The Indigenous History of El Salvador

Pellagra, Nixtamal, and the Dispersion of the Maya

For those familiar with my writing, up to now it had been unclear how the Maya and Olmec went from being concentrated in El Salvador for thousands of years, from 8200 BCE to 2400 BCE, to spread out over thousands of kilometers from the northwest coast of Mexico to the Yucatan to the Pacific Coast of Chiapas and Guatemala by 1600 BCE. This dispersion happened in less than a thousand years. Such a dispersion is not natural, it takes an outside force like war, famine, or a life-changing invention. In Mesoamerica the dispersal force was disease: pellagra.

By Amedeo John Engel Terzi (Wellcome Library Catalogue) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

Pellagra - a Disease of the Monoculture of Corn

Pellagra is a non-hereditary disease caused from a deficiency of niacin in the diet. Corn, in its natural state, blocks tryptophan and niacin from being released. Before corn became large and tastier, the Maya would have had a more balanced diet, so sufficient niacin was consumed. High-niacin foods in Mesamerica would have included fish, peanuts, and avocado. Tryptophan would have been present in fish, peanuts, and squash seeds. But corn became more desirable around 2500 BCE. And perhaps a large part of the population was moving away from the traditional lake-side homes (Güija, Coatepeque, Olomega) and thus eating less fish.

Pellagra has a number of symptoms including red skin lesions, diarrhea, weakness, lack of coordination, nerve damage, paralysis, aggression, confusion, dementia, and death. It seems that the Maya learned early on that it was caused by corn. We see this in one of the names for corn, maix, which became maize in English. Maix means "bad movements" - bad runs and a clear reference to the diarrhea caused by pellagra.

Earlier I wrote about how parts of the Popol Vuh were written through the lens of having a diseased leadership due to pellagra. All Maya lineages suffered pellagra, including the Quiches who wrote down the Popol Vuh in the colonial era. The frequent use of the jaguar skin, matching the lesions of pellagra, are one example.

Maya Response: Banishment of the Diseased

The policy of the Maya elite, the leaders of the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage based at Igualtepeque, El Salvador, was to force any portion of a lineage with high incidence of pellagra to evacuate to outside of the traditional area of the Maya (El Salvador). Over the course of several hundred years, there were at least nine mass banishments involving most of the Maya population, resulting in only a small population of Maya left in the traditional homeland of El Salvador. The banished groups were sent north or west, usually by sea, either on the Atlantic or Pacific coast of Central America or Mexico.

Based on the meaning of their name, the Huasteca were the first group to be banished - Huasteca is was tech ka or "beginning of opening up from tortillas." The opening up refers to the lesions associated with pellagra. The reference to tortillas indicates that the Maya were aware quite early that pellagra was caused by corn. The Huasteca were probably from the Ch'orti' lineage and were banished north on foot to Copan where they took boats down the Copan River to the Motagua River to the Gulf of Honduras. Copan means "catch the current." From there they followed the coast of the Yucatan peninsula until they reached northeast Mexico. There they probably landed near Tuxpan or Naranjos and went inland.

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

Near Tuxpan is a lagoon called Tampamachoco or tam pa' mah choh ko(y) or "eating the corn with center with a bad reputation." This clear reference to non-treated corn, may have been the first landing place of the Huasteca.

The Quiche were probably the next banished group of Maya, leaving from Teopan and the Lago Coatepeque area. Before they left the leaders of the Quiche met with the leaders of the Ch'orti' at a place now called El Congo, to decide what to do. El Congo is kon k'o or "plan for the cliffs," referring to the cliffs surrounding Lago Coatepeque. The Quiche went the furthest north on the Pacific Coast side, indicating their early banishment. In contrast to the Ch'orti', nearly the entire Quiche community went together in spite that probably only a portion was suffering from pellagra. This would include the Quiche language groups Cakchiquel, Tzutuhil, Sipacapa, and Sacapultec. It likely also included language groups more distantly related to the Quiche, including Kekchi, Uspantec, and Pocomam. Some of these names reflect directly on the pellagra crisis. Kekchi is k'ek' ch'i' or "growing stronger," reflecting improvement following pellagra. Pocomam is pok ohom mam or "rinse dark spots in the ocean," referring to rinsing off the pellagra lesions in the ocean where the Quiche were banished to, which is the island of Teacapan in northwest Mexico. It appears that nearly the entire Quiche community left even those who were not suffering from pellagra.

The exception would be the ancestors of the people who now live in the town of Coatepeque, El Salvador. Their oral legend says that they were forced from living along the lakeshore of Lago Coatepeque but were allowed to take the name Coatepeque with them. Coatepeque means "bath in the hard, cracked cliff stones." Viewed from the inside, Coatepeque's stone cliffs look like a ringed serpent. It is easy to see how the phrase "Coate" became "coatl" in Nahuatl, a language that the Quiche helped to shape, meaning "serpent." The Quiche remained in Mexico for over 3,000 years, although some sub-lineages moved back to Central America much earlier, including the Kekchi, Uspantec, and Pocomam.

While the details are not quite as clear, another early banishment was the people who became the Purépecha in Michoacan state of Mexico. This is given by the meaning of Purépecha - pur lehp pech ch'a' or "orphans from the horizontal back and forth rubbing." "Horizontal back and forth rubbing" describes the motion of kneading the corn masa on a metate grinding stone. There are three clues why the Purépecha come from a banishment of the Olmec lineage. First, the Purépecha language is an isolate and the Olmec language became much more disintegrated than did the Maya languages. Second, the other two lineages in El Salvador - Chol-Ch'orti' and Quiche had early pellagra outbreaks - one would expect the Olmec to have had an early outbreak as well. The only other possible candidate for an early Olmec banishment would be the Totonacs. Third, the Purepecha have a somewhat elevated level of Mal'ta DNA that I associate with the Ainu, the Zuni, and the Xibalba. Mal'ta MA-1 is a 24,000 year old individual whose remains were found in south-central Siberia. According to the Popol Vuh, the Olmec lineage leader of the first generation to arrive in El Salvador, married a Xibalba woman. Thus, one would expect Olmec-related people to have a higher level of Mal'ta DNA than Maya-related people.

Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo By AlejandroLinaresGarcia (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Purépecha oral history says that they moved from the Pacific Coast up to the Michoacan highlands. The most likely route inland would have been by boat up the Rio Balsas and then on foot. The names of the coastal communities near the mouth of the Balsas River tell the story of arrival of the Purépecha. Southeast of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, at the mouth of the Balsas River, is Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo. This name in Ch'orti' is ix ta'p pa' si wa’ tan neh h’o, meaning "rows of desirable tassels being in interior, storing the runs corn." The key phrase here is "runs corn" or diarrhea corn, making it clear that this corn was growing before the nixtamal solution had been found and shared. It is possible that the Ixtapa name was given soon after arriving and Zihuatanejo added after nixtamal was learned.

One other name might be from the arrival time of the Purépecha from eastern El Salvador: Atoyac, about 200 kilometers southeast of the Balsas mouth. It is ah toy ak', meaning "the offering for the skin," referring to the lesions from pellagra.

The deities of the Purépecha are mostly translatable using Ch'orti' indicating the Purépecha spoke a language relatively close to Ch'orti' when they arrived to present-day Michoacan. The first deity is Kurikaweri and is the sky god, the god of war and the sun. It is k'ur ik' ha' [wer] ri and means "points in the air beside the water," referring to the triple star event of 8208 BCE on Isla Tigre. The second deity is Kwerawaperi and she is the creator and mother earth goddess. In Ch'orti' it is kah [wer] lah ha' ber ri and means "beginning of planting beside slack water," referring to first cultivation on Isla Tigre in about 8300 BCE. [Note: I'm not able to translate the syllable wer.] This makes it clear that the Purépecha share the Isla Tigre origin with all the other Mesoamerican people. A third deity, Xaratenga, is the offspring of the first two and represents the west. This indicates that it is specific to the Purépecha and was gained upon going west from El Salvador. Xaratenga is the goddess of the sea and the moon and is ch'a'r aht ten k'a in Ch'orti'. This means "happy flattening (clearing) at horizontal (calm) lake" and most likely refers to Lake Patzcuaro, an early Purépecha settlement.  

Totonac headdress By LMPA (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Totonacs were perhaps the fourth banishment from El Salvador. They could have roots in either the Olmec or Chol-Ch'orti lineages, but two Olmec banishments were sent along the Pacific while the other two early Chol-Ch'orti' banishments (Huasteca and Yucatec) were sent along the Atlantic coast, thereby favoring a Chol/Ch'orti' origin for the Totonac. The name Totonac speaks to their pellagra banishment origin: t'oht' on ak' or "previous skin from tapping," referring to formerly having bad skin due to corn - tapping tortillas.

They seem to have landed at present day Veracruz Heróica on Mexico's east Gulf coast. While most names were later Nahuatalized or replaced by Spanish names, a few original names remain like Laguna Tarimoya in the city of Veracruz. Tarimoya is tar ri moy ha' or "arrive beside the constricted water." Just south of Tarimoya is a neighborhood called Pochota or poch ot tah, which means "forest covering for shelter," likely describing their first few nights in Veracruz.

Just south of Veracruz is the Jamapa River, which is ha' ma pa' or "bad corn river," linking the area to the bad (non-nixtamalized) corn that the Totonacs brought with them. But the Totonacs learned a new diversified agriculture that included large squash or pumpkins. On the north side of Veracura is Colonia Chalchihuecan, a name that is unmistakably Ch'orti'. It is ch'a'ar ch'i' weh kan in Ch'orti' or "learn to grow the fleshy horizontal one (squash)."

The Totonac seem to have struck out on a new path compared to many of the other banishments. They seem not to have made a conscious attempt to maintain the Maya language as their language is considered a language isolate, while the Huasteca, who were further from Central America and left before the Totonac, still speak a language considered Maya. The Totonac also cultivated little corn - understandable given pellagra, but even after nixtamal corn remained only a minor part of the diet.

By Michael Doss from Santa Ana, CA, USA (Vanilla planifolia 160102) [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The Totonac were the discoverers of vanilla and this most likely took place at Papantla de Olarte - the vanilla orchid is also called the Papantla orchid. Papantal de Olarte would be pa' ban tal te' hor ahr te' in Ch'orti' or "time of arrival to crested plant, valuable food plant." [Note: A better view of the crested nature of the flower.] In colonial times the Ch'orti'-speaking Putun traders gave the name vainilla to the Spanish. The Ch'orti' name was binilha' or "companions' curing liquid."

Given their distance from El Salvador perhaps the next group to be banished were those that became the Yucatec. It is likely that, like the Huasteca and Totonac, they were part of the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage. Their departure may have been around 2000 BCE, given settlement patterns in northern Belize and the Peten. Yucatec is yuk' k'at tech' and means "trembling, crossing the expanse." One of the symptoms of pellagra is lack of balance and shaking. Crossing the expanse may refer to the walk from Guija to Copan, where they caught boats. Alternately, the expanse may refer to the boat ride on the Caribbean Sea from the Bay of Honduras to northern Belize. The Maya had likely already named the Yucatan and the soon-to-be Yucatec lineage picked a name that was similar to Yucatan. Yucatan peninsula is yuk k'at ahn or "crossing the joining of currents" or "joining the currents across."

Santa Rita By Elelicht (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

The early site of Santa Rita, in northern Belize, settled as early as 2000 BCE, suggests that the Yukatec went by boat from Copan to Belize. The nearby town of Corozal is k'or lo tz'a' and means "transport on slack wetness," referring to the gentle waters inside Belize's barrier reef. West a few kilometers of Corozal is Patchakan. In Ch'orti' it is pa' ch'ak k'an or "clear for yellow corn." Chetumal, just across the border in Mexico, is che tum mal and means "handle the narrow sea" and most likely indicates the path in the barrier reef that the Yucatek took along the coast to reach Corozal/Chetumal.

Reasons for the Banishments

Before looking at the last four banishments, it is good to discuss why the Maya elite decided it was necessary to take this action. At first, it is likely that they did not understand the disease. They may have thought it was contagious or hereditary. That could explain the first, Huasteca, banishment. But they had a lot of intelligence in health and soon would have known that it was not contagious or hereditary.

It was probably the symptoms themselves at a mass scale that made pellagra a threat. A large number of people with aggression, confusion, and dementia could tear away at the seams of society, threatening the way of life of the Maya. This was probably the case of those who were banished. Of course life must have been hell for the first and second generation of people in the banished groups - the Huasteca, the Quiche, the Yucatec, and the others.

The Last Four Banishments: Olmec, Mam, Kanjobal, and Ulua

Another group banished from the Olomega region, in eastern El Salvador, was the Olmec. This story starts with an important oral history of the Lenca, a people from the same lineage as the Olmec. This story was recounted by Lenca Jaime Núñez.

Once upon a time, many years after one part of our kingdom slipped into the sea, the Manauele Lords wanted to send an expedition to search the sea and locate the 'lost part' of our land. They knew that the earth was a giant turtle. Ixo-Kelkele, his wife Ulul, and Chief Aranuka sailed out and never returned. Warriors, priests, servants, artisans, doctors, magicians, dancers, and navigators, and experts in reading the stars went with. They aided their direction by placing guiding lights inside bowls, floating on the water. Sailors believed the guiding bowls would float over the back of the sacred eels of the ocean (sea currents) & show them the way.

Las Tunas and Torola Beaches where Lenca legend says their kingdom split apart.

The Lenca interpret the slipping away of the kingdom as part of the land mass of southeast El Salvador sliding into the ocean. I interpret it as a large part of the humans in the kingdom sailing away - and eventually becoming the Olmec. The oral history seems to have Ixo-Kelkele and company sailing out to look for the departed portion of the kingdom when it is they themselves who are the departed portion of the kingdom. This is made even clearer by all the specialized people who left, including doctors, magicians and dancers - people who would not normally be on a search party.

Let's look at the names of the leaders. Ixo-Kelkele is ix tzo k'er kere means "separating the nest, motion to divide in two." Ulul is ul lul and means "explain the spots." Ulul is key in understanding that this dividing of the Olmec and leaving the Lenca was caused by pellagra, since spots are the first and most common symptom of pellagra. Finally, Aranuke is ahr la'an nuk ker, which means "the time of dividing due to fatigued necks." Fatigued necks come from the lack of coordination due to pellagra.

Several place names in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico fill in more of the story of the Olmec. First, it appears that their center of population in El Salvador was in the eastern part of San Miguel department. Uluazapa is ur was sahb pa' or "explain about patted masa tortillas." This name seems to have come when the Ch'orti' lineage came to visit to explain about pellagra. The neighboring village is Comacaran, which is k'om ak' ahr ahn in Ch'orti' or in English "time of running due to spliced skin." Spliced skin is one way of describing the skin lesions of pellagra. The big meeting between the Ch'orti' and the Olmec/Lenca seems to have taken place at Conchagua, 30 kilometers southeast of Comacaran and near the Gulf of Fonseca. Conchagua is kon cha' wa' and means "plan for two beings," referring to how the Olmec and Lenca would separate and become two peoples.

Vegetation-covered Quelepa mound in midground.

Twenty kilometers west of Uluazapa is Quelepa and this is where the remaining Olmec settled when the elite Olmec were forced to take to the seas. Eventually this Olmec remnant became known as the Lenca and Quelepa became their ceremonial center. They likely spoke proto-Lenca rather than Ch'orti' at the time but most were probably fluent in Ch'orti' and they used Ch'orti' as their naming/protocol language. Quelepa is ker leb pa' in Ch'orti' and means "divided by the patted masa." "Patted masa" means tortilla or corn. This clearly indicates the separation of the Olmec. Moncagua is a village five kilometers from Quelepa. It is mo on ka wa' and means "beginning of being restricted from the previous." The "previous" would mean the Olmec who were forced to leave, although this meaning might suggest that the two Olmec groups - those with pellagra and those without - were separated for some time before the sea departure.

The Olmec were sent by the Ch'orti' by boat west along the Pacific Coast, most likely departing near Las Tunas beach where the Lenca legend says their kingdom was ripped in two. By the time the Olmec were past the present-day border of El Salvador and Guatemala, it appears that small groups began to break off (or were forced) and went to shore. The Xinca may have been the first group. Xinca is chin kah or "shaking at the beginning" - a reference to pellagra. Lenca leader Leonel Chavez believes that the Xinca are related to the Lenca by language and lineage, supporting the idea that they were a break-off from the Olmec banishment.

The same - or a second - break-off group seems to have stopped at the shore near the site of Monte Alto in eastern Guatemala. The lack of inhibition due to pellagra may help explain some of the stone heads and potbellies made at Monte Alto starting in 1800 BCE (right). Many of the stones have magnetic properties.

The main group of Olmec immigrants probably settled at the Izapa site in southeast Mexico. Izapa has a meaning directly related to pellagra, ix sahb pa' or "movement from the patted masa." This indicates that Izapa was settled at the same time as Monte Alto, at the time of the Olmec banishment in about 1800 BCE. Izapa reached its peak in about 600 BCE. It has been debated whether it was a Maya or Olmec site. It was both and there was no difference in 1800 BCE.

Izapa. By Lorena Gutiérrez G (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

About a kilometer from Izapa is the town of Tuxtla. It is tutz' tal ha' in Ch'orti' or "arriving by water and extending out." This name describes arriving by sea from El Salvador and then extending or spreading out once arriving at Izapa. The Olmec likely carried the Tuxtla name with them from Izapa to Veracruz and its famous Tuxtlas. The name Tuxtla also sees the collapsing of the tal sound to tl, something the Olmec may have contributed to the Nahuatl language later developed at Teotihuacan.

About ten kilometers east of Izapa in Guatemala is the town of Malacatan. In Ch'orti' it is mar lah k'at ahn or "crossing the sea from the fatigued current." The "fatigued current" is an expression for the Gulf of Fonseca. This expression was used repeatedly by the Chibcha when they left the Gulf several thousand years earlier. Technically, the Olmec may have left from the Pacific Ocean rather than the Gulf, but it would have been in the region of the Gulf of Fonseca. Malacatan helps to confirm the relationship between Olomega and Izapa and the relationship between the Olmec and the Lenca.

Pajón, 100 kilometers up the coast from Izapa, is another pre-Classic site. In Ch'orti' it is pa' on or "previous corn." The Olmec continued to grow corn that was untreated and continued to contribute to pellagra.

Two or three hundred years later, after nixtamal was invented, part of the Olmec community in the Izapa area moved to Veracruz, on the opposite side of Mexico, and became the famous Olmec civilization. If they walked northeast into Guatemala they would have reached small navigable rivers that drain into the Usumacinta River, thus minimizing time spent walking. Earlier I wrote about the links in place names between Veracruz and eastern El Salvador.

Ulua River, By Anjelkaido (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The Olmec (and Purepacha) were not the only banishment from eastern El Salvador. Earlier I wrote about the Cacaopera, a group of Miskito-Matagalpa who came (back) to El Salvador to grow cacao along the Torola River. Part (or possibly all) of the Cacaopera community became infected with pellagra and they had to follow the instructions of the Ch'orti' too. The group that left went north to the Honduran Atlantic Coast and became the Ulua along the Ulua River. In Ch'orti', Ulua is ur lur and means "explain the spots." The spots are from pellagra. The Cacaopera-Ulua probably first settled at Ticamaya in the lower Ulua valley and not far from present-day Cholola. They also named their villages in Ch'orti', the language of protocol even beyond the Maya. Ticamaya is ti' ka ma yah and means "beginning of bad openings illness."

There was a third Olmeca/Lenca banishment, most likely a very small one just before nixtamal was invented. A group of Lenca with pellagra were sent from southeast El Salvador to northern Morazan, across the Torola River. The name Meanguera, a municipal seat just across the river is mah ahn k'er ha' in Ch'orti' and means "dividing those by the weak current water," a reference to the split in the Lenca who lived near the Gulf of Fonseca. Naming this place Meanguera (or Maanguera) was a bit of a faux pas, given that there is an island of the same name in the Gulf. This demonstrates that it was likely not an elite group that moved to Morazan.

Besides the Huasteca and Yucatec, there were two more internal Ch'orti' banishments from the "bad openings illness." It is hard to tell which came first or if they came before or after the Olmec. But since they landed on the coast slightly to the southeast of Izapa - closer to El Salvador - they likely came after the Olmec. These two Ch'orti' banishments became the Mam and the Panjobal people. From the place names it appears that these two banishments happened at about the same time and went to the same place - Takalik Abaj.

By Simon Burchell (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Takalik Abaj, in western Guatemala, is located 400 kilometers west-northwest of the mouth of the Lempa River. It is north of the regional center Retalhuleu. They likely came up the Samala River to the Ok River to Retalhuleu. Ok is "walk" or "walk from river" and the first two syllables of Retalhuleu mean "arrive with load." The two groups likely stopped first at Asintal, about a 16 kilometer walk from the Ok River. Asintal is ah sin tal and means "the series of arrivals." This name makes it clear that there was more than one migration but that the migrations happened at about the same time. The nearby river Ixchaya River, also close to Takalik Abaj, tells a similar story, it is ix cha' yah and means the "movement of two infected." This refers to two groups infected with pellagra and confirms that there were two migrations.

The names of the Mam and Kanjobal lineages and sub-lineages tell more about their starts during the pellagra crisis. Mam means "dark spots," a reference to the pellagra lesions. Of the sub-lineages of the Mam, Ixil and Tektitek appear to have initiated after the pellagra. The Awakatek, though, seem to speak of the move to Guatemala. It is ah wa' k'at tech and "the crossers while being open." The crossers refer to those who made the ocean passage from El Salvador to Guatemala. "Being open" refers to the pellagra lesions.

Kanjobal is kan ch'op par and means "learn of expulsion by boat." This makes it clear that the pellagra dispersion was not voluntary. The Güija lineage with pellagra, who would become the Kanjobal, were forced by the Güija lineage without pellagra, who would be the Chol-Ch'orti', to leave El Salvador. A sub-lineage is the Mocho, which is moch tzo or "fold up the nest" - leaving El Salvador. Another sub-lineage is the Tojolabal, which is toh hol ha' pal and means "offering on the boat on the head water." The "head water" likely means at the beginning of the trip on the head waters, such as at Lago Güija. The Chuj sub-lineage may be ch'uhch' which is "jerked" and would refer to being jerked away from their community in El Salvador. Even sub-languages that diverged much later from the Kanjobal appear to have acquired their name at the banishment time when they were already distinct family lineages. Similar to Awakatec, the Acatec is ah k'at tech and means "the opened crossers." The Jacaltec would be hak' ahr tech and would mean "diminishing of the opening up," referring to the time of getting better.

Not only were there banishment to the coasts of Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico, there were further movements from these new population centers to the Gulf Coast and Pacific Coast of the present-day U.S. Several names of Native American nations indicate that they were founded out of the Maya pellagra crisis. Whether they were banished or left voluntarily is not clear. This will be covered in more detail in a separate post.

Discovering Lime and the Nixtamal Solution

It seems that soon after the last banishment, whether Mam or Kanjobal, the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage discovered the cure to pellagra. This discovery happened in present-day southern La Libertad department of El Salvador, with Huizucar and Jicalapa being key. Jicalapa was a long-time Maya community since about 7800 BCE, when the Güija flood refugees resettled there and Teotepeque. Much later, in about 1600 BCE, it seems that the Maya were gunpowder blasting at Huizucar, most likely improving the downflow of the Huizucar River. The Maya discovered gunpowder by 7600 BCE and used it mainly for public works projects. They must have blasted through limestone, creating a new substance which we call lime. Lime, or calcium oxide, does not occur naturally in nature. Limestone must be baked or blasted in order for lime to occur.

Lime or calcium oxide. By Chemicalinterest (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

They took the lime to Jicalapa to test it out. The name Huizucar has a double meaning. The first is wih suk kar and means "origin of lime while cutting." Cutting refers to the blasting work. The second meaning is wis uh kar and means "sacred lime protector." Tilapa, a village close to Huizucar is tihr lab pa' or "breaking down the patting masa (corn)", linking the discovery of lime to pellagra. Lime breaks down the corn so that niacin is released.

Corn that has been nixtamaled. By Glane23 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Several place names around Jicapala, 35 kilometers to the west of Huizucar, provide more details. Jicalapa itself is hix kal lab pa' or "lime to loosen patted masa (corn)." The river just east of Jicalapa is the Sensipa. This is xe'en sib pa', meaning "producing the swollen corn." Corn soaked in lime puffs out much more than corn that isn't.  Ten kilometers west of Jicalapa is Sihuapilapa, which is si wa' pi lab pa' or "number of companions are patting masa." Soaking the corn in lime and water is called nixtamal. This is ni ix tam al or "the time of no more moving inside." "Moving inside" is a reference to the runs caused by the untreated corn and is the same ix as in maix, which became maiz or maize.

Once the Chol-Ch'orti' Maya discovered the nixtamal solution to pellagra, it appears that they sent out emissaries to all the Mexico-Central American peoples, including the banished Maya. There are place names with many groups that reflect this time. One of the more obvious is El Baul, which became a pre-Classic Maya site of either the Mam or Kanjobal in coastal Guatemala. Baul is pa' ur or "explain the masa." While earlier it was necessary to explain the pellagra masa, now it was necessary to explain the nixtamal masa. One of the Kanjobal sub-lineages is the Jacaltec or hak' ahr tech, which means "diminishing of the opening up," explaining the impact as people began using the nixtamal process. And the river west of Takalik Abaj is the Nima which is ni mah or "no more badness," referring to nixtamal.

The process happened among the Olmec communities centered at Izapa. One other community where they likely settled was El Mesak, southeast several kilometers in Guatemala. Mesak is mes ak' and means "clean the skin." Mesak refers to skin being cleared up either because their diet became more diversified or the nixtamal process was shared with them. Even more obvious is the community of Petacalapa, about 10 km east of Izapa in Guatemala. Petacalapa is pet ha' kar la pa' and means "pour water with lime over patting masa (corn)."

The Chol-Ch'orti' also sent the nixtamal formula to the Purépecha, along the Guerrero/Michoacan coast. Petacalco, a town near the mouth of the Rio Balsas River, is very clear. It is: pet ha' kal k'o(y), which means "pour water over lime without vigor." The precise instructions let people know it wasn't necessary to shake or do much stirring. Sixty kilometers west, up the Pacific Coast, is Caleta de Campos, which is kal eht ha' k'am pos, or "in water tested the lime from useful black magic." The syllable pos or "black magic" is usually reserved for working with gunpowder. This town further links lime to the gunpowder usage at Huizucar, El Salvador. One gets a sense from Caleta de Campos, the re-telling of the story of how lime was discovered.

It appears that the Purépecha had already migrated partially inland at the time of nixtamal. Huetamo is a village about 120 kilometers inland from Ixtapa-Zihuatenejo. In Ch'orti it is weh tam h'o or "desirable pulp in the center," likely reference to nixtamaled corn. And about 80 kilometers west of Huetamo is Churumuco. While the name doesn't directly relate to pellagra or nixtamal, one gets the sense it may have been named at this time. In Ch'orti' it is ch'ur rum muk ho and means "good guardian spirit buried underground."

The Chol-Ch'orti' also sent people to the Ulua in northern Honduras and Belize. This is seen in the name Despoloncal in the lower Ulua River valley of Honduras. Despoloncal is tech bol on kal or "beads of lime open up the old corn." This name is interesting because it shows that there was an understanding that the corn was the same -the same "old" corn, but the process, the nixtamal, was different. In Belize, the village of Calcutta is near what may have been the original settlement of the Yucatek of Santa Rita. Calcutta is kal kut ha' or "patting with lime in the water." Thirty kilometers north is Bacalar, Mexico, which is pa' kal ahr, "time of the lime in corn."

Word of the nixtamal solution also reached the Totonac along the Veracruz coast. The clearest indication is the town of Calnali, in Hidalgo state, 140 kilometers west of Tuxpan. Calnali is kal nar ri in Ch'orti' and means "beside the lime for the corn," which seems to indicate that a source of limestone, and hence, lime was located near Calnali. The city of Xalapa might have been named after nixtamal. It is ha lahb pa' and means "water over rubbing masa (corn)." Colipa, about 120 kilometers north of Veracruz and 25 kilometers inland seems to be another location of limestone. Colipa is kor ri pa' and means "beside what frees the corn."

The Chol-Ch'orti's also explained to the Lenca in eastern El Salvador about the nixtamal process. The Lenca royal dynasties are called Taulepa, which is a Ch'orti' word t'a' ul lehp pa' and means "explain about flesh of patting corn." The Lenca date their royal lineage back to when the Ch'orti' explained the nixtamal process to them in about 1600 BCE.

Once the communities of the Chiapas-Guatemala coast learned the nixtamal process, they quickly became a center of cacao production which helped to fuel the pre-Classic development. The name Chiapas comes from this time period. It is ch'i' ap as or "practice growing the swinging (one)," referring to the cacao. To the northwest of Izapa along the coast is Pijijiapan or pi ch'i' ch'ih ap ban, which means "companions growing the good large swinging fruit (cacao)." Because the name uses the subject pi or "companions," it is clear that it was the Ch'orti' visiting the Chiapas coast who named this Olmec village.

Cacao also was grown along the Guatemala coast. Ujuxte is a pre-Classic site on the western coast of Guatemala. It is uh hux te' or "picking the sacred tree," referring to the cacao.  Takalik Abaj is a pre-Classic site and seems to have been near the first settlement of the Mam and Kanjobal. It is tak k'ar ik' ap pach' which means "dry in air, crush the swinging one, store." Again, the "swinging one" refers to the cacao. The name Takalik Abaj describes the processing of the cacao.

Questions and Conclusions

Two questions raised by the pellagra crisis related to the diet and to the long-term political relationships among the various Maya groups and states. Related to the diet, if the Maya knew that a diet heavy in corn was the cause of pellagra, why did they continue to eat a corn-heavy diet causing new pellagra outbreaks? Were they able to identify other sources of niacin like fish?

The second question is to what extent did the pellagra crisis cause long-term instability, resentments and aggression between the Chol-Ch'orti' and all the other Maya? Did it cause any role in the break-down of Maya unity during the Classic period when many city-states were warring with each other?

There are several conclusions about the pellagra crisis.

First, the pellagra crisis delayed the flowering of the Maya civilization by 500 to 1000 years. The delay was caused by energy devoted to the crisis rather than development from about 2400 BCE to 1700 BCE and by confusion, difficulty in maintaining cultural memory, and perhaps lack of succession due to the more serious effects of pellagra such as aggression, dementia, and death. 

On the other hand, the development delay was mitigated partially by the new-found independence of the various lineages as they were banished by the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage. The earliest Maya-Olmec structures near Monte Alto and Izapa are an expression of independence and perhaps rebellion from the control of the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage, in addition to being expressions of beauty and spirituality.

A third conclusion is that the pellagra crisis was the primary cause of the dispersion of the Maya, including the Huasteca in northeast Mexico, the Quiche in northwest Mexico before they returned to Guatemala, the Yucatec to Yucatan and Belice, the Olmec, first to the Chiapas-Guatemala coast and then Veracruz, and the Mam and Kanjobal to Guatemala, along with related lineages. At the same time it left few Maya in El Salvador. This is the reason that El Salvador is generally seen on the periphery of the Maya world (if even that), when it was the center of Maya development for more than 6,000 years, from 8200 BCE to 1800 BCE. It is likely that the Chol-Ch'orti' lineage that remained in El Salvador, i.e. at Chalchuapa, retained, at least among some, a senior status until at least 500 BCE.

Relatedly, the pellagra crisis explains why the Maya languages split into six major groups between 3500 and 4500 years ago (Huasteca, Quiche, Yucatec, Mam, Kanjobal, Chol-Ch'orti'). A more normal evolution of languages would suggest a tree structure of the languages rather than so many breaks within several hundred years.

Finally, through the pellagra crisis, the Maya learned the hard way about the dangers of mono-cropping and a mono-diet. Corn was being grown as the major crop of every community and was the major part of most families' diets. This caused the pellagra crisis. It is possible that once the Maya learned nixtamal they continued mono-cropping corn. However, it could be that the Maya responded to the crisis with a bigger emphasis on beans and squash and began the practice of the three sisters: corn, beans and squash, and more sustainable agricultural practices in general.

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.

 

Teotipa: 10,000-Year-Old Agricultural Village

One of the more interesting archeological sites in the Americas is Teotipa, El Salvador. It is a 10,000 year-old village with clear signs that it was a base for early agriculture. One of its ancient teosinte fields can be seen at right. From teosinte the Maya hybridized corn.

I estimate that it was inhabited from 8,200 BCE to 7,400 BCE when it was flooded. This will need to be confirmed with more traditional dating methods. Teotipa only came into view in the last 25 five years when a damn was built upstream on one of its feeder rivers in Guatemala, according to local people. Prior to that it was underwater - perhaps for most or all of 9,400 years. Even now it is submerged some years. For that reason it is relatively well preserved. Teotipa lies within a kilometer of Guatemala on Lago Guija.

Teotipa was one of the four original island homelands of the Maya. The other three were Lago Olomeka (Teomeka) in eastern El Salvador, where the Olmec and Lenca ancestors come from; the mouth of the Lempa River, Teoakan, where the Zapotec ancestors come from; and Lago Coatepeque and Teopan, where the Quiche ancestors come from.

In proto Ch'orti', Teotipa means:

Teo - island
Ti - in, on, within, from, pertaining to
Pa' - tortilla, masa (corn meal), food (generally)

Teotipa means "island pertaining to corn food". It was the island where corn was first cultivated. Earlier I mapped out the locations of the teosinte place names, which were nearly all within a 100 kilometer radius of Lago Guija, and I wrote about how corn was first cultivated on an island. This is known from the name teosinte:

Teo - island
Si - number, line of objects, row
Si'in - extended, long, in a line or series
Te' - plant(s)

And here are the rows where these plants were cultivated on an island:

There are two rows each three to five meters wide and perhaps 200 meters long. One can see the second row to the right in this photo. The 'rows' are lined with rocks. And much shorter grass grows in them now 10,000 years later rather than the weeds and taller grass which grow outside of the rock sidings. Some of the rocks have moved into the area of planting, which can be expected after so much time.

 

The range of Balsas teosinte, the precursor of corn, used to be to the south of its present range during the Ice Age. Sometime, perhaps between 8000 and 6500 BCE, the southern range of Balsas teosinte in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala disappeared. According to University of El Salvador professor Vicente Ginovez, the people in Santa Ana, where Lago Guija is located in western El Salvador, still plant little plots of primitive corn that they called something like "ulupiche". This is not to eat but simply to please the ancestors. I believe that the name should be "ulumpitzi":

Ulum - Of the earth, of the corn field (milpa)
Pitz'i - press, pinch, crush
Pihchi - touch

Or "crush of the corn field" - grinding what comes out of the earth. Here are the first corn grinders - the grinding hole above and the pounding stone to the right. The first corn would have been much tougher, requiring a vertical pounding motion rather than the horizontal motion used still today.

When my colleague and I reached Teotipa Island by a local boat service, five fishermen greeted us up on the rocks. They told us that there was nothing on Teotipa, that the Maya were never there and we should return to Igualtepeque. I decided to play a trump card and said that the Maya had to have been on Teotipa, since it means "island of food". Ricardo, the leader of the group still said nothing. I stumbled off toward the higher part of the island, going very slow over the dangerous rocks. I saw a small field of corn, left, ironic on this island that gave birth to corn, but I was muttering about how I could be so wrong. There was nothing here.

I took a deep breath, turned around and saw this, below left, and knew I was in the right place.

Do you see it? [Click to enlarge.]

There is a rock wall curving from the left back toward the right. And there is also a patch of yellow right in the middle of the picture. I rushed back to Ricardo and my colleague and pointed out the wall. Ricardo said something to the effect of "There's more. Let's go see." Later I was very thankful that he was so protective of this sacred space.

The reason that I believe Teotipa habitation began in 8200 BCE is that I think the move from Isla Tigre to the four island homes occurred right after the 8207 BCE triple star alignment and after the Maya learned cultivation through their experimentation with tobacco planting. They probably found teosinte first in the mountains of western Chalatenango - the closest Teosinte place names from Guija, but it also could have been from eastern Chalatenango in Arcatao municipality where there is a Teosinte place name which would have been quite close to the four island gatherings which took place near where the Sumpul and Lempa rivers meet.

Like the teosinte fields, the imprint of the houses can still be clearly seen. Few weeds grow where these houses were. And the fallen rock walls can still be seen quite clearly.

Other rocks may have been a walkway through the difficult rocky terrain. Domesticated jaguars and pumas would have walked these paths and landscapes with the Mayan ancesors.

The houses here at the north end of the site appear older - there are less weeds and the grass seems shorter, indicating a longer period of habitation. They are also set back from the rest of the village, which could indicate that the lead families lived here. This photo looks back to the north to the higher uninhabited part of the island.

The next two photos show housing sites in what may be the newer part of the site to the southeast.

In addition to the teosinte rows there appeared to be several nursery areas where there is now very thick, verdant growth of a special grass. I imagine that this might be where they first grew the corn and other experimental crops - squash, beans, etc.

The early Maya who lived at the Teotipa site where also spiritual people. There are several clear indicators. The first one we saw was the clear outline of a stone circle, perhaps 15 meters in diameter.

Further evidence of the spiritual nature of these people is their name in the Popol Vuh: Nijayib'. Tedlock translates this as Great Houses. Using Ch'orti' to translate provides:

Nihk : shaking, trembling
Hayitz : fast

Or "shaking fast". Clearly they were known for their fasting.

You can see that almost nothing grew inside this circle except short grass. Nature itself is keeping this sacred space clean.

The following stone was among the stones that formed the stone circle. It is clearly a cultural stone. The top half appears to be a face.

The next rock formation appeared to have a special meaning. The energy around these stones was strong.

This upside-down triangle of stones forms what was likely a fertility symbol.

Here is another cultural stone with a face.

The Maya made many journeys and made stones into walkways rather than being obstacles. But they did have obstacles - I still have more to tell about their conflict with the Xibalbhans at Corinto cave and the natural disaster that ended their stay on Teotipa. Much later I will tell about how they journeyed down the Lempa River in dug-out canoes and then near Tehuacan constructed rafts and boats to sail the Pacific Ocean.

The name for Teotipa in the Polol Vuh, Chi ismachi, directly points to this being a place for growing teosinte. Tedlock, using Quiche, translates this as Bearded Place. Using Ch'orti' it translates as "growing teosinte":

Chi - growth
Iximak - teosinte

Iximak would be a somewhat more recent word for teosinte and is composed of ixim (corn) and ak (grass), linking Teotipa not only to teosinte but also to corn.

Una Historia Indígena de Arcatao, El Salvador

Arcatao queda en la esquina noreste de Chalatenango, El Salvador, fronterizo con Honduras. Es un lugar caliente, con una abundancia de agua, suelos buenos, y una belleza natural que no fue perdido por los indígenas antepasados.

Hay señales que Arcatao tiene una larga historia indígena. Voy a hablar de cinco tiempos de probable historia indígena:

• La hibridización de maiz de la hierba teosinte, de 7,900 AEC (Antes de la Era Común) hasta 2,000 AEC.
• Los viajes de los Lencas de Lago Olomega hasta Copan (ahora Honduras), pasando por Arcatao, de 2,300 AEC hasta 830 EC (Era Común)
• Los refugiados mayas del volcán Ilopango por 420 EC
• La federación de 60 pueblos Lencas, incluso Arcatao, entre 830 EC y 1525 EC
• La resistencia lenca a la ocupación español entre 1525 y 1550 EC

Nombre de Arcatao

Un clave del origen del nombre Arcatao es la letra ‘r’ que es un poco raro – no existe en nahuatl, ni la mayoria del las lenguas mayas. Solo existe en lenca y maya ch’orti’. Entonces, no es posible que es un nombre pipil (nahuatl) y asi, no significa ‘cueva de serpiente’, propuesta como significado pipil. De los dos posibles orígenes, tiene forma que parece lenca y el lugar tenía mas contacto con los lencas que con cualquier otro grupo. El idioma lenca está cerca de desaparecer. Si se rescata el idioma es posible que se rescata el significado del nombre Arcatao. De los frases conocidos, el único que suena es tana, que significa ‘milpa’ y suena un poquito con el fin de Arcatao.

Arcatao y la Hibridización de Maiz

Los científicos han localizado un ejemplo muy temprano de maiz con fecha de 6700 BCE en el suroeste de México. Tambien se sabe que el maiz viene de la hierba teosinte de tipo balsas, nombrado por el Rio Balsas donde hoy pertenece teosinte balsas. Aunque después se seguia hibridizando maiz con otros tipos de teosinte, como teosinte guatemalteco, es el teosinte balsas que es clave al origen de maiz.

Apariciones del Nombre Teosinte 
Pero qué raro que no hay aparición del nombre teosinte en el area del Rio Balsas. Basado en un estudio por este autor, se determinó que hay 10 apariciones del nombre Teosinte en Mesoamérica. Algunos son rios, otras montañas, otros pueblos. Dos quedan en la costa oeste de México cerca de Puerto Vallarta. Los demás ocho quedan cerca del punto trinacional entre El Salvador, Guatemala, y Honduras, incluso tres en el departamento de Chalatenango.

Yo creo que las ocho apariciones de teosinte indican donde se cultivó maiz desde teosinte por primera vez. Según mi entendimiento del Popol Vuh, el libro sagrado de la maya, habla de un jardín que parece simbolizar la invención de maiz. Además, el cuento tiene lo que parece un indicador de fecha, basado en el calendario de conteo largo de la planeta marte. Tal fecha es 7900 BEC.

En la era de 7900 BEC, la clima fue mas fresca, algunos siglos después del fin de la última Edad de Hielo. Por miles de años durante la Edad de Hielo, diferente plantas crecian en Centroamérica. Yo creo que una de estas plantas fue el teosinte balsas. Cuando la clima se calientó entre 7900 BEC y 5000 BEC el teosinte balsas se migró hacía el suroeste de México. En Centroamérica, como México, teosinte balsas crecía en las altitudes medias, entre 500 y 1,000 metros sobre nivel del mar – lugares como Chalatenango.

Los lugares de experimentación de cultivos como maiz fueron las islas cercanas – Isla Teopán de Lago Coatepeque y Isla Teotipa de Lago Güija. Los cultivos en las islas fueron seguro de la amenaza de los animales y de los enemigos de tal gente – antepasados de la maya.  Del nombre de las islas y de un estudio del idioma ch’orti’, se entera que el nombre Teosinte quiere decir “isla de plantas en rayas”.

Toda esta explicación quiere decir que los antepasados de la maya visitaron a Arcatao o el pueblo vecino de Teosinte con frecuencia para recoger la hierba teosinte para seguir hibridizando el maiz. Si es cierto que el maiz se cultivó por primera vez en un lago de cráter en el oeste de El Salvador, como creyen los Lencas, las visitas a Arcatao hubieran podido comenzado muy temprano, alli por 7900 BEC. Al contrario, si es cierto que el maiz se cultivó por primera vez en la región del Rio Balsas, Mexico, las visitas a Arcatao para recoger teosinte comenzar mas tarde. Fue en los cerros como La Cañada que el teosinte balsas hubiera podido crecido. Por miles de años se seguía hibridizando maiz con teosinte para perfectarlo.

Los Viajes de las Lencas de Lago Olomega hasta Copan, Pasando por Arcatao

Se sabe que Copán, el sitio famoso de la Maya en el occidente de Honduras, fue poblado por la maya por el año 100 CE mas o menos. Pero antes, mucho mas antes, fue poblado por la Lenca. El primer asentimiento lenca fue entre 2300 BCE y 1400 BCE. Por esa época el enfoque de las Lenca, llamados Potones, fue el Lago Olomega (Olomeka) en el sureste de El Salvador, y los Lencas hicieron el viaje entre Olomega y Copan. Ya por 800 BCE el enfoque se trasladó a Quelepa, siempre en el oriente de El Salvador. Por lo menos 1,500 años los Lencas hacian el viaje entre el oriente de El Salvador y Copan.

En el año 420 CE hubo la explosión del volcán Ilopango, una de las erupciones mas grandes del mundo de los últimos 2,000 años. Cientos, si no miles, murieron. La ceniza volcánica sopló al occidente y al norte. Tanta ceniza cayó por todos los sitios – Chalchuapa, San Andres, etc. – que no fue posible vivir en el occidente de El Salvador por 100 años. Una parte de los “refugiados” ch’olan llegaron a Copán. Ellos habían tenido relaciones amistosas con las Lenca de Quelepa y Tehuácan. Invitaron a los Lencas a mandar una delegación real a vivir en Copán. Y fue entonces que los viajes del oriente de El Salvador y Copán comenzaron de nuevo.

No se sabe sin duda que la ruta Copán-Quelepa pasó por Arcatao. Como sabemos donde ficó la ruta? Por los caminos de hoy dia, por evitar los rios o al cruzar los rios donde sea posible, por seguir los rios o al seguir las crestas, por donde hay pueblos históricos, y por donde hay recursos naturales. Seguramente quedaron al este y al norte del Rio Lempa. Hay dos pueblos de los lenca potón al este de Arcatao. Los tres parecen ser parte de la ruta: Guasquin, Mapulaca, Arcatao. Tal vez se entró Arcatao por Quipure and Gualcimaca y salió por lado de Zazalapa.

La ruta Copán-Quelepa explica la presencia de las piedras dibujadas cerca de Arcatao. Una queda por el otro lado del cerro La Cañada y el otro queda arriba de Zazalapa. Por las descripciones, parecen ser lenca o lenca-olmeca.

Tambien se anota por la mapa que desde entonces, Arcatao ha sido lugar fronterizo. Primero, siendo en la frontera entre la tierra de la Lempa y las montañas el norte. Segundo, Arcatao queda dentro del area de lengua poton lenca, de pueblos potones, pero al pasar Zazalapa, ya habian menos pueblos y la gente habló otro tipo de lenca.

Los refugiados mayas del volcán Ilopango por 420 EC

Como ya se mencionó, en el año 420 EC, mas o menos, el volcán Ilopango entró en erupción, desplazando miles de personas de Chalchuapa, San Andres y el valle Zapotitán, y otros lugares. Alguna gente fue a la ahora Guatemala, otros a Copán y otros lugares de Honduras. Pero los arqueólogos han determinados que algunos quedaron muy cerca y fueron al norte o noreste cruzando el Rio Lempa al llegar al hoy Chalatenango.

No se sabe si llegaron hasta Arcatao. Pero, cuando se considera la importancia de Arcatao, parece que sí, un grupo de los maya cholan (Ch’orti’) hubiera llegado y quedado 100 años o mas, hasta que pudieron vivir de nuevo en los valles volcánicos, como el Zapotitán. Asi que Arcatao hubiera podido servido como retroguardia para los ch’orti’ de los volcanes y terremotos. Ademas, con todos los viajantes lencas pasando por la ruta Copán-Quelepa, seguramente algunos lenca poblaron a Arcatao tambien. Asi que tal vez se hizo un pueblo bicultural.

La Federación de Pueblos Lencas, 830 EC

Por más de 400 años Copán fue uno de los centros mayas mas importante y seguramente el mas importante en el sureste de mesoamérica. Pero al año 830 EC mas o menos, la reina de Copán falló. Los representantes de los lenca en Copán se trasladó a El Salvador por la Ruta Copán-Quelepa y se concentró en Sesori, según la tradición oral de los lenca. La gente del barrio lenca seguramente dispersaron a varios centros lencas incluso en el paracentral y oriente de El Salvador. Estos últimos pasaron por Arcatao en la ruta a Sesori y Quelepa. Llegraron a lugares donde ya había pueblo lenca en el norte y oriente de lo que ahora se llama El Salvador.

Por 900 EC, o dentro de 100 años de la llegada del liderazgo lenca de Copán, los lencas formaron un red o una federación de pueblos lencas. Según la tradición oral que sobrevivió el tiempo y la ocupación española, la federación consistió en mas de 60 pueblos en los departamentos de hoy dia La Unión, San Miguel, Morazán, Usulután, Cabañas, y Chalatenango, y dos en el departamento de hoy de Honduras de Lempira. (Vea http://mayangovernments.org/main/page_the_royal_house.html)

Pueblos en la Red Lenca de 900 EC

Los pueblos se concentraron en lo que hoy es Morazán y el centro de San Miguel. De Quelepa y Sesori organizaron la red. Hicieron convivencias una vez por año, donde llegaron el liderazgo, como directivas, de cada pueblo. Tambien hubo un gran mercado de todo tipo de productos. Llegaron familias, todos. Hubieron bailes en la noche. La convivencia se llamaba guanacaste. Esto viene de guanaco, palabra que quiere decir ‘hermandad’ en potón lenca vieja. El guanacaste es el consejo de la hermandad. Cada vez se realizó el guanacaste en diferente pueblo. Seguramente se hizo el guanacaste en Arcatao de vez en cuando.

Sin duda mas pueblos lencas fueron agregados a la red entre 900 y 1528 EC. Se anota que la mayoria de estos pueblos lencas existen hasta hoy dia. Todos ahora tienen por lo menos 1,100 años.

Es un poco sorprendente la concentracion de pueblos en Chalatenango, bien lejos de los demás pueblos. El primer razón por los pueblos alli es que la ruta Copán-Quelepa pasó por el area, resultando en Guasquin, Mapulaca, y Arcatao. El segundo razón es la llegada de los maya quiche entre 830 y 850 CE de Mexico para establecer Cihuatán, cerca del pueblo de hoy dia Aguilares. Fue casi a la vez de la caída de Copán la llegada del liderazgo lenca de vuelta a El Salvador.

Además de Cihuatán, los quiches establecieron casi una docena de pueblos y templos, algunos en la orilla norte del Rio Lempa, y uno hasta el pueblo de Chalatenango, cual nombre es quiche. Los lenca y los quiche tuvieron buenas relaciones. Los quiche invitaron los lencas a vivir con ellos y asi que hubo un barrio lenca en Cihuatán, según los arqueólogos. Parece que el mismo pasó en Chalatenango por la presencia de un pueblo lenca en el mismo lugar, Silaiquin. Es posible que Silaiquin fue formado por la llegada de familias de Arcatao a Chalatenango. Los quiches huyeron de El Salvador por mas o menos
930 EC después de un ataque mortal de un desconocido enemigo.

Los demás pueblos lencas en Chalatenango son Potonico, Cancasque, Guancora, y Manaquil, el último lo mas cerca de Arcatao. Manaquil y Arcatao tiene una historia compartida de mas o menos 1,000 años.

La colonización y la resistencia lenca a la ocupación española entre 1525 y 1550 EC

El primer español a mandar el territorio de Arcatao fue Miguel Diaz, basado en los archivos de los españoles. Los archivos dicen que en 1548 Miguel Diaz controló el pueblo de Arcatao y el pueblo de Xalocinagua, que queda en la zona costera. (Vea Capítulo 5, “San Salvador” en Guatemala Villages of the 16th Century por Dan Stanislawski.)

Ya en 1548 Arcatao tenía una producción elevado. Los pueblos indígenas de Arcatao y sus alrededores pagaron un tributo anual de 600 libras de algodón, 50 pares de cutaras, y 80 pares de alpargata. También pagaron en mano de obra el servicio de cuatro pastores. Sin duda los pares de alpargata refieren a un calzado hecho de zacate u otra planta. Posiblemente los pares de cutara tambien son un tipo de sandalia.

Es probable que el algodón fue cultivado en Arcatao antes que llegaron los españoles, como es nativo a El Salvador y la región. Hubiera sido difícil introducir un nuevo cultivo en tan pocos años, otro razón por pensar que algodón ya fue establecido en los tiempos indígenas, asi como la tela, camisas y ropa de algodón, y hasta los bordados. En los primeros años de la colonia como en los tiempos indígenas Arcatao fue un fuente de ropa y calzado para la región.

El informe de 1548 tambien dice que Arcatao fue en guerra antes y el Miguel Diaz no pudo ocupar el lugar. Eso quiere decir que Arcatao fue un centro de resistencia de los Lencas contra la ocupación española. La resistencia lenca se arrancó por la gran princesa-guerrillera Antu Silan Ulapa cuando los espanoles trataron de entrar el oriente de El Salvador. Después la resistencia fue dirigida por Lempira hasta el último batalle en el cerro Cerquín en Erandique, Honduras. Arcatao queda apenas 30 kilometros al suroeste del Cerro Cerquín. Asi que parece muy posible que Lempira pasó una parte de la guerra en Arcatao.

Asi que Arcatao tiene una historia muy interesante y muy destacada. Seguro que hay mucho mas por recuperar todavia.

Journey to the Ch'orti' Center

Last week I traveled to the center of the current-day Ch'orti' Maya speaking world, Jocotán, Guatamala, on the road between Chiquimula and Copán, Honduras. I went on a quest which was primarily linguistic - in search of the meaning of the word teosinte or at least the phrase teo.

I believe I know the meaning of teo (island), but I went searching for confirmation. Eight of the 10 known place name uses of the word teosinte are located within 50 miles of the El Salvador - Honduras - Guatemala tri-border point - prime Ch'orti' area. And the only other place name uses of the phrase teo within that region are both on islands. 

First I went to Radio Ch'orti', one block from my room at the only hotel in town. The radio station quickly redirected me to the Académica de las Lenguas Mayas de Guatemala and the Comunidad Linguística Ch'orti'. After a little time there, I ended up speaking with José García. He let me know that neither teo nor teosinte exist in Ch'orti'. He encouraged me to learn Ch'orti' and I told him that someday I might be back to do that.

It is a little disappointing that I still have not confirmed the meaning of the very important word teosinte, the grass that is the predecessor to corn. But it is not surprising since it has not been used in hybridizing corn for hundreds, and more likely, thousands, of years by the Ch'orti'. In addition, the current Ch'orti' area is devoid of islands so it is not surprising that they may have lost the original word for island. The search will continue in Mexico, with the linguistic cousins of the Ch'orti': the Ch'ol, the Chontal, the Tzeltal, and the Tzotzil.

José also gave me a list of the 20 tzolkin day sign names in Ch'orti'. Apparently these are not necessarily the original classic-era Choltian names, but rather Ch'orti' translations of the current day sign names in either Quiche' or Yucatec. As such they are likely closer to the original names than the Quiche' or Yucatec names but still might be off. I will introduce them through this blog, but still mention what I think may have been the original day sign names.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How Corn Was Hybridized by the Early Maya in Central America

Biologists have been studying the development of corn in Mexico and Central America and have recently discovered that corn was originally hybridized from the Balsas teosinte that is found at mid-range elevations - 500 to 1,5000 meters - in western Mexico, mainly from western Guerrero north to Jalisco. In addition, the earliest traces of corn were dated back to 6700 BC in this area. [Click to enlarge map.]

By tracing the origin of the word teosinte, the precursor of corn, to the Chorti Maya area of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, by mapping all occurrences of it as a place name, and by determining that teo means 'island' in Chorti and teosinte means 'plants in rows on an island', I have been able to isolate two islands in the Chorti area that appear to be very early biological stations in a deliberate effort to perfect corn. These islands are Teopán (meaning 'Sprouting Island') in Lago Coatepeque, in western El Salvador, and Teotipa (meaning 'Food Island') in Lago Güija, which straddles the El Salvador-Guatemala border. Both lakes are within 20 kilometers of Chalchuapa, one of earliest known Mayan sites. Güija would be wihha in Chorti, meaning 'source of stream': a stream drains out of the lake joining the Lempa River.

I am guessing that the dates of the hybridization with teosinte were taking place between 4000 BC and 2000 BC. The start date could be earlier or later. The end date corresponds pretty closely with the date when biologists have determined that corn was approaching a level where it could support higher population densities.

It is no surprise that some of the earliest Mayan villages would be on islands. An island would isolate the experimental fields from most pests and many animals that could harm them. Islands also would have afforded early peoples a measure of safety from predators or enemies.

In addition, both La Venta and Teotihuacán, early civilization sites in Mexico, were built on islands, so there was a tendency for early Mesoamerican people to build on islands. Furthermore, in the case of Teotihuacán it is clear that the Maya were somehow involved in founding the city, given the prefix 'Teo', identifying it as an island. There is no other instance of a place name in Mexico starting with 'Teo' referring to an island. The Aztec god 'Teotl' and all other 'Teo' place names in Mexico were created in reverence for Teotihuacán.

From the two islands, the early Mayans or pre-Mayans identified various sources of teosinte in the area and named the places 'Teosinte' so that they and future generations would remember their location. While the teosinte grass in this area could not be converted into corn, it was, and still is, extremely useful to hybridize with corn plants. Persistent hybridization with teosinte grass was done to continue selecting desired traits, to make different varieties of corn, including popcorn, and to make the corn more disease resistant.

There still is a need to discuss how the two outlier place names of 'Teosinte' ended up in far western Jalisco (see the map), but to do that I will need to discuss the 260-day tzol'kin calendar more, as well as the Mayan sacred text, the Popol Vuh. And I will also take a closer look at both Lago Coatepeque (Lake Serpent Hill) and Lago Güija. Is it possible that western El Salvador was the founding place of all Mesoamerican civilizations, just as the Salvadoran historian Antonio Arocha suggested in El Salvador, La Antigua Patria Maya?

[Post Script: I now believe that the hybridization process may have begun as early as 8300 BC. Feb. 25, 2010]

Teosinte - This is no Fantasy Island

Lago Coatepeque in El Salvador is a very special place, where one seems suspended from time and space. And when studying indigenous history, any place called Serpent Hill is a subject of interest, given that the Chorti are the serpent people. The name was obviously nahuatalized by the Pipiles, but it is likely that the original meaning in Chorti was also Serpent Hill, or something similar. It is clearly in Chorti country, being so close to both Chalchuapa and San Andres. And this was one of the very first centers of Mayan civilization.

So glancing at the lake’s entry on wikipedia, something caught my eye – 'Isla Teopan' - on the map it said Isla del Cerro. The prefix ‘teo’ is extremely rare in El Salvador – there is the municipality of Teotepeque in La Libertad, but this was the only other example I had seen, other than ‘Teosinte’.

Let’s see – lakes … Lago Güija, 25 kilometers north, on the border with Guatemala. It also has an island – Isla Tipa. A little internet searching and this confirmed it! The key to so many riddles. Isla Tipa was also known as Isla Teotipa. Güija, like Coatapeque is in the mera-mera Chorti country, this was no nahuatalization like Teotepeque might be.

Teo means ‘island’ in Chorti' Maya. There it is. It wasn't in the Chorti' dictionary because there are no islands in the highland region where the Chorti's now live. So, Teotihuacán, means 'Island of Tihuacán' and was founded by people who spoke, or at least knew, some Chorti’ Maya. Wow!

Before getting too far ahead, let’s back up to Teosinte. Si’in means ‘many; extended in a series or row’ in Chorti'. The ending of teosinte was always the easiest – te is the generic word for plant in Chorti. So teosinte means “plants in rows on an island" or “island of cultivated plants”. Was this word describing an experimental biological station where the Chorti’s could perfect their hybridization of corn, beans, squash, tobacco, cacao, etc., in isolation from wild animals that would want to eat the plants? Also in isolation of pollens of other plant varieties, if they were aware of that.

That would mean that one of these islands in Lago Coatepeque or Lago Güija may have been the very center, the very first location of Mayan civilization. Or perhaps both. Isla Teopan means “Sprouting Island” or “Breaking Open Island” and that definitely fits the description. There are also an old Mayan temple and monolith on the island. The first Mayan temple and monolith?

But a case can be made for Isla Teotipa in Lago Güija as well. Ti is a conjunction meaning 'on' or 'within'. Today pa is usually the word for tortilla but originally was a generic term for 'food'. So Teotipa is “Food Island.” That couldn’t be any clearer. And then there are the other two islands on Lago Güija: Iguatepec and Cerro Tule. Perhaps teosinte means 'plants on islands in a row' and 'tule' does sound an awful lot like ... well, that will have to wait for another day. For now, I can say that all the 'teosinte' place names that I found were markers for the sources of wild teosinte that was used continuously to rehybridize with the emergent corn on one of more islands in western El Salvador.

Corn itself, we know, originated in Mexico from Balsas teosinte, so there will be a need to revisit corn in 6700 BC or before. Then we can move on to Teotihuacán. But before that will be a stop on the northwest coast of Mexico.

From Teosinte to Corn, But Where did Teosinte Come From?

The Mayan, Lencan, and Pipil peoples that now populate much of El Salvador, as well as Honduras and Guatemala, were born of corn. The gods are associated with corn, including both the diseased corn (pellegra), associated with Ixbalamque, and the perfect corn, treated with ash or lime water, associated with Hunapa. And the first Mayan people were made were of perfect corn dough (masa).

Scientists now know that corn was hybridized from Balsas teosinte grass in southwestern Mexico by 6700 BC. The Guatemalan teosinte found in the highlands of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, is similar but was not used at first to hybridize corn.

But where did teosinte come from? When did the very early hunter-gatherers of Mesoamerica first learn that they could eat teosinte? And was it as revered by those early people as much as corn was for the Mayans, Lencas, and Pipiles?

Among many Mesoamerican people teosinte is associated with birds and it is possible that the plethora of bird gods is a collective memory of early peoples learning from birds to eat the teosinte kernels. Certainly teosinte would have been an important food substance at least until about 3000 BC when corn hybridization would have improved to the point where growing corn would have begun to replace gathering wild teosinte. Early peoples ground up teosinte and made it into a drink. It continues to be used by people in parts of Mexico and Guatemala as both a food product and to hybridize with corn to bring out certain qualities - such as resistance to disease.

One of the most surprising things about teosinte, is that nobody today calls it 'teosinte'. Anthropologists have not found any indigenous or Spanish speaking communities that call teosinte grass, 'teosinte'. Among the names used by the Chorti Mayas, for example, are ixim ka, wild corn. So where did the name come from? To help answer that, I have mapped the ten occurrences of the place name 'teosinte' or 'teocinte', 'teocintli'. [Click to enlarge]

Most of the occurrences of Teosinte are located in the Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador tri-border region. There is also one southeast of the area on this map in Nicaragua, Cerro Teosintal. Surprisingly, there are two place names of 'teosinte' many hundreds of miles away in Jalisco, just south of Puerto Vallarta. Many assume that the name teosinte comes from the nahua, teocintli. However, there is only one place with that name in Mexico. In addition, very few place names in the areas surrounding the eight Central American places are of nahua origin (pipil in the case of El Salvador).

This indicates that the name probably originated somewhere in the Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador region and that perhaps this was the first place that the very early indigenous, in the 12,000 to 7000 BC period, began gathering teosinte kernels. As such, teosinte must come from the proto Mesoamerican language that gave rise to the Mayan, Lencan, Chibchan, and other language groups. What is remarkable is that these place names still exist. That would mean that these places have been remembered for perhaps 10,000 years of continuous human settlement as sources of sustenance. So how did the name teosinte get to Puerto Vallarta? More on that another time.

I have been to the two Teosinte villages in central and eastern Chalatenango. In eastern Chalatenango, Teosinte is a village outside of Arcatao, in an area that was Lenca at the time of the Spanish occupation. There is a lot of wild grass growing in the hills above Arcatao, like La Cañada.

In central Chalatenango, Teosinte is a village northeast of Tejutla, in an area that was Chorti Maya in 1525 AD. It is a beautiful village. Teosinte, like Arcatao, is an organized community, part of CRIPDES, and a sister city to Arlington, Massachusetts. In 1991 I took a hike up into the hills above Teosinte and found wide expanses of wild grass. It may not have been 'teosinte' but for 10,000 years this has likely been a source of sustenance for the peoples of El Salvador. Considering its location so close to the Matamaras cave along the Sumpul River, this area should be investigated for signs of very early human activity, like the Corinto cave in eastern El Salvador.

The Popol Vuh, Theology in a Time of Disease

[Este mismo cuento en español.]

I have discussed how the early Chorti Mayans of coastal El Salvador and Guatemala discovered or highlighted the discovery of soaking corn in ash in about 1500 BC, and their promotion of this discovery led to one of the fastest civilization expansions in the history of the pre-modern world.

However, this expansion was only possible with an ideology or theology attached to it. By about 1700 BC, the Chortis were rapidly advancing due to improved agriculture from constantly improving corn and bean production through selective hybridization. In addition, their efficiency at fishing and ocean harvesting was greatly enhanced by their discovery of the 13 to 14 day tidal cycle, which led to the creation of the Tzol'kin calendar.

Finally, their correlation of eclipses with 52-day periods of slack tides and very poor fishing, allowed them to begin long trade journeys to central Mexico, the Veracruz coast, the Peten, and the Yucatan without missing out much on the best fishing. On these trade trips, the Chortis, the master agriculturalists, were always pushing the latest corn hybrid and encouraging more corn production. Corn seed from the most recent harvest was likely one of their major trade products on these trips.

Yet, by 1500 BC or just before then, they faced a major crisis in the legitimacy of their leadership. That was because the very same Chorti elite, those who consumed the most corn, were becoming diseased. They became weak and they became lesioned, with bloody sores all over their bodies. Not only that, but the people in their communities and the people who they convinced to give up hunting and gathering and produce more corn were also becoming diseased. They didn't know yet about pellegra (also called pellagra), the disease caused by niacin deficiency common among those who rely on corn as a staple in the diet.

But due to this disease, throughout Mesoamerica people were rejecting Mayan leadership, rejecting corn and the agricultural lifestyle, and reverting to hunting and gathering. Neighboring peoples who relied on hunting were defeating the weakened Mayan and mocking their diseased leaders. No doubt, civilization was delayed by hundreds of years by pellegra. The Chortis had discovered what seemed to be a cure, but many did not believe them. That is, they did not believe until the Mayans developed a story, a narrative, that explained meaning and truth, despite the scourge of pellegra. This narrative is best described by the Popol Vuh, the sacred text relayed by the Quiche after the arrival of the Spanish.

The early chapters of the Popol Vuh read like a description of the symptoms of pellegra and in each case the conclusion is that the creator beings failed. That is, it wasn't the fault of the people who became diseased nor was it the fault of the Mayan leaders who promoted a new lifestyle. One chapter describes humans who were dry, with no sweat and no blood. Dry is also a word meaning extreme skinniness in Mesoamerica and weight loss and weakness is one symptom of pellegra. Another chapter describes the rain washing away the substance of the skin and organs of the humans - a symptom of pellegra is the wasting away of the skin.

Yet another chapter goes into horrid detail of symptoms of dementia, with the animals speaking back to the humans, even the corn grinding stones - the metates and manos - speaking back and saying that they would grind up those who usually did the grinding. Dementia is one of the advanced symptoms of pellegra.

The Popol Vuh explains that all of these attempts to create human beings failed. A new attempt to create humans was made and it was successful. In this way, the Mayan creation story is parallel to the Poton Lenca creation story of central and eastern El Salvador that I have already described. Ixbalanque, one of the hero twins (the other is Hunahpú) in the Popol Vuh, represents the diseased leader who had lesions all over his body.

By associating this hero, Ixbalanque, with the jaguar, the most powerful animal in the Mesoamerican ecosystems, but also an animal with spots (similar to lesions), the Mayans were legitimizing their diseased leadership. The jaguar people are the powerful people with the lesioned leadership. Many people had to die before the gods revealed the secret of corn soaking, thus the concept of sacrifice was incorporated into the cosmology.

Most importantly, the Popol Vuh reassures people that it is not the fault of the people in the first agricultural villages that they were hearing voices, that they were lesioned, that they were weak and dying. Nor is it the fault of the corn or the agricultural way of life. Rather, it was the fault of the creator beings. Now they had finally succeeded with a new being, a being made of corn dough, corn that has been cured of the disease by soaking it in ash. The narrative of the Popol Vuh helped to convince both the Chorti Maya villagers and neighboring peoples to trust the diseased Chorti leadership and to accept the strange new practice, sent by the gods, of soaking corn in ashes.

[PostScript, Jan. 27, 2010. To remember those who died in this epidemic and to give thanks for the one true answer to overcoming it, the Mayans put a touch of ash on their foreheads.]