia desde el asentimiento por la Lempa.

56 - Rio Jalala: har lar ha': Venido al agua tejido. El rio se hace muchas curvas.

57 - San Juán de Edén: san wa' ahn te' eht ten: condición de corriente hinchado, aclaramiento de árboles desafiante. Asentimiento (lugar de Jardín) de varios semanas o meses donde el Rio Torola se une al Rio Lempa (el corriente hinchado). Un ejemplo de lugar donde el nombre indígena sonó como un frase español, aunque San Juán no tiene nada que ver con Edén.

Discusión de la Lucha de Chinameca

La lucha de Chinameca es un evento importante en la historia Maya-Lenca-Olmec. Según Raphael Girard, hasta hoy dia los Ch'orti' hacen una ceremonia de Lucha, el Gigante Blanco (los grandes rubios) contra el Gigante Negro (aunque Girard tiene los gigantes al revés). Hoy dia los Ch'orti' llaman al Gigante Blanco "Gavite", que es k'abi te', filtración de tronco, un referente claro del infectado. El Gigante Negro se llama Golillo que es k'ori, portero. En el fin de la drama, el Gigante Negro derrota al Gigante Blanco, aunque en otro acto el Blanco derrota al Negro, representando la muerte más tarde de Hunahpu.

El nombre Olmeca viene de la lucha de Chinameca: hor mek' ha', que es luchar con grande por agua. Significa que la persona que luchó con el gigante fue Maix, Majukutaj en el Popol Vuh, el fundador del lineage Olmeca y Lenca. Puede ser el momento que su nombre cambió de Maix "Aun No Listo" a Olmeca "Luchar a Gigantes por Agua." Seguramente el joven Maix quisó mostrar a los demás que estaba listo. Chinameca también corresponde a Olomega, casa de los Olmeca y Lenca por miles de años: Olomega: hor ohom mek' ha': espuma de los que lucha con grandes por el agua. Espuma es una manera de decir mar o lago. No es sorprendente que un nombre tan importante como Chinameca fue llevado a México con los Olmeca y dado a un pueblo de Veracruz.

Fue el mismo Maix o Olmeca que tomó cómo mujer a Xibahkyalo, una de los grandes. Es posible que le dieron mujer los grandes por recompensa de mostrar honor en la lucha. O talvez fué la mujer maya de Maix que murió a la boca del jaguar en Gualindo y pocos dias después en Corinto le dieron a otra. De todos modos parece un ejemplo que el sexismo triunfa sobre lealtades de tribu.

Otro lugar donde emerge la historia de la lucha de Chinameca es con el nombre Chichimeca de México - los tribus nomádicos de norte que por rumor llegaron a México como los Azteca. Chichimeca tiene dos sentidos contrarios: chi puede ser grande o pequeño, Chichimeca puede ser "pequeño que lucha contra gigante por agua" o "gigante que lucha contra pequeño por agua. En el primer caso sería una población residua de Olmeca que fueron al norte. En el segundo caso sería una población residua de Manik (Xibalba) que vivieron en el norte de México y los estados de Arizona y Nuevo México. Hoy dia se llama a esa población Zuni, que quiere decir "extranjero" en Ch'orti'. De todos modos el nombre de Chichimeca fue una advertencia de los Azteca, que en Ch'orti' es as tech' ka, que es "comienza de la práctica de abrir."

Discusión de los Grandes Extranjeros Amarillos

Yo ya discutí la evidencia de una raza de grandes en Centroamérica antes de la llegada de los antepasados maya (inglés), que en el Popol Vuh se llama Xibalba. Con el nombre de Sungano hay evidencia clara que los antepasados Maya les llamaron "amarillo". Amarillo puede ser de piel mas amarillo, como de Japón.

Los grandes son descendientes de ellos de los puntos Clovis quienes casi murieron por completo con el fin de caza grande. Un grupo se mantuvo en el area en Nuevo México, otro se fue a Yucatán, Honduras y El Salvador, y otro se fue a Surinam, cuyo nombre significa "desaparición primera de extranjeros."

Timeline of the Development of the Maya

The development of the Maya includes four major phases:

• Pre-Mayan Culture: 12,800 BCE to 8680 BCE
• Karmic Phase - the Beginnings of the Maya: 8680 BCE to 7500 BCE
• Outward Phase: 7500 BCE to 2000 BCE
• Inward Phase - PreClassic, Classic, PostClassic: 2000 BCE to present

The Pre-Mayan Culture phase consists of the journey by sail raft from Taiwan to Monte Verde, southern Chile, later from Monte Verde to Taltal in northern Chile, and finally by four sail rafts from Chile to Toluca Beach, El Salvador, where their encounter with the Xibalba hunters begins the Karmic Phase. This phase saw extensive exploration of the American continents by sail raft and migrations by related branches to various parts of South and North America. It also saw increasing sophistication in the categorization and storage of plants, plant products and seeds, preparing for the dawn of agriculture in the Karmic Phase.

Overall Timeline of Mayan Development

Date	Event
12,800 BCE	Ocean journey from Taiwan to Monte Verde, Chile (beginning of second age)
10,000 BCE	Migration from Monte Verde to Taltal, northern Chile
8680 BCE	Migration by the four founders from Chile to Toluca, El Salvador
8600 BCE	Move to Isla Tigre, Honduras
8300 BCE	First cultivation of any plant (tobacco)
8208 BCE	Triple star event - beginning of the third age - and move to four islands: Teotipa, Teopan, Teokan (Tehuacan), and Teomeka (Olomega), all in El Salvador
7836 BCE	Eruption, land slide, and flood at Teotipa, Lago Güija
7500 BCE	Final defeat of the Xibalba hunters
6800 BCE	Migration of the Ik' (Zapotec) lineage from Tehuacan, El Salvador, to Tehuacan, Puebla, Mexico
3200-3114 BCE	Methodology for tracking eclipses, use of zero digit, creation of the long-count calendar to track eclipses (beginning of fourth age)
2360 BCE	Beginning of bird man - eclipse tradition
2300 BCE	Exile of the Quiche lineage to northwest coast of Mexico
2000 BCE	Beginning of the "Pre-Classic" period
2000 BCE	Move of Olmec lineage from southeast El Salvador to Mexico-Guatemala coast; later to Veracruz gulf coast
2000-1500 BCE	Chalchuapa established. Dispersion of the Maya (Ak'bar lineage) from western El Salvador to Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico

The Karmic Phase consists of the most important events in the formation of Mayan culture as described in the Popol Vuh. This includes the development of the 260-day tzolk'in calendar, the Mars retrograde long-count calendar, the domestication of wild animals including the parrot, jaguar, and puma, the development of cultivation and hybridization of plants, starting with tobacco and corn, the practice of veneration to the seven luminaries, the practice of fasting, the great flood, landslide, and tzuhnami at Lago Güija, and the invention of gunpowder to clear the landslide composite from the egress river at Lago Güija.

Karmic Phase Detailed Timeline

Date	Event
8680 BCE	Arrival at Toluca Beach, El Salvador, from Chile
8680 BCE	Capture by the Xibalba (Manik) hunters, to Corinto Cave
8680 BCE	Escape to Lempa River, invention of child's raft (inspired by Auilix)
8675 BCE	Move to Tecapa volcano (Hakawitz), discovered tobacco, inspired by Tohil
8650 BCE	Beginning of 20 day week, with first named day Toh
8630 BCE	Forced from Tecapa by Xibalba; established settlement at Jocotal, El Salvador
8600 BCE	Forced from Jocotal by Xibalba; established settlement on Isla Tigre, Honduras
8550 BCE	Established the 260-day calendar, the tzolk'in
8400 BCE	Creation of the Mars retrograde long-count calendar (9 Tz'ikin, Mars retrograde)
8400 BCE	First animal domesticated (parrot)
8350 BCE	Domestication of the jaguar (8 B'ahram, Mars retrograde)
8300 BCE	First cultivation (tobacco) and hybridization (7 B'ahk', Mars retrograde)
8208 BCE	Planetary alignment - triple star of Venus-Mars-Jupiter plus Saturn, Moon, Mercury; start of 3rd age (2 K'anir, Mars retrograde)
8208 BCE	Move to four islands in El Salvador: Teotipa (Güija), Teopan (Coatepeque), Teokan (mouth of Lempa), Teomeka (Olomega)
8200 BCE	Beginning of the meeting of the four lineages at the Lempa-Sumpul confluence, Arcatao
8199 BCE	Beginning of cultivation of teosinte and hybridization into corn at Teotipa (1 Ch'i', Mars retrograde)
8000 BCE	Sharing of cultivation and hybridization technique with Peruvians
7950 BCE	Cultivation of squash
7915 BCE	Death of One Hunahpu in battle with Xibalba when he miscalculated the Mars retrograde (5 Etz'nab', Mars retrograde)
7836 BCE	Eruption, land slide, tzuhnami, and flood at Teotipa, Lago Güija; egress river blocked; survivors move to Teopan (2 Tz'ikin, Mars retrograde)
7810 BCE	Hunahpu (and Xbalamque) defeat of Xibalba (1 B'ahram, Mars retrograde)
7750-7700 BCE	Invention of gunpowder in order to remove the lava and landslide debris from the Lago Güija egress river
7700-7650 BCE	Blasting out the Lago Güija egress river; draining the excess water
7650 BCE	Move of the descendants of Teotipa survivors (and others) to Igualtepec, Lago Güija
7500 BCE	Final defeat of the Xibalba (Manik) by the Maya at Corinto cave and Tecapa crater (1 Imi'x, Mars retrograde)

The Outward Phase of the Maya consists of a time when the Maya spent more time assisting other peoples with their development than their own development. An example of this is assisting peoples in North America and South America in the development of local agriculture. This Outward Phase will be a major focus of my subsequent writing. During this phase the Maya invented the number zero and learned to track eclipses, in part with the creation of the long count calendar in 3114 BCE. The bird man tradition, associated with eclipses, began in 2360 BCE. It is also likely that Mayan writing began in this phase, although the evidence is still scant.

The Inward Phase of the Maya is already substantially known and described as Pre-Classic, Classic, Post-Classic, Colonial, and contempary. I call this the Inward Phase because this is the time that the Maya began to form civilization in the traditional sense of this term rather than focusing on other people. This is especially true of the Classic era. Part of this is the result of large population increases where it became necessary to structure local polities to manage people and resources. By the Post-Classic it appears that that much of the Outward Phase was forgotten even while the Karmic Phase was remembered through the memorized Popol Vuh oral and written tradition.

From Taiwan to Chile: A Source of the Indigenous of the Americas

First published June 4, 2013. Major revisions June 17, 2014.

Based on a comparative analysis of the Taiwanese aboriginal language, Siraya, and the oldest Maya language Ch'orti', as well place name and language name analysis in Taiwan, there is a likelihood that Taiwan was one of the origin points for the Maya and most of the indigenous in the Americas. As discussed here, there is a possibility of two origin points for this migration group. A Taiwanese origin point is consistent with the idea that the Monte Verde-related migration was by ocean rather than overland.

Almost all of the indigenous of the South and Central America are linked to Monte Verde and the Ch’orti’ that was spoken there. In a later publication I will further link many of the indigenous groups of North America to Monte Verde and, in most cases, to the Ch’orti’ language.

As described previously, the first peoples of South America were familiar with water craft and likely traveled by raft from Monte Verde, Chile, to Taima-taima, Venezuela, moving around South America in a counter-clockwise motion near the Pacific shore, through the Straits of Magellan, and then along the Atlantic shore. They also arrived to the other sites mentioned above by raft, as the story along the coast of Colombia makes clear. The first peoples were sailing people, quite familiar with the ocean.

When looking for the origin place and people of the Monte Verde migration, I considered coastal people from east Russia and China, Japan, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Indonesians are among the people who make up the Austronesian language group, who are well known sailors, also including Malaysians, Filipinos, and Polynesians. But the Austronesian language group seems to have its origin in Taiwan – nine out of ten Austronesian language branches are Formosan according to Robert Blust. It does not appear that the people of this language group had dispersed beyond Taiwan by 12800 BCE, the approximate date of the passage to the Americas.

The Taiwanese aboriginal languages are commonly called the Formosan languages. Siraya is part of the East Formosan branch. It was spoken at the time of the arrival of the Dutch along the southwest coast of Taiwan. Its historic area has been hypothesized to center on the Chianan Plain, which is one of the most fertile in Taiwan. I chose Siraya because it is a coastal language rather than a mountain language, thus more likely to be ocean people. Based on the name Siraya and its location bordering on nearly all of the other Formosan languages I think that it is one of the older Formosan languages. But the Formosan languages may not have diverged much at the time of the passage to the Americas. Therefore, looking at any of the Formosan languages should reveal similar linguistic connections with Ch'orti'.

The linguistic similarities between Siraya and Ch'orti' are found mostly in the cultural heritage words, such as those for close relatives and parts of the body.

Comparison of Cultural Words, Siraya and Ch'orti'

Siraya	English translation	Ch'orti'	English translation
na, ana, ina	mother	nana'	mother
chana	grandmother	cha' + nana'	second + mother
tau	human	tata'	grandfather
tau	human	tahu	get together
ma, ama	father	mama'	old man
ala	son or daughter	ar (al)	offspring, mammal
voal	body	bah	body
timi	cheek, face	ti'	mouth
pook	limb	ok	stalk, leg
uoeg	soul, spirit	weh	flesh
kate	evil	katu	moon deity
bulum	sky	lum	earth, land
uma	field, land, town	lum	earth, land
malii	land, soil	mar (mal)	open space
su	word	suht	reply
siriang	to make good	sir + ay	raise, lift + to be

The close translations of similar meaning words for mother, grandmother, father, and human are significant. These are among the words least likely to change in a language. The similarity of of these words is likely not random. Furthermore, similar words with related meanings for body, cheek, and limb are also important.

Although sky (bulum) in Siraya flips to earth (lum) in Ch'orti', these are both basic elements of nature. In addition, there is a similar Siraya word for field or land (uma) with a close correspondence to land (lum). Another Siraya word for land or soil malii corresponds closely with mal in Ch'orti' (open space). More comparative words are listed in the appendix.

The languages do not appear to share personal pronouns, which is another way show linkage between two related languages.

One phonetic similarity between the two languages is an exchanging of the 'l' and 'r'. In Ch'orti' this appears to be complete, where there has been only one letter pronounced in between 'l' and 'r', like Japanese, at least until modern times. In Siraya there appear to be two separate letters but in some words, they are inter-changeable. One example of this is the word for cat, which can be either ruklau or luklao.

One other similarity between Ch'orti' and Siraya is that both languages appear to be agglutinative, that is larger words are formed by creating compounds from smaller words. One example from about the time when the first peoples arrived in Chile in 12800 BCE, that is, when proto Ch'orti' began to separate from proto-East Formosan, is the name of the river by Monte Verde, Chile: Chinchihuapi, which is formed from six base words:ch’i in ch’i’h wa’ ha’ pi.

Next I will examine some places in Taiwan, as well as the names of tribes and languages. They tell the story of the peopling of Taiwan and, it seems, the story of the departure of the Monte Verde culture for the Americas.

The name Taiwan can be understood with Ch’orti’. Taiwan would be ta’ wa’ ahn and means "beings on the residue in the current." There are at least two examples where residue (ta’) is used to describe an island in Reloncavi Sound, near Monte Verde, Chile: Tabon Island and Tak Island. There are also examples were the word for residue, ta’, was pronounced "tai," like in Taiwan, such as the Venezuelan site, Taima-taima.

The name Siraya also is understandable in Ch’orti’. Siraya is si ir ha’ yam or "see the series of circles in the water." The final ‘m’ was often dropped in both archaic Ch’orti’ as well as more recent Ch’orti’. I understand seeing the circles in the water to mean the island of Taiwan and the surrounding islands, which signifies that the Siraya forged their identity when they saw Taiwan and moved there from China. It clarifies that Taiwan was separated by water from China and not a contiguous land mass.

The aboriginal peoples of Taiwan’s western plain, sometimes including the Siraya, are called Pingpu or Pinpu. In Ch’orti’ this would be pi in pur or "first companions on the up and down." This indicates that the west of Taiwan was the first place to be settled from China, which makes sense. The "up and down" I take to mean the tides experienced while journeying by boat across the Strait of Taiwan, which is today 130 to 180 kilometers wide.

Looking back the other way, there are two place names in China that likely date from the time of the first migration to Taiwan. Forty-five kilometers northeast of Quanzhou is Pinghai Bay. Pinghai is pi in ha’ and means "first companions in the water" – perhaps the first ones to journey out into the ocean. Language on Taiwan indicates they learned sailing there, so the first journey to Taiwan was likely with raft and paddles. Another 50 kilometers northeast, on the peninsula closest to Taiwan, is Pingtan. Pingtan has a similar word structure as Pinghai and is pi in ta’ ahn, meaning "first companions to the residue (island) in the current" – the first to Taiwan. Given its location it is logical that they would have departed from Pingtan to get to Taiwan.

In the Siraya area is Tainan City. Tainan is ta’ in ahn and means "first on the residue in the current." Also in the area is Sinhua Township, which is si in wa’ and means "many first beings (people)." These names add to the sense that the west side of the island hosted the first aboriginal communities.

All five of the sub-tribes of the Siraya have names that are translatable in Ch’orti’ and refer to the island of Taiwan or an animal (seals) found near Taiwan. Mattauw would be mat ta’ uh in Ch’orti’ and means "wrap-around sacred residue (island)" – perhaps the first to boat around the island. Taivoan is ta’ po’ ahn and means "residue (island) in the current of the deep hole." Soelangh seems to be soh hel ahn ak’ and would mean "like a curved skin in the current." Sinckan is si in ak’ k’a ahn and means "series of our first desirable skins in the current." Baccloangh is bah kel lo’ ahn ak’ and means "cut open skin and bodies of the loose ones (animals) in the current."

Many of the other Formosan (Taiwan aboriginal) languages are also translatable in Ch’orti’ and tell more of the story of the peopling of the island. They also seem to hold the key to explaining how the passage of a group to the Americas took place. I’ll start by going clockwise from the Siraya area to the northwest and then start at the Siraya area again before going counter-clockwise up the east side of the island. [click to enlarge]

Kwamikagami at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

The Hoanya speakers are directly north of the Siraya speakers and are part of the Western Plains language group. Hoanya is ho’ ahn yam and means "desirable circle in the current," referring to the island of Taiwan. Thao, up above the Hoanya, is ta’ ho’ in Ch’orti’, meaning "desirable residue" or desirable island.

The Babuza speakers are north of the Hoanya speakers. Babuza is bah buh tza and means "bodies cut up in the wetness" – later I’ll get to the violent group known as the controllers of the water. Papora speakers are right next to the Babuza and their name seems to relate to Babuza. Papora is pah po’ hor ha’ and means "leaders’ bodies in the water of the deep hole." Like the Babuza this name seems to relate to the violence done by the controllers of the water.

The Taokas are located at the shortest distance between Taiwan and China. Their name seems to indicate that they were the first group to land on the island. Taokas is ta’ ok kah as and means "beginning of walking and playing on the residue (island)." The Hoanya, Babuza, Papora, Thao, and Taokas make up the Western Plains Formosan language group. The names seem to indicate the first people of these languages made up the first migration from China to Taiwan.

Aside from Thao, the interior languages may have been the last to develop, as people moved from the coasts to the uplands. The names seems to be from a time when the language was diverging from Ch’orti’. The Tsou language is above Hoanya in the mountainous interior. Tsou might be chu’ in Ch’orti’, in which case it would mean "breast," or mountain.

Of the eight Taiwanese aboriginal language groups, plus one Polynesian group, five are understandable in Ch’orti’: the Western Plains group, Paiwan, Yami, Puyama, and the Eastern Formosan group. In the case of the Paiwan and the Yami, they may have been named by the Eastern Formosan group. This may indicate that the Western Plains and Eastern Formosan language groups are the oldest two groups.

Paiwan is spoken at the far southeastern corner of Taiwan. Paiwan is pi wa’ ahn and means "companion beings along the current." The name is in the third person – perhaps named by someone else.

The Yami are from a much smaller island southeast of Taiwan. The Yami language is a Malayo-Polynesian language so it likely was a much later migration. But the island seems to have an ancient name, named by the first inhabitants of Taiwan. The island name later may have been attached to the group that settled on Yami. Yami is yam mi and meant "circle of the cats" or perhaps island of the Amis.

The Puyuma are located just north of Paiwan and mostly are located inland. Puyuma is puh yum ha’ in Ch’orti’ and means "cut to pieces by the controller of the water." This name may explain why the Puyuma left the coast and primarily settled inland, although alternately, it could be "cut to pieces by the bad controller (master)." Who were "controllers of the water?" It was likely the same group who afflicted the Babuza and Papora.

A name on the coast very near to the historic Puyuma area is telling – Taimali township. Taimali is ta’ im mah li and means "beside the bad blasting ones of the residue (island)." "Blasting" is a way of saying hitting and was used, at times, in South America to denote hunting. This makes it likely that it was a next-door neighbor of the Puyuma who cut them to pieces – either the Amis to the north or the Paiwan to the south. A name with a similar meaning is located 12 kilometers south of Taimali – Duoliang Station. Duoliang is tol li ahn and means "next to the bruisers of the current." Further south, in the middle of the Paiwan area, is Manzhou Township. Manzhou is mah ahn suh and means "bad ones of the layer in the current," referring to their rafts. This supports the idea that it was the Paiwan who cut up the Puyuma and who were the controllers of the water.

The location of the Paiwan between two East Formosan language groups gives some likelihood that the Paiwan started out in the same language group. Their bullying tactics could have made them isolated socially, causing their language to diverge quickly from the East Formosan languages.

The last group with names understandable in Ch’orti’ are the East Formosan group. We already looked at the Siraya, situated on the southwest corner of Taiwan. Based on the Siraya sub-group names, the Siraya may have been the first members of this language group and the others diverged from there.

Today, the Amis are the largest aboriginal group in Taiwan. They are north of the Paiwan and Puyama, and occupy a coastal strip that stretches for 130 kilometers. Amis is am mi ix and means "cats’ spider movement." The expression "spider movement" seems to refer to the arm movements necessary for sailing. A similar same expression was later used in naming the Amazon River, which was used to practicing sailing before inexperienced sailors went out into the ocean. This name suggests that it was the Amis who first sailed among the Taiwanese aboriginal groups.

Amis Dance, By takunawan (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Given their name, Amis, it is likely that the Maya, and most indigenous of the Americas, derive, in part, from the Amis. The Maya have called themselves mi or mis throughout their history, a word which means "cat" in contemporary Ch’orti’. While the phrase "cats" seems to be embedded in Amis, it is also possible that the expression mi originated with the naming of the Amis. It is present in the island name Yami. And the use of mi is present around Monte Verde, likely soon after the 12800 BCE passage.

Following the place names up the Amis east coast further confirms that proto-Ch’orti’ was spoken there and tells more of the story of the early developments on Taiwan. Taitung is ta’ tun and means "stones of the residue (island)," perhaps referring to the mountains that rise to the west.

There are several place names that support the idea that sailing advanced on the east coast of Taiwan, just like the tribal name Amis. Guanshan is located 25 kilometers north of Taitung. Guanshan is wa’ ahn chan and means "serpent beings in the current." The tacking movement of the sail rafts was likened to the motion of a serpent. Yanping is 20 kilometer northwest of Taitung. Yanping is yah ahn pi in and means "first injuries to companions in the current." This seems to refer to the first people injured and likely killed while sailing. Not coincidently, Yanping is located directly downhill from the important Peinan archeological and burial site. Peinan is per in ahn and means "first collapsed ones in the current." Collapsed refers to people who died. From the many references to sailing, Peinan seems to refer to the first people who died while learning to sail. Thus, the mountainous Peinan seems to have been a special burial site since the earliest of times.

The next three names refer to a specific geological formation on the coast – the small island to the east of Sansiantai. Chenggong is the name of the township there and is chen k’o on and means "perforation in the ancient tooth (stone)," referring to the water separating Sansiantai from the nearby island. They surmised that the stone of the island was, at one time, unbroken to the mainland, but perforated over time by the current. The town of Sansiantai, on the coast across from the island, is san si ahn ta’ and means "swelling of current between the residues (islands)." Si is a plural marker. The township inland from Chenggong is Fuli, which is pul li and means "next to the up and down," referring to the surf going up and down between the two islands at Sansiantai.

Changbin is 65 kilometers north up the coast from Taitung. Its name suggests that it was the first place that the Amis learned to sail. Changbin is chan bi in and means "first serpent companions." Like with Guanshan, the chan in Changbin means "serpent" and refers to sailing. Yuli is the township just inland from Changbin. It is yul li and means "next to the breaking through." This most likely means the invention of sailing, but it also could mean that sailing allowed the Amis to break through the tight grip of the controllers of the water, the Paiwan. A little north is the township of Ruisui, which also speaks about sailing. Ruisui is ruhp pi ix si, the ‘p’ dropping out of the middle, and means "companions’ series of movements in the froth."

The next set of names to the north speak about a formative event for the Amis people, and for the Maya ancestors and the ancestors of most of the Native people in the Americas. The names speak about a group of men coming on the current – sailing – and retaining a group of people, women most likely, and presumably taking them on their sail rafts. The township of Guangfu is wa’ ahn pur and means "beings in the up and down of the current." This could refer to the Amis out sailing, but the use of "beings" rather than "companions" makes it seem as though it is outsiders.

On the coast of Guangfu Township is the town of Fengbin, which is ben bi in and means "first wild (lost) companions." In modern Ch’orti’, ben means wild, but I think "lost" is a good meaning in this context. This implies that there were later additional lost or snatched people. In any case, it provides some evidence that Fengbin was the location of the seizing of the women who would make the passage to the Americas. Fengbin is located in Hualien County. Hualien is wa’ li ben and means "beside the lost beings," which seems to refer to both the women who were taken as well as the men who took them. Just north of Guangfu Township is Fenglin Township, which is ben li in and means "next to the first lost ones."

The language group in this area is Nataoran, which is closely related to Amis. There are several dialects of Nataoran. Nataoran and many of the names of these dialects speak about the women who were retained and taken by unknown men:

• Nataoran language: naht ta’ hor ahn – "leaders (men) from distant residue (island) in the current." This does not mean that the Nataoran were from a distant island but rather unknown men from a distant island visited the Nataoran. The Nataoran began to form an identity apart from the Amis when the distant men came to make their visit. The name clearly refers to the distant visitors as men, hor, not men and women.
• Cikosowan dialect: si ik’ k’o os soh wa’ ahn – "number of beings from the current with stones and arches fit in the wind." This name uses "beings" rather than "companions" indicating a likelihood of strangers. A sail raft would have heavy stones for ballast as well as arches (sails) that were fit into the raft.
• Kaliyuawan dialect: k’al li yup ha’ wa’ ahn – "beside the retained ones who joined the beings from the water current." This is perhaps the clearest explanation regarding what happened. People were retained and then left Taiwan, joining those who came (men) and they all left by water. The use of the word "beside" would indicate that the people who were retained, were not from the Kaliyuawan lineage.
• Pokpok dialect: po’ ok’ pok – "uprooted and divided in two by the deep hole." The deep hole refers to the ocean. At least some of the people retained and taken were from the Pokpok lineage.
• Tauran, sometimes used as a language name other than Nataoran: ta’ ur ahn – "explain what happened on the residue (island) and in the current." Those who remained explained later to other Amis from other villages what happened to those who were taken.
• Sakizaya Amis, language just north of Nataoran: sahk ix ha’ yah – "in pain, search for those who moved in the water." A search party was formed by sail to look for those from Fengbin who were taken.

The places and language names on the north side of where the Amis are located, consistently and clearly talk about the retention of a group of people, most likely women, by a group of men who arrived in sail rafts. I believe that this event marks the start of the passage from Asia to the Americas of the primary group of indigenous in the Americas.

The languages on the north side of Taiwan are considered to be East Formosan, along with Amis and Siraya and related languages. The area of Kavalan speakers is on the east coast about 150 kilometers north of the main Amis area. Kavalan is k’ah bal ahn and means"satisfying boats on the current." This seems to be another reference to sail boating, like the names in the Amis area. On the northern tip of Taiwan are the Ketangalan and Basai languages. These two languages suggest the Paiwan "controllers of the water" oppressed them, just as with the groups further south. Ketangalan is ket ahn k’al ahn and means "retained in the current by owners of the current." Basai is bah si and means "series of bodies," likely referring to deaths, perhaps due to the oppressive Paiwan rulers.

Elsewhere I discuss the genetics of the descendants of the participants of the main passage from Asia to the Americas and, put together with this narrative, produce a likely scenario that a group of only men from the Russian Pacific Coast, sailed to Taiwan, retained a group of women, and took the women with them on the sail-raft passage to the Americas – to Monte Verde, Chile, specifically. Given that the men and the women each came from cultures that were sailing in the ocean, they were likely among the most advanced cultures in the world at that time. The women prevailed with their language – it was their language, proto-Amis, later known as Ch’orti’, which was spoken in southern Chile, just as it was on the east coast of Taiwan. The women may not have been so sorry to leave Taiwan, given the oppressive presence of the Paiwan, just down the coast. In fact, at least one indigenous origin story, among the Lenca people of Guatajiagua, El Salvador, speaks about escaping an oppressive ruler across the sea, according to Jaime Nuñez. That oppressive ruler would have been the Paiwan, the controllers of the water.

Through what became the Ch’orti’ language, this chapter establishes a consistent path from coastal China to Taiwan to south Chile and from south Chile to Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru. The next chapter will extend that path to El Salvador and Mesoamerica. Separate research will link Chile to northward migrations to the west coast of North America and to the Great Plains of North America and the so-called Clovis people.

As the sail rafts journeyed down the Pacific coast of the Americas toward south Chile it is likely that they hit some lax winds, which they blamed on the long landmass that they sailed along. This led to the naming of America, which is am mer ri ik’ ha’ in Ch’orti’ and means "that which is beside the water and makes wind sailing impossible." America was named from the Pacific Ocean, referring to the way the continent(s) slowed the winds along certain portions of the coastal waters.

Because the men likely did not speak too much Amis-Ch’orti’ yet, America was most likely named by the Amis women. This is reinforced by both Amis and America beginning with am, which means "spider", but in both names was a figure of speech for sailing. Later Amazon would be named with the same am, or sailing.

Let’s return to Lake Llanquihue in South Chile, with a sense of poetic history. The first generation women from Taiwan were sad, missing Taiwan and their families, upset at being forced from their homes into new households with men they did not choose. They ran to Lake Llanquihue, named yah ahn ki’ wehr – "pained heart from the running lake" – and expressed their pain and sadness. But as they sat at the lake, gazing at the water and the Osorno Volcano, something began to happen inside. Maybe it was then and there that they created a new word, yan, by combining ya and ahn, "pain" and "running." The new word, yan, can be translated as "change" or "becoming." And then the new meaning of Lake Llanquihue was "change of heart lake."

Photo credit: By Sarah and Iain [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Appendix: Possible Cognates, Siraya and Ch'orti'

Siraya	English translation	Ch'orti'	English translation
alak	child	ar (al)	mammal, offspring
atinik	black ant	xinich	ant
avaw	breast	bah	body
baig	kiss	bah + ik'	body + wind
bulbul	desolation, destruction	bur (bul)	burning
chamumu	grandfather	cha'mama'	step uncle
cit	attack	siht	stun (as from a blow)
hay, haey	yes	eya	exclamation
icha	yesterday	cha	two
ilig	listen	ir (il) + ik'	watch + wind
kahan	finish	kah	beginning
kainaan	lady	kay + na'	sing + woman
kariskaus	disgrace	kar	drunkenness
kaya	wife	kaya	song, singer
kirig	break	kirik	thunder
lug	soak, bathe	luhx	swim
mala	place	mar (mal)	open space
mamu	old	mama'	old men
masashut	trust	hut	face of person
mate'	bad	mah / matia'	bad / never
moy	fill	mor	pile, mound
nanog	ball, shot, hail	na'k'	ball, pelled
papa	gift	pa'	food (masa)
papunpun	offspring	pun	change, a becoming
peri	to choose	pere	to obtain, to acquire
pudim	to add, to increase	bu't'	to fill up, to increase
ralum	water	lum (rum)	land, earth
raway	youth	wet	companion
ruut	neck	ut	any small opening of the body
sawtaway	abandon	satar + wa'	lost, hidden + being
su	word, speak	tz'u'	sip, a sipping
ta-ing	excrement	ta'	excrement, waste
taltal	bridge	tal	arrival
talum	plant	te' + rum	plant + earth
utiag	emerge	ut	eye, any small opening
uwal	right	wa'ar (wa'al)	standing straight
vati	life, soul	bah	body, soul
yupan	spirit	yum	gods, deity
zung	secret, dark	sun	foreign

Eclipses, 2012, The Number Zero, Gliding, and the Mayan Long Count Calendar

As the Maya observed the skies they noticed that the lunar and solar eclipses occurred at certain positions in the 260-day tzolk'in calendar. This is because the eclipse period coincides with 260 days. Eclipse seasons occur each period of 173.31 days. Three of these eclipse periods equals 519.93 days or almost 520 - two tzolk'in cycles.

The Maya noticed that the eclipses took place at three specific zones or seasons within the tzolk'in. Each season was about 33 days long - the eclipse season. Every 173.31 days the eclipses would take place in one of the tzolk'in eclipse seasons.

For example, between April 25 and May 25, 2013, two lunar and one solar eclipses will take place in the tzolk'in season at the bottom of the figure below, in the weeks Chichan-Etz'nab'-B'atz-Kach (Chikchan-Etz'nab-Chuen-Kan). (Note: for dates post 1582 CE I use the GMT correlation of 584188 or -95.) Then there will be a period of about five months with no eclipses. During this period the tzolk'in will progress through the tzolk'in eclipse season that begins in Ahmok (Cib) week - but no eclipses occur then because eclipses occur only every other time through the tzolk'in eclipse seasons.

Between October 18 and November 3, 2013, there will be one lunar eclipse and one solar eclipse. This takes place in the tzolk'in eclipse season of Ch'i'-Ahchuk-B'ahk' (Manik'-Ahaw-Ben). Then there will be a period of about five months with no eclipses. During this period the tzolk'in will progress through the tzolk'in eclipse season that begins in Chichan week. Finally between April 15 and April 29, 2014, there will be one lunar eclipse and one solar eclipse. This takes place in the tzolk'in eclipse season of Ahmok-Tojmar-Ik'ar-Tz'ikin (Cib-Muluk-Ik'-Men).

The Eclipse Seasons and the Tzolk'in

Eclipses are only visible in a portion of the earth. Lunar eclipses over a broader area and solar eclipses only along a narrow ribbon, although a broader area can see the partial effects of the eclipse. The Maya noticed that eclipses were more commonly visible in Central America in a certain tzolk'in eclipse season - for example at our current time that is the one that is currently in the tzolk'in weeks of Ch'i'-Ahchuk-B'ahk'. Over hundreds of years the eclipse visibility belts associated with each tzolk'in eclipse season rotate eastward around the globe. To be clear, not every eclipse within a given tzolk'in eclipse season is visible in the named geographic zone. But they are more often visible in that zone than in other parts of the earth.

Another observation that the Maya would have made is that every ten tzolk'in cycles (7+ years) there would be an eclipse usually just one day earlier in the tzolk'in cycle than the one seven years earlier, sometimes two days earlier. For the tzolk'in eclipse season that corresponds mostly to the Americas and the Atlantic, there are times when nine or more consecutive lunar eclipses in the ten-tzolk'in cycle are visible in Central America. This would have been sufficient for the Maya to figure out this ten-tzolkin (7 year) eclipse pattern. This cycle was studied by George van der Bergh in the 1950s and was named the "tzolkinex" by Felix Verbelen in 2001.

The table below demonstrates the cycle through the tzolkinex series beginning with the lunar eclipse in August 1962 that was in Saros cycle 147. Each consecutive eclipse in the tzolkinex is one lower in the Saros cycle, in this case ending with Saros 114 in 2197. The series begins with penumbral eclipses, then goes to partial eclipses, then total eclipses, partial eclipses again, and finally ending with penumbral eclipses. Twenty five of the 34 eclipses in this cycle were visible in Central America, either completely or partially. This tzolkinex series falls within Americas/Atlantic visibility belt, in the upper right of the tzolk'in graphic above. 

Lunar Eclipse Tzolkinex Series Beginning 1962

Date at Center of Visi- bility	Saros	Total (T) Par- tial (P) Penum- bral (N)	Visible in Central America V=yes v=par- tially	Center of Visibility Region	Tzolk'in Week
1962 Aug 15	147	N		Indian Ocean	12th of B'ahk'
1969 Sep 25	146	N		East Africa	10th of B'ahk'
1976 Nov 6	145	N		Africa	9th of B'ahk'
1983 Dec 20	144	N	V	No Atlantic	9th of B'ahk'
1991 Jan 30	143	N	V	Cent America	7th of B'ahk'
1998 Mar 13	142	N	V	Venezuela	6th of B'ahk'
2005 Apr 24	141	N	V	So Pacific	5th of B'ahk'
2012 June 4	140	P	v	So Pacific	3rd of B'ahk'
2019 July 16	139	P		So Africa	1 B'ahk'
2026 Aug 28	138	P	V	So America	1 B'ahk'
2033 Oct 8	137	T	V	Pacific	12th of Ahchuk
2040 Nov 18	136	T		India	10th of Ahchuk
2048 Jan 1	135	T	V	Central America	10th of Ahchuk
2055 Feb 11	134	T		Africa	8th of Ahchuk
2062 Mar 25	133	T	V	Surinam	7th of Ahchuk
2069 May 6	132	T	v	So Pacific	6th of Ahchuk
2076 Jun 17	131	T	v	Brazil	5th of Ahchuk
2083 Jul 29	130	T	v	So Atlantic	4th of Ahchuk
2090 Sep 8	129	T	v	DR Congo	1 Ahchuk
2097 Oct 21	128	T	v	Atlantic	1 Ahchuk
2104 Dec 2	127	P	V	Cuba	12th of Ch'ih
2112 Jan 14	126	P	v	West Africa	11th of Ch'ih
2119 Feb 25	125	T	v	Pacific	10th of Ch'ih
2126 Apr 7	124	T		Indonesia	8th of Ch'ih
2133 May 19	123	P	v	Brazil	7th of Ch'ih
2140 Jun 30	122	P	V	So Pacific	6th of Ch'ih
2147 Aug 11	121	P		Indonesia	4th of Ch'ih
2154 Sep 21	120	N		South Indian	2nd of Ch'ih
2161 Nov 3	119	N	V	Caribbean	2nd of Ch'ih
2168 Dec 14	118	N	v	No Africa	13th of B'ahram
2176 Jan 26	117	N	V	Atlantic	12th of B'ahram
2183 Mar 9	116	N	V	Pacific	11th of B'ahram
2190 Apr 20	115	N	V	Pacific	10th of B'ahram
2197 May 31	114	N	V	Pacific	8th of B'ahram

At any one time there are about 15 active lunar eclipse tzolkinex series and about 15 active solar eclipse series. Generally there are five tzolkinex in each tzolk'in visibility zone and they remain in that zone for the life of the series. The tzolkinex series are spread out evenly in the tzolk'in visibility zones, one near the beginning of each zone (most clockwise), one near the end of each zone (most counter-clockwise), and the remainder spread out in the middle. Each tzolkinex has a duration of about 250 years. A new tzolk'in eclipse series begins every 40 to 54 years in each of the three eclipse visibility zones.

The tzolkinex was one way that the Maya predicted the timing of both lunar and solar eclipses. But there was some variability as one can see in the table above. They found another cycle that was much more accurate in predicting timing - the 46 tzolk'in cycle. This is also known as the Triple Tritos cycle (32.745 years or 11,959.89 days) and is .11 days short of being exactly 46 tzolk'in cycles. This cycle is demonstrated in the Dresden Codex, a pre-Hispanic Mayan scientific document. The 46 tzolk'in cycles are equivalent to 405 lunations.

For the Maya it would have been important to predict the the placement of the eclipses, not only their timing. The Maya did this using the Saros cycles. By tracking the placement of eclipses by their Saros cycle the Maya would have been able to have a good idea of the placement of future eclipses. Each successive eclipse in a Saros cycle is about 120 degrees east of the previous one. This means that every third eclipse in a Saros cycle, also called the Triple Saros, is located at approximately the same place on the globe.

The Triple Saros is a period of 54.090 years. Every other eclipse in the tzolkinex starts in the northern polar region, while the other starts near the south pole. Over the more than a thousand years of the Triple Saros cycle, the center point of the eclipse moves toward the opposite pole from where it started. The center point of the eclipses will often move to the east at some point in the series as well. However, when the eclipse center point is near either of the poles successive eclipses in the Triple Saros cycle tend to move westward rather than eastward.

To illustrate the movement of the path of solar eclipses with each successive Triple Saros cycle eclipse I will show the maps of eight successive solar eclipses in the Triple Saros cycle of Saros 141. This cycle is in the North American - Atlantic visibility zone. It started in the north polar region and moves to the south. I have skipped displaying the partial eclipses at each of the polar regions. Generally all of the central (non-polar) eclipses of a Triple Saros cycle are either annular or total. All of the eclipses for the series displayed here are annular.

Saros 141 Solar Eclipse Cycle (Triple Saros)

Sep 17, 1811 Annular, 43N 86W Center, 13th of B'ahk, 12.9.16.1.5

Oct 19, 1865 Annular, 21N 60W Center, 9th of B'ahk, 12.12.10.17.1

Nov 22, 1919 Annular, 7N 49W Center, 5th of B'ahk, 12.15.5.14.17

Dec 24, 1973 Annular, 1N 48W Center, 1 B'ahk, 12.18.0.12.13

Jan 26, 2028 Annular, 3N 52W Center, 10th of Ahchuk, 0.0.15.10.9

Feb 27, 2082 Annular, 9N 47W Center, 6th of Ahchuk, 0.3.10.8.5

Apr 1, 2136 Annular, 16N 26W Center, 2nd of Ahchuk, 0.6.5.6.1

May 4, 2190 Annular, 19N 15E Center, 11th of Ch'i', 0.9.0.3.17

I believe that the Maya began to track not just the timing but also the placement of solar eclipses by utilizing the Triple Saros cycle. Looking at the cycle above one can see that the first six would not have been too difficult to track. The eclipses move southward and eastward about 5 to 10 degrees with each successive eclipse. The main challenges would be to identify the first one in the series, to know when the right new moon was coming up, and to keep track of the placement of the previous eclipse, considering that it would have been 54 years earlier and that there were over 100 active solar eclipse cycles at any time.

In order to know where to look for the first one in the triple saros cycle (or first one that was not polar), the Maya would have known if it was "dropping" from the north (or south) pole. They also would have had a clue if it was an eclipse that is typically in the Americas/Atlantic zone. (Note the zones change over time.) But that still leaves thousands of miles to cover. I think this is where talking with neighboring peoples came in - inquiring if the solar eclipse had been seen there. They likely spent several months or years doing reconnaissance.

The second challenge was to track timing of each successive eclipse in the Triple Saros cycle. Every 669 lunations is a Triple Saros eclipse - that would have been one way to track it. Another way to track would have been the long count calendar. There is a period of 0.2.14.15.16 between each successive eclipse. This would have required writing down (or using sticks and balls in a protected space) the date of the previous eclipse. The Maya may have been tracking dates much earlier than commonly believed. In addition each successive eclipse falls four days earlier in the tzolk'in than the previous one.

The third challenge is to keep track of the placement of the previous eclipse, assuming that they had tracked it. Living memory would be the easiest way to track, although it could become confusing if one person is attempting to remember several different eclipses over several years. Also, there are 54 years between Triple Saros eclipses and given life spans it would not have been common for a person to live long enough to see two successive Triple Saros eclipses. An oral tradition could have been passed from one generation to the next with a description of where the previous eclipse had been seen. But I think that the most likely way that Maya tracked eclipse paths was through mapping it. This could be maps on rocks or, more likely, creating a map on bark strips.

I believe that ley lines might be the tracing of the path of solar eclipses across the land by the ancient ones. This practice could have been done in both the Americas and the eastern hemisphere. If so, ley lines should be thought of as curves rather than lines.

The three tzolk'in visibility zones presented near the beginning of this post move slowly backward - counter-clockwise - through the tzolk'in over hundreds - thousands - of years. This is because, as I mentioned, three eclipse seasons equal 519.93 days, which is just short of two tzolk'in cycles, or 520 days. The difference will total one day every 19.71 years. Each day in the tzolk'in cycle repeats every 20 days and it would take 394 years for the tzolk'in eclipse season to recess 20 days in the tzolk'in.

Tracking the tzolk'in eclipse season would have been important because it would have been an easy way over very long periods of time to pass on the knowledge of eclipse tracking, especially how to locate eclipses. Plus it tied the most significant regular astronomical feature - the eclipse - to the sacred calendar of the Maya that had been in use since at least 8200 BCE, the tzolk'in.

Sometime before 3114 BCE the Maya were tracking the timing of the eclipse seasons through the tzolk'in eclipse season and built the long count calendar to track this. The long count calendar is built on the following mathematics: 13.20.20.18.20. Starting from the right-hand side, there are 20 k'ins (days) in one uinal, then 18 uinals in one tun, then 20 tuns in one katun, 20 katuns in one baktun, and 13 baktun before the cycle starts over again.

	Baktun	Katun	Tun	Uinal	K'in
Number in Cycle	13	20	20	18	20
Days	1,872,000	144,000	7,200	360	20
Years	5,125.3	394.3	19.7	1.0
Days of Precession with the Tzolk'in	260	20	1	0.05
Tzolk'in Years	7,200	553.85	27.69	1.38	0.08

With the completion of 20 tuns (one katun) the tzolk'in eclipse seasons have moved backward one day in the tzolk'in. This happens every 19.7 years. Today this calendar is not exact, it takes slightly longer than 19.7 years for the tzolk'in eclipse season to precess one day. But this changes over time and seems quite likely that the calculation was exact in 3114 BCE. The historical eclipse dates listed in the NASA eclipse website correlates with a faster pace of change in the length of the eclipse year than what the Mayan long-count calendar would suggest.

Looking at the table above, one notices that there are 260 katuns in one complete cycle of the long-count calendar (20 katuns in each of 13 baktuns). This means that the tzolk'in eclipse seasons would complete exactly one round through the tzolk'in in the 5,125.3 years of the long-count, at least it would be exact if the eclipse year would have remained constant.

In one baktun the tzolk'in eclipse seasons move back in the tzolk'in exactly 20 days to the next occurrence of the same day sign. This would be easier to remember if the Maya were keying one day in the tzolk'in to track the tzolk'in eclipse seasons. There is some evidence that they were using the Ahmok day sign (Cib) to do this. A second meaning for the Ahmok day sign comes from ahmo' which means the large bird man or the falcon man. This helps explain the Aztec sign of the vulture for this day. The Maya believe that a falcon god or falcon man flies up to the sun and eats the sun thus causing a solar eclipse (or alternately to the moon for a lunar eclipse). The tzolk'in glyph (left) for the Ahmok day sign has been described as an empty shell, which symbolizes both an eclipse and the number zero.

At Palenque and several other sites are inscriptions that describe the beginning of the long count calendar, mistakenly called the creation date by some. These inscriptions describe four important events that relate to the beginning of the long-count calendar:

• the tracking of eclipses that helped confirm the arrangement of the long-count calendar;
• the invention of the zero digit, essential for the long-count calendar;
• the completion of one of the largest public works of the Maya coinciding with the long-count calendar initiation;
• gliding - the falcon man who eats the sun or moon to cause the eclipse.

Tracking eclipses

The Palenque inscriptions list the birth of First Father or Father Sun in 3122 BCE and the birth of First Goddess or Moon Goddess later in 3121 BCE. It is likely that these are referring to a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse, respectively. The date of the Father Sun event was  12.19.11.13.0 or March 1, 3122 BCE (correlation 584178) and was a new moon according to the Solex astronomy program, meaning it could have been a solar eclipse. Based on the NASA eclipse projections it would not have been an eclipse but those projections assume a certain rate of change in the length of the eclipse year. On the other hand, based on the tzolk'in eclipse seasons, that date should be an eclipse.

The Moon Goddess date of 12.19.13.4.0 or August 24, 3121 BCE was not a full moon, although three days later there was a full moon which likely would have been a lunar eclipse. The Moon Goddess date was 540 days after the Sun Father date, or twice through the tzolk'in plus 20 days. Both fell on Ahchuk (Ahaw) days, which means "the observer". Given its placement in the tzolk'in eclipse season it is possible that the lunar eclipse three days after the Moon Goddess was the beginning of a tzolkinex cycle and perhaps the beginning of a new lunar saros cycle. The Moon Goddess is called Lady Sak, which could mean either the White Lady (Moon Goddess) or the Search Lady, as in searching for the eclipse. Likely it means both.

The two eclipses confirmed the timing of the tzolk'in eclipse season. Once this was confirmed, the Maya waited only for the right astronomical event, which was the moon-Venus-Jupiter conjunction of April 27-28, 3114 BCE, which is when the long-count calendar began.

Invention of the Zero Digit

The Vase of the Seven Gods states that "Black its Center" was put in order on 0.0.0.0.0, the beginning calendar date. Several gods or spirits put Black its Center in order. This could be referring to eclipses but I think it is more likely that it is talking about the invention of the number zero. It would have been necessary to have the zero digit in order to create the long-count calendar. In other words, the number zero was created in order to have the math necessary to track eclipses.

Completion of a Public Works Project

The Palenque inscription lists an event that took place less than two years after the start of the long-count calendar, on October 21, 3112 BCE. Usually this is translated at the dedication of the World Tree of the North. However the language used makes it likely that this event was the dedication of a physical work not an astronomical concept. From my own research I can conclude that it was a grand public work, possibly the greatest public work of the Maya. I will be describing this public work at a later time.

Gliding

Palenque also records three events (often translated as the birth of gods GI, GII, and GIII) in July 2360 BCE: Event GI on July 6, 2360 (1.18.5.3.2), event GIII on July 10, 2360 (1.18.5.3.6), and event GII on July 24, 2360 (1.18.5.4.0). These events are said to take place at Matawil. They are referenced right after the 3122 and 3121 eclipses so these events are associated with eclipses. The translation of Matawil is revealing:

matz - wrapping around
wil - wing

"Wrapping wings around." In a similar vein, one of the names for the First Goddess, the Moon Goddess is Muwaan Mat:

muahn - hawk, falcon
matz - wrapping around

"Wrapping a hawk around". Here one can imagine the mythical image of the falcon man who flies up to moon and eats the moon (or sun) causing the eclipse. The Ch'orti' call this falcon man ahkilis. They created a flight suit made of hawk or falcon wings and with that flew or glided. The beginning date of Mayan gliding, or perhaps it was the beginning of the falcon man myth, appears to be 2360 BCE, according to the Palenque records.

The event (god) called GIII was born four days after GI - four days after the invention of the wings. It is also called Mah K'ina.

mah - bad, evil
k'ina - hot water

"Evil hot water," which I interpret to mean the boiling lava of an active volcano. This appears to say that four days after the first flight, a flight was attempted off a volcano where the flier landed inside the volcano. A tragedy. Probably adjustments were made to the wings and corrected by 14 days later, the event of GII.

GII was the last of the 2360 BCE events. The Palenque Temple of the Foliated Cross is dedicated to GII, also called God K or Kawiil:

kah - beginning
wiil - wing

"Beginning of the wing."

The significance of 2012 when viewed through the eclipse lens is that we have the same or very similar tzolk'in eclipse seasons in 2012-13 as were present in 3114 BCE. This would have had a lot of meaning in 3114 BCE. This would have been at least part of the significance of 2012 for the ancient Maya.

The Mayan Long Count Calendar Turned Over September 17 Not December 21

The Mayan long count calendar is a 5,125 year calendar that turned over in 2012 to start a new 5,125 year cycle. But instead of turning over on December 21, the common perception, it happened on September 17. This is because the calendar was initiated 105 days sooner in 3114 BCE than commonly believed. Instead of an August 11, 3114 BCE start date the Maya began the calendar on April 28, 3114 BCE. Some Maya consider the calendar cycle that just ended to be the fourth "world" or age. We have just started the fifth age. The third age started on November 1, 8208 BCE.

There are two key pieces of evidence that point toward an April 28 start date: the Mars retrograde long count date of the 8208 BCE third age start and the astronomical characteristics of April 28, 3114 BCE that match those of the start of the third age in 8208 BCE. After discussing those two pieces of evidence I will test the April 28, 3114 BCE start date by looking at planetary alignments for ruler accession dates, assuming that start date.

The Maya moved to Isla Tigre, Honduras in about 8600 BCE. It was the key place for the development of the earliest Mayan culture - where they learned cultivation, where they tamed animals, and where they began counting days with the 260-day tzolk'in and tracking time with the Mars retrograde long-count calendar. As they made preparations to leave the island, a spectacular alignment of planets began forming in the early morning eastern sky over more than four weeks in late September and October 8208 BCE.

First the planets lined up vertically in a near perfect line, bottom to top, of Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus. By October 28 Jupiter, Mars, and Venus were nearing each other both vertically and horizontally and began a five-day triple-star event. Saturn was just above and to the north of the three. By October 31 the moon joined the conjunction to the south. Mercury was halfway down the sky, a messenger to the sun. The next day was considered the start of the new age, the third world.

During the planetary alignment, the Mars retrograde calendar was set at 3 Tojmar (Muluk), as it had been since November 28, 8246 BCE, 38 years earlier. It finally moved in 8199 BCE, but jumped two spaces. When it jumped two spaces the previous placement was considered to be placed on both 3 Tojmar and the next sign 2 K'anir (Lamat). There are two examples in the Popol Vuh where this is true.

The triple star of 8208 BCE was the event that caused the day sign K'anir ("yellow star") to be named. Tojmar day already had a name. The day signs were named for events that happened during the Mars retrograde marker rather than for events that happened on that day in the tzolk'in itself.

The Mars calendar needed to be aligned at 3 Tojmar - 2 K'anir in 8208 BCE, rather than some other numbers of Tojmar and Kanir, because that is the only alignment that allows 7 Chamer (Cimi) (Death) to occur within the 800 years before the triple star. Seven Chamer indicates the approximate time when the Mayan ancestors arrived to El Salvador and first met and were captured by the Xibalba. The Popol Vuh clearly associates 7 Chamer with Xibalba. There was a good chance that the Mayan ancestors came from Taltal, Chile, a site which was abandoned in about 8500 BCE. An alignment of 3 Tojmar for November 28, 8246 BCE, gives a Mars retrograde period for 7 Chamer of 8688 to 8641 BCE.

It is possible that November 28, 8246 BCE was 2 K'anir instead of 3 Tojmar. Then the 8208 BCE triple star would have been considered jointly 2 K'anir - 1 Ch'i' (Manik'). The biggest evidence against this is a poem in the Popol Vuh that provides the line: xtoj xk'anil, which means "movement into Tojmar, movement into K'anir." This references the movement of the Mars retrograde calendar through two signs - Tojmar and K'anir - during the time that the Maya were developing gunpowder around 7700 BCE. If November 28, 8246, is 2 K'anir, then Tojmar and K'anir would not move together from 7692 BCE to 7677 BCE, whereas if November 28, 8246 BCE, is 3 Tojmar then Tojmar and K'anir do move together from 7692 BCE to 7677 BCE. Furthermore this would mean that twice in a row - from 8246 to 8199 BCE and from 7692 to 7677 BCE - Tojmar and K'anir would move together in the Mars retrograde calendar, giving more prominence to the poem line xtoj xk'anil.

The most accepted correlation of the long count calendar with the western calendar is the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson (GMT) correlation of 584283. Assuming that November 28, 8246 BCE was 3 Tojmar, there are three principal options for lining up the long-count calendar and tzolk'in with the western calendar:

• GMT -365, correlation constant 583918
• GMT -105, correlation constant 584178
• GMT +155, correlation constant 584438

The first option has some appeal being one year off. But the middle option, correlation constant 584178, is the closest to the GMT correlation. More importantly, correlation constant 584178 provides a start date of the long-count calendar - the beginning of the fourth age - of April 28, 3114 BCE, a day with astronomical features that come close to matching those of November 1, 8208 BCE, the beginning of the third age.

These three events were equivalent 45 minutes before sunrise on both April 28, 3114 BCE and November 1, 8208:

• Venus and Jupiter were closely aligned with exact conjunction the day before;
• The moon was a few degrees past the Venus and Jupiter conjunction with exact conjunction the day before;
• Mercury was visible about half-way between the Venus and Jupiter conjunction and the horizon, a messenger to the sun.

These three events may happen only once every 200 years. While a Venus - Jupiter conjunction happens nearly once per year, it is rarer for them to be aligned horizontally at the same time. Add in a moon conjunction and Mercury in the same early morning sky and it is rare event. The Maya would have recognized the importance of a sky that matched the story of the 8208 BCE sky. From the Popol Vuh we know that the oral history of the 8208 BCE sky was kept alive.

The Maya had already figured out the math of the new long-count calendar and they were waiting for a sign to start the new calendar. The Venus-Jupiter-Moon-Mercury alignment of late April 3114 BCE was the sign from the spirit world to start the long-count calendar. April 28 was 4 Ahchuk, the Observer, in the tzolk'in (Ajaw in Yucatec). Thus, the correlation constant of 584178 is correct.

In order to determine the end date of the fourth age that just ended, the date when the long-count calendar turned over, one further adjustment of the tzolk'in needs to be made due to the ten-day skip in October 1582 CE. The adjustment needs to be made because many scholars and online Mayan calendars do not take account of the skipped ten days. Taking account of the ten-day skip, means that after 1582 CE the correct correlation for the tzolk'in and the long count calendar is GMT -95, correlation constant 584188.

The April 28, 3114 BCE start date of the Mayan long-count calendar would mean that the calendar turned over to 0.0.0.0.0 on September 17, 2012, not December 21, 2012.

A Study to Test out the Hypothesis

I set up a study to test out the veracity of the 584178 correlation constant. The hypothesis is that the Maya would have used planetary alignments in their selection of a date used for the accession of a new ruler. The alignment that I used is the most obvious - a conjunction between any of the five visible planets, the sun, and the moon (the "luminaries").

I found 64 accession dates from 15 sites, including 16 from Palenque and 8 each from Tikal, Copan, and Yaxchilan. Most of the accession dates are from The Ancient Maya, 5th Ed, by Robert J. Sharer. Because of the low number of accession dates I could not create a random sample but rather used the entire sample. I would invite additional accession dates from readers. I then created a random sample of 100 dates with a random number generator of Julian dates between January 1, 320 CE and December 31, 780 CE (Gregorian), which is about range of dates from the accession sample.

I checked conjunctions between the seven luminaries: sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. An 8 degree orb was used, consistent in both the accession sample and the comparison group. I checked both the early morning sky and the evening sky - midnight to midnight in Mesoamerica (using today's time zones). The following measures where used:

• total conjunctions
• whether each conjunction was present on the date
• for each luminary, whether it was involved in at least one conjunction on the date
• for each luminary, total number of conjunctions on each date

Results

The Maya did use luminary conjunctions as they were choosing ruler accession dates: for the 64 accession dates there was an average of 1.97 conjunctions per date compared to 1.40 for the comparison group (significance at 99% certainty using a two-tailed t-test). Saturn was involved in a conjunction in 41% of the accession dates compared to 21% of the comparison dates (significance at 99% certainty using a chi sq test). It was unusual for Mayan accession dates not to have at least one conjunction: only 9% had no conjunctions compared to 22% of the comparison group.

Total and Average Number of Conjunctions by Luminary, Mayan Accession Dates and Comparison Group, with T-test P-value

Luminary	Acces- sion Date Conjunc- tions n=64	Aver- age per Date	Compar- ison Group Conjunc- tions n=100	Aver- age per Date	P-value in T-test
Sun	46	0.72	55	0.55	0.159
Moon	31	0.48	38	0.38	0.282
Mercury	49	0.77	54	0.54	0.064 *
Venus	42	0.66	49	0.49	0.162
Mars	36	0.56	35	0.35	0.076 *
Jupiter	17	0.27	27	0.27	0.959
Saturn	31	0.48	22	0.22	0.006 ***

* Significant at 90% level.
** Significant at 95% level.
*** Significant at 99% level.

The Moon-Saturn conjunction was the most common Saturn conjunction, used in 14% of accession dates compared to 4% of the comparison group (significance at 95% certainty using a chi sq test). Since the moon conjuncts Saturn every 29 days, this would have been the easiest way to ensure Saturn's involvement in an accession. Two other conjunctions were significantly more common among the accession date sample than the comparison group sample at the 90% certainty level: Venus-Mars (16% to 7%) and Mercury-Saturn (9% to 3%).

Total and Average Number of Specific Luminary Conjunction Pairs, Mayan Accession Dates and Comparison Group, with Chi square test P-value, for P < 0.20

Luminary Pair Conjunc- tion	Acces- sion Date Conjunc- tions n=64	Per- cent of Dates with Conjunc- tion	Compar- ison Group Conjunc- tions n=100	Per- cent of Dates with Conjunc- tion	P-value in Chi Sq test
Moon-Saturn	9	14%	4	4%	0.020 **
Venus-Mars	10	16%	7	7%	0.077 *
Mercury-Saturn	6	9%	3	3%	0.080 *
Mars-Saturn	4	6%	2	2%	0.157
Moon-Jupiter	3	5%	11	11%	0.158
Sun-Moon	5	8%	3	3%	0.163

* Significant at 90% level.
** Significant at 95% level.

One surprising result is the complete lack of Jupiter conjunctions in the 16 ruler accession dates at Palenque. This compares with 31% of the non-Palenque accession dates having a Jupiter conjunction and 22% of the comparison group with a Jupiter conjunction. Compared to the comparison group, the lack of Jupiter conjunctions at Palenque has a p value of 0.000, which makes it extremely unlikely to be a random event. The Palenque accessions take place over 369 years so it was a practice consistently followed for a long time.

Conclusions:

1. The Maya timed ruler accession days to maximize luminary conjunctions, especially Saturn.
2. The Maya were using a long-count that began on April 28, 3114 BCE and ended on September 17, 2012 CE, with a correlation Mayan-European of 584178 (-105 days). It is with this correlation that the above significant findings take place.
3. The Mayan 4th age begun on April 28, 3114 BCE had a planetary alignment similar to that of the beginning of the 3rd age on November 1, 8208 BCE: very tight Venus-Jupiter conjunction in the morning sky with the moon just past and Mercury half-way to the sun.
4. The Mars retrograde calendar is a reality. The 584178 correlation gives a Mars retrograde date of 3 Tojmar - 2 K'anir at the time of the November 1, 8208 BCE planetary alignment. This alignment gave name to the day sign K'anir (yellow star). This also places the Popol Vuh-referenced Mars retrograde date of 7 Chamer (death) at about 8700 BCE, the time that the Mayan ancestors first met their deathly enemies, the Xibalban hunters.