The Indigenous History of El Salvador

Escaping the Maya: San Bartolome of Arcatao

Between 8300 and 8200 BCE, the Cho and Kiche increased their repression on Isla Tigre, forcing all people there to comply with the first-born child sacrifice practice. This precipitated a move to the mainland of El Salvador, splitting into the four lineage communities, each by water. The leaders of the communities - Olomega, Tehuacan, Güija, and Coatepeque - decided to meet together in a central location perhaps once a year. They chose a spot that is roughly halfway (by water) between the mouth of the Lempa, the Cuscatlan base, and Lago Güija, where the Chorti/Chol/Itza were located. This was essentially where the Sumpul River enters the Lempa River. This is known from the name Arcatao, a name that used to be associated with a place along the Sumpul River a few kilometers upstream from the Lempa.

The first meaning of Arcatao in Mi is ar k’at ta or, “the time of the crossing of the leaders of the remnants.” The ‘a’ followed by the ‘o’ is an unusual construction, saved for a special place. It is likely that the early names Teotipa, Teopan, and teosinte were meant to mirror the ending of the name Arcatao.

The name Sumpul also explains a reason that the four remnants came together. On the surface the name is sum pul or “up and down twisting,” which does describe the motion of the Sumpul River as it comes out of the mountains of Chalatenango. However a double meaning is revealed by a hidden, dropped ‘r’, a somewhat common linguistic trick in Mi, in the first syllable. In this meaning Sumpul is sur rum pu ul, or “explain the land of the foreigner who slashes.” The foreigner was the Xibalba based in Corinto to the east. The four remnants came together to discuss what they had learned about the Xibalba and to defend themselves from the violent Xibalba. They probably hid this meaning so that the Xibalba themselves, who spoke the same Mi language, wouldn’t know the purpose of the Sumpul meeting place, which would be relevant if the four leaders planned to continue to meet regularly at the Sumpul River.

It may seem ironic for the Mesoamerican leaders to call the Xibalba “foreigners” since the Mesoamerican leaders were in the land of the Xibalba. But “foreigner” doesn’t relate to whose land but rather simply that the Xibalba were foreign to them, that is, from a different migration from Asia as them. This would seem to connect the Xibalba to the Zuni whose name means "foreigners of the hills (cliffs)".

Based in the east at Lago Olomega, the Olomeca were probably the ones explaining - they were the closest to the Xibalba at Corinto. If Sumpul was named at the first gathering of the four lineages since they left Isla Tigre, the Olomega might have needed a year or two, but not too much time, to scout out the trails, hunting and other routines of the Xibalba. This would place the Sumpul-Arcatao encounter right around 8200 BCE, a few years after the 8208BCE triple star event, which triggered the move to the mainland.

The place names around the Rio Sumpul tell the story of what happened next. At the confluence of the Sumpul and the Lempa is El Dique. In Mi this is ti ik’ k’er or “slashed and opened Ik’.” A member of the Ik’ party, from Tehuacan near the mouth of the Lempa, was killed. Next to El Dique is San Benito, tza an ben ni it to, “run from the sacrificing blows at the wetness to the wild hills.” San Benito may be the first use of the prefix “San” in a name in Mesoamerica, usually indicating the death of a person or people. This usage of San may stem from a visit by the Mesoamerican people to the San people of southern Africa, the first human dissident group to flee the main group of humans over 100,000 years ago, due to repression and killings. The San name uses “san” in a similar way - tza an or “run from the shiny (wetness).” This name suggests that the leaders at the Sumpul wished to sacrifice her young child and her partner intervened but was killed. It indicates that the men pursuing the woman still desired to carry out the sacrifice of the woman’s child.

Northeast a couple kilometers is El Candungo or hel ka an tu un k’o or “other (woman) and beginner (young child) run from the corpse from the blades.” The wife of the Ik’ man and their child(ren) fled from the river up into the hills toward Candungo.

Who was this Ik’ leader? The ethnic name Ulua tells us more. Ulua is ul uh ha’ or “explain to the sacred (shamans) at the river.” The Ik' leader was explaining the truth, what was sacred, to the sacred ("holy" leaders), with some sarcasm expressed in "holy" leaders. It seems that the Ik’ leader (Ulua) was stopping a sacrifice process by one or more shaman at the Sumpul River. This tells us that the sacrifice practice did not stop at Isla Tigre. A link between the Ulua and the Cuscatlan is the name Usulutan near the mouth of the Lempa River which has a similar, but rare, structure: ulu.

The surviving woman and her family were likely pursued, evidenced by her seeking a more remote hideout: Eramon Mountain to the north and nearby San Antonio de la Cruz. (Click to enlarge map.)

San Antonio de la Cruz provides some detail about events: tza an toh on ni ot te hel la ak’ k’er ruz, or “shelter for the woman in the trees on the hill tired of the slashing of the skin of the swimmer.” Calling her husband a swimmer indicates that he was trying to escape in the river when he was killed. Nearby Eramon echoes these events: her ra am mo on is “woman tired of the previous trapping by the spiders.” “Previous” indicates the events did not happen while she was resting at Eramon. “Spiders” refers to the paddlers (the "holy leaders") who killed her husband. Generally “spider” is used in a derogatory fashion. The wife of Ulua hid in the thick woods on Eramon Mountain.

Near the base of Eramon is El Zapote or hel tza ap po ot te, which means “shelter in the trees for the woman from the swings of those at the wet hole.” It has the double meaning of “rub” indicating that the woman rubbed her muscles from the difficult hiking. To the east a couple kilometers is the place name Tequeque, a curious name that indicates the woman played a trick on her two pursuers. Tequeque is te ek’ her k’er or “woman slashing the trees under the stars.” It repeats the slashing syllable twice to over emphasize it. I believe this name indicates the woman cut a false path through the trees to fool her pursuers and then doubled back toward the Sumpul River. Tequeque has double meanings of “strengthen” and “to flatten on the hills.” She flattened a false path through the brush.

About four kilometers northwest of Tequeque is El Zacamil. This indicates that the two pursuers continued going north following the false path made by the woman at Tequeque. It is hel sak’ k’a am mi il and means “Woman satisfied to see the searching cats spidering along.” The leaders - the cats - continued walking, spidering, on the false path. El Zacamil became a well-used name in indigenous El Salvador and this was very likely its first usage. El Zacamil has a complete double meaning, hel tza ak’ k’a am mi il, “woman satisfied to see the skin of the cat at the wetness.” The woman doubled back from near El Zacamil, going west to the Sumpul River and saw the body of her deceased husband there.

The woman arrived to the Sumpul River perhaps near where the Manaquil River pours into the Sumpul, about four kilometers southwest of El Zacamil. Manaquil is ma an ak’ ki’ il or “run from the badness, see the skin of the dear one at the current.” This name seems to indicate that for some of her journey she followed the Manaquil River and upon reaching the Sumpul River saw the body of her husband. This also seems to imply that the Olomega leader in the boat with the body moved the boat upstream to the Manaquil confluence. Manaquil uses the nak’ syllable for a double meaning with il of “see the planets,” indicating that the same leaders who saw the spectacular triple planet alignment on Isla Tigre in 8208 BCE seem to be the ones who killed her husband and who now pursued her. The Kiche day sign of Manik seems to have been named for this woman, playing off the name Manaquil. Manik would mean “Ik’ who ran from the badness into the hills.” The Mars retrograde calendar moved into the Manik’ position in 8199 BCE, nine years after the triple planet event.

The second name of the Manaquil River, the Guayampoque, tells more of the story of the woman fooling the pursuing men, wa ya am po ok’ k’er - “being who slashed (the brush) splits to the hole (Sumpul) from the painful spiders.” The prefix “Guaya” (Waya) was meant to sound like Maya, linking the name Maya (Cho-Itza and Kiche) to the two men who killed her husband. Guayampoque has double meanings of “night”, “circle”, and “rinse,” so during the night she circled back to the rinse of the Sumpul River.

The name of the patron saint of Arcatao, San Bartolome, tells us that the wife of the Ik’ (Ulua) leader attempted to secure the body of her husband at the river. San Bartolome is tza an ba ar to ol lo om mer or “time of the failure to free the shiny (bloody) body of the one sacrificed by the leaders at the foam.” In her first attempt and perhaps more, the Ik’ woman failed to secure the body of her husband. The name has a double meaning of “boat” indicating that the body was in a boat. Perhaps in a boat at the Manaquil.

The names Nombre de Jesus and Escalante on the Lempa River slightly downstream from the Sumpul confluence tell us that the body of the Ulua leader in the boat with the Olomega leader was also located there, probably after its Sumpul location. Nombre de Jesus is no om ba ar re et te che es su us or “the time of being capable of the challenge of observing the large paddler at the foam with the body from layer of trees.” The use of re at the end of Nombre helps to confirm it was an Olomega paddler since the Ulua women would have said rep while the Olomega man would have said ren; dropping the last letter - resulting in re - is consistent with one describing the other. A double meaning is “boat”. Another double meaning is "to sip," indicating that the Ulua woman took advantage of when the Olomega was vulnerable, taking a drink.

Escalante is es k’al la an te or “observe the retained in the fatigued current from the trees. “Fatigued current” - lan - is a specific ethnic marker for the Olomega, another indicator that it was an Olomega man with the body. The village just north of Escalante is Los Henriquez: lo os sen ri ik ker re ez or “beside the loose sky one (Ik’) who observed the (Olomega) paddler to free the gashed wise one.” This village is beside where the Ulua (Ik’) woman observed the boat with the body. It makes it clear she was attempting to free the body at the Lempa River.

And she did free the body! Patanera is six kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus and seems to indicate the direction that the woman fled with the body, into the steep hills. Pa at ta an ne er ra - is “other (woman) runs with remains of body from the tail bath (Lempa) tired.” Pat has the double meaning of “pod” or “husks” which seems to indicate how the woman drug the body.

To the east is Quipure, which is ki ip pu ur re or “explain to the paddler the splitting open of the dear one.” Quipure indicates that the woman used persuasion with the Olomega paddler to free the body. Quipure has a double meaning of “lever on the up and down,” which seems to indicate that the woman used branches as levers to move the body up and down the hills. Los Sitios, about 10 kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus, seems to indicate the first camp of the Ulua woman on the run with the body. It is lo os si it ti os and means “the one who freed the one set down and opened by the blows from several (more than one) sets down.” This indicates that both Maya leaders (Cho and Kiche) attacked the Ulua man at the Sumpul River. Gualcimaca is two kilometers east of Los Sitios, in present-day Honduras. It is wa al si im ma ak’ ka, meaning “time of the being with beginner and the one blasted several times on the skin by the bad ones.” This meaning helps to confirm that the woman was carrying a (first-born) child while she was dragging the body of her deceased husband. Gualsimaca has a double meaning of “observed the trapped (body) at the river,” linking the name to the events at Nombre de Jesus.

Continuing to move toward Arcatao, Hacienda Vieja probably comes from Asenda Vieja or as sen ta ap pi es cha or “companion with remains observes the two with knowledge of the swinging practices.” She saw the Cho and Kiche leaders from the heights of Hacienda Vieja.

The name Nueva Trinidad, north of Eramon Mountain, and six kilometers from Arcatao, confirms that the woman did succeed eventually in acquiring the corpse of her deceased husband. Nueva Trinidad is ne eb ba at te er ri in ni it ta at or “woman and first born separate from the tail at bath with blasted body remains beside into the dense trees of the hills.” It has double meanings of “husks”, “ridge”, and “father.” The father reference likely refers to patriarch, or the leader of the highest-held lineage, the Cho at Lago Guija, pointing the blame at this leader. Whether the Ik’ couple brought a young child with them to the gathering (Arcatao) or the woman gave birth at the Sumpul, Nueva Trinidad repeats that their child was threatened with sacrifice by the Cho and Kiche leaders.

A few kilometers northeast of Nueva Trinidad is Las Vegas, in the direction of Arcatao. Las Vegas is la as pek’ k’as or “the one tired of the practice broke away into the hills.” The name Arcatao has a second meaning that corresponds to its moved location, its current location, about 10 kilometers northeast of the Sumpul River. Its second meaning is ar k’at ta hor or “the time of crossing the crests with the remains.” The k’at syllable ties Arcatao to the Cuscatlan people. The moving of a place name, like happened in the case of Arcatao, was extremely rare, but the Ik’ woman won that privilege through her strength and bravery.

The changing of the place names, is echoed in the modern day story in Arcatao of San Bartolome. This story maintains that the town of Arcatao was originally along the Sumpul River near Eramon Mountain and its patron saint was San Bartolome. The statue of San Bartolome desired to be located at the current site of Arcatao, 10 kilometers away, and mysteriously moved to the current site. The townspeople found the statue there and moved it back to the river. Again the statue moved (or was moved) to the current site. Three times this happened, each time the townspeople moving the statue back to Eramon. Finally the fourth time the townspeople decided to follow the statue and relocate to the current Arcatao.

There are many similarities or at least consistencies between the community folk history and that portrayed in the place names of the region in the Mi language:

• The statue (the body) was moved clandestinely from the river to the hills of Arcatao.
• The community (place name) of Arcatao was moved from the Sumpul River to its current location, with Eramon Mountain figuring in both sources of the story.
• There were those opposing a move to Arcatao in both stories.
• The repeated moves of the statue seems to parallel the many attempts of the woman to secure the body.

The Sumpul-Arcatao incident shows that even though on the surface the Xibalba were the main enemy of the Mesoamerican people, the internal divisions would become the greater threat.

Many of the most common last names in Arcatao are likely indigenous rather than from Spain, with the meanings originating at the time of the Sumpul event. These last names include Guardado, Menjivar, and Dubon, which are rare - especially the latter two - in Spain.

Guardado is wa ar ta at to and means “time of the remains of the being sacrificed at the bath.” Guardado has a double meaning of “observe the fathers (elders)” - war tat, indicating that as the woman carried the remains she (the Guardado) was observing the Maya elders to ensure she and her family weren’t caught. The tat (father) syllable was also used in Nueva Trinidad.

Menjivar is men chi ba ar and means “time of the large one with the body in the shade (nighttime).” Large one in this name refers to the ethnic group, the Olomeka. The Olomeka leader was watching the body of the slain Cuscatlan leader. A double meaning of “boat” confirms the body was in a boat. A second double meaning is “chip,” perhaps indicating that the woman through a rock at the Olomeka man.

Dubon is tu ub bo on and means “listen with corpse previously at the hole (Sumpul River).” Dubon indicates that once the woman arrived to Arcatao she continued to listen for the two Maya leaders. People with the last name of Guardado, Mejivar, and Dubon are all likely descendants of the Ulua woman who grabbed the body of her deceased husband and ran for the hills.

The hill directly behind Arcatao is called La Cañada. This name also seems to originate from these early events. It is ka an ya at ta or “one who ran, beginner, and remains of one pained at the bath,” indicating the presence of the woman, her child (the beginner), and the remains of her husband. Within the flanks of La Cañada are small creases, some large enough to be caves. In Arcatao these are called “tatu.” This word seems to derive from the time of the woman hiding from the two leaders who searched for her. Tatu is ta at tu or “remains of the corpse from the bath.” It has a double mean of “father shaman” a slightly sarcastic expression for the Cho and Kiche leaders who were trying to kill her and her child.

The Ulua killed at the Sumpul was perhaps one of the better known martyrs in El Salvador until modern times. The Zapoteca, part of the Ik’ lineage like the Cuscatlan/Ulua, took the killed leader in this story as their deity, Pitao. Pitao means “remains of the companion from the blow of the leaders” or “companion of Arcatao.” Following this event the prefix “sum” became associated with the Cuscatlan/Ulua ethnicity. The name Chalatenango derives almost certainly from these events. It is cha al la at te er ren nan k’o or “time of the woman in the trees tired of the blades of the two and the paddler at the bath.” What especially links the name to these events in the inclusion of paddler, using a syllable en that refers in a hidden way (leaving off the ‘r’) to the Olomega. It also has double meanings of “horizontal” perhaps referring to the woman in the tatu and “load”. The name also links back to the Tenana River of Alaska and the two Sky women (like the Cuscatlan) who heroically broke away from the original migration from Asia to the Americas when it was at the Aleutian Islands in about 14000BCE.

 

Surviving the Tsunami Part 5: Soaking in the Lempa May Explain Hindu Soaking in the Ganges

Part 1 Cause of the Tsunami and First Impacts in El Salvador
Part 2 The Zapotec and Itza Float to Mexico
Part 3 The Battle for the Heart and Soul of the Otomi
Part 4 Long Distance Floaters - Tunica to Mississippi

Sand Burrowed in the Skin

The tsunami of 7200 BCE brought the pain of death and separation for many. Later some felt the joy of reunion like the Tunica. But the tsunami also had a lasting physical effect for some: severe physical pain to those who lived near the sandy coasts of present-day El Salvador’s San Vicente, Usulutan, San Miguel, and La Union. The extremely high winds of the tsunami broke open skin and pieces of sand burrowed into the skin.

The flat coastal area of eastern El Salvador, in today’s Usulutan department was one place the sand embedded in the skin, as already mentioned in the translation of Jiquilisco, located today about eight kilometers north of the Jiquilisco Bay: “see the movement of biting sand in the wind beside the tender ones.” The nearby town of San Dionisio tells us how people sought relief from the sand in the skin.

San Dionisio is located about five kilometers north of the Jiquilisco Bay. San Dionisio is also less than five kilometers from the Rio Grande de San Miguel. It seems to refer to this river in its name. San Dionisio comes from Mi, converted into a Spanish saint name, as happened with many of the San names in the region (Sandionisia to San Dionisio). San Dionisio is san ti on ni is si ha, meaning “movement of the river on many swollen bumps previously open.” This name indicates that people suffering from the sand in the skin would sit in the river for some relief. That river would likely have been the Rio Grande San Miguel. San Miguel also seems to come from this time over 9,000 years ago and relates to San Dionisia(o). It is san ni mi ik’ k’el and means “cats with swollen bumps from gashing wind.”

A similar process was going on among the survivors along the Lempa River 25 kilometers to the west of San Dionisio. Three “Lempa” villages tell the story of the sand in the skin: San Carlos Lempa, San Nicolas Lempa, and San Marcos Lempa. San Carlos Lempa, which is Sanakaros or san ak’ k’ar lo’ os in Mi and means “retained loose pieces set in place in the swollen skin.” The translation of Lempa is key though: leb em pah, which is “rub the body in the descent.” In Mi, the ‘b’ occasionally drops out in the middle of a word. The name Lempa makes it clear that the sand-in-the-skin ones sat in the river rubbing their body to get a little relief from the constant pain and irritation. The dropping of the ‘b’ in Lempa (Lebempa) also was political. The nearby Lenca/Olomeka would have spelled it Lenempa, so dropping the n/b letter altogether was a solution that worked for both the Cuscatlan and Lenca.

Twelve kilometers north of San Carlos Lempa is San Nicolas Lempa. It is san ni ik’ k’o hol la as leb em pah and means “tired of the swollen bumps from biting wind of the crest, practice of rubbing body in the descent.” In this name sitting in the river is called a practice, a habit done daily, but also similar to a religious practice. "Biting wind of the crest" refers to the tsunami. San Marcos Lempa is across the river from San Nicolas Lempa in Usulutan department. It is san ni im mar k’o os leb em pah, meaning “swollen bumps set in place from biting blasts from the sea, rub the body in the descent.”

Ten kilometers southeast of San Marcos Lempa is a town called California, the second town named California in Usulutan, the first close to Santiago de Maria. The names of each of these towns were meant to link Usulutan with California (U.S.). A few hundred years before the tsunami, a multi-ethnic migration took place to the San Francisco Bay Area, becoming the Ohlone, Miwok and related people. Each of the three California names has a different meaning. The California near the Lempa River is k’al li bor ni’ ha’ or “in the river beside for the swollen retained bumps.” Like San Marcos Lempa and related names, it refers to the practice of sitting in the river to relieve the pain from the embedded sand. It links to California (U.S.) in that both places suffered greatly from the tsunami. Alternately, those in California (U.S.) may have also sat in fresh water current to relieve their pain after the tsunami.

In the Lenca-Olmeca southeastern part of El Salvador there was also a problem with sand embedded in the skin. The small lakes in the southeast appear to have been used for soaking the skin of those with embedded sand, like the rivers in the center of the country. Laguna Maquigue is ma ak’ ki ik’ wer and means “dear ones with bad skin from the ripping wind.” It has a double meaning of “trapped in flesh.” Laguna Managuara is ma an ak’ wa ar ha’ and means “the time of the beings with bad skin in the wáter current.” A double meaning is "tired of the bad specks." Managuara was also the name of the more recent Lenca kingdom which could indicate they are the descendants of those who bathed their sore skin in the Laguna Managuara over 9,000 years ago. See Antonio Chevez in “The Royal House of Managuara.”

The name of the Lempa River and the names San Dionisio, San Miguel, San Carlos Lempa, San Nicolas Lempa, and San Marcos Lempa describe the problem of the sand burrowed in the skin from the tsunami and a partial solution of soaking in the river flow. The tsunami was found to have impacted both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the Americas. Impacts are found in the coastal names of South and North America. Similarly tsunami impacts are found in the names at the coasts of Europe, Africa, south Asia, and east Asia.

In some of these places where sand is abundant, sand likely burrowed into the skin, like in El Salvador. The mouth of the Ganges River, in Bangladesh, is one such place. The name Ganges suggests that after the tsunami, people went into the river to relieve the discomfort from the embedded sand. Ganges is k’a an che etz or “observe the flow handling the satisfying.” “Observe” in this name does not mean to see but rather a practice that is observed. This name recalls San Nicolas Lempa, in El Salvador. The Ganges was named after the soaking in the flowing river became a religious practice. Hindi follows this meaning. It is hi in ti and means “sand in the opening of the first ones" or "first ones in the sand at the mouth (of the river)." Together, Ganges and Hindi indicate that the Hindu practice began following the 7200 BCE tsunami.

The Tsunami and Mythology

The tsunami affected the mythology of the Maya and El Salvador. The most important characters in Salvadoran mythology are El Cipitio (Cipitillo) Alacran, Siguanaba, and Sihuehuet. Teotl also enters the myth. Who was Cipitillo Alacran? In mythology he is an 8 to 10 year boy with a wizard’s hat with his feet always pointed backward.

In the Mi language, the Cipitillo is si ip pi it ti il lo and Alacran is al la ak’ k’ar an. Putting the two together one gets “the time of seeing the companions in the current tired of the retentions in the opened skin from the loose blows.” El Cipitillo dates from the tsunami and specifically the time of people standing or sitting in the current of the Lempa River. Perhaps Cipitillo’s feet are backward because he ran backward looking at the arriving tsunami wave. Or while in the Lempa facing the current, one's feet were forced by the current to turn back the other way. Cipitillo’s hat may signify leadership; the orphan boy may have grown up to be a leader of the Cuscatlan.

Siguanaba is a shape-changing spirit who looks like a long-haired woman from behind with a skull (or horse) face from the front. Siguanaba is si ik’ wa an nab ha, meaning “many forgotten Ik’ beings in the water current.” It has a double meaning of “searching.” Siguanaba clearly refers to the Ik’ lineage that was based at the mouth of the Lempa River, consistent with the meaning of El Cipitillo. While some of the Ik’ lineage survived floating to Oaxaca, many did not. Siguanaba could be the search for a loved one, perhaps a woman with long hair, on the beach. You think she may be alive but when you turn her face around, she is clearly dead.

The mother of Cipitillo is Sihuehuet, si wer wet, which means “neighbors from the series of rips (the Great Lakes),” a reference to the Algonquin and the place of origin of the tsunami in North Dakota/Manitoba. This name was given after the Algonquin and Mesoamerican people determined the cause of the tsunami at Lake Winnipeg. The tsunami devastated the Atlantic coasts before it reached the Pacific coasts. Another name for Sihuehuet is Siquet or sik’ et, meaning “challenge of the search.”

Teotl is a god that is very common among the Pipil of El Salvador and who was likely brought to El Salvador by the Toltec, who were Totonac, Kakchiquel, and Otomi. The Otomi defected from the Toltec to join the Pipil, bringing, it would appear, Teotl. The prominence of Teotl among the Otomi was likely caused by the tsunami but not originating with the tsunami. Like many Mesoamerican gods, Teotl, or Teotal, seems to have originated in Africa at the time that the ancestors were leaving Africa. Teotal in the Mi of that time would have been te ot ta al and means “the time of shelter of the remnant from the sticks.” The sticks refer to the weapons of the dominant group at the Great Lakes of Africa. Teotal seems to be related to such words as Theos, Deus, and Dios. The Kiche, one of the ancestor groups of the Otomi, named their first home Teopan.

It is likely that Teotal (Teotl) gained special meaning for the Otomi when they washed ashore in Guerrero after the tsunami. In the tsunami context Teotl meant “time of shelter of sticks for the remnant,” with a double meaning of “arrival.” In more recent times the Otomi, as a member of the Azteca/Mejico alliance, may have been the ones to promote Teotl as teo tal, “arrival of the sacred,” the ever-flowing sacred energy. The Otomi would have been the only members of the Mejico alliance to have a tradition of using the syllables teo. These are just some of the examples of the impact of the tsunami on Mesoamerican mythology.

The Cuscatlan in the Bajo Lempa

After the flood, some of the remnants of the Ik’ lineage might have remained along the Pacific Coast, although likely more retired from the ocean. One could call them Lempa Maya, but I think Cuscatlan is more appropriate, given the department name of Cuscatlan along the Lempa River. Cuscatlan communities likely lived in the Jiquilisco and Usulutan areas of present-day Usulutan, the Tecoluca and San Nicolas Lempa area of present-day San Vicente, and the Zacatecoluca area of present-day La Paz, as well as areas to the north in present-day Cuscatlan and Cabanas departments and eastern Chalatenango.

Communities in the lower Lempa were important to continue to receive the logs floating down the Lempa, to be used for ocean-going rafts, but also in order to take advantage of the very good soils in the floodplain. However, while they may have planted close to the river, the post-tsunami communities were likely a long walk away at higher elevations to avoid both the ocean, in case it rose more, and the river which frequently floods. Tehuacan fits this description, rebuilt with the same name as the original Tehuacan near the ocean. The new Tehuacan may have become the spiritual center for the Cuscatlan.

The Zapotec ancestors found avocados in the Tehuacan valley of Mexico according to the archeological evidence. At some point they brought avocados back to their close relatives at the lower Lempa River. Evidence of this is the "West Indies" avocado, a lowland avocado, which developed separately from the Mexican highland avocado. It seems likely that the West Indies avocado was taken from the El Salvador-Guatemala coast at a later point to the Guatemalan highlands, creating the Guatemala variety of avocado, since the Guatemala avocado comes from the West Indies avocado.

But there is more convincing evidence for the avocado being brought to the Lower Lempa: the name of the village of Pacun near the Lempa River about 25 kilometers north of the current mouth. Pacun refers directly to avocado cultivation: pak’ un, “cultivation of avocado.” Pacun has a double meaning, pa ak’ k’un, or “skin over tender body,” describing the avocado. For more background, see Amanda J. Landon or Galindo-Tovar, etal.

One group of Cuscatlan moved about 50 kilometers northwest to the present-day department of Cuscatlan. There they named a hill Tecoluca, after their point of origin of Tecoluca in the lower Lempa. They named a nearby town Istagua – is tak’ wa’, meaning “movement of the beings to the dryness.” Another nearby name reveals their sailing heritage: San Martin (Sanamartin) or tza an nam mar ti in, which means “disappearance of the first ones in the current of the shiny open space (ocean) at the mouth (of the Lempa).” It has a double meaning of “spiders” (sailors). The name references those that were the first sailing in the ocean and the first ones lost in the tsunami (those that became the Zapotec and Triqui).

The names of San Pedro Perulapan and San Bartolome Perulapia, located close to Tecoluca hill, are revealing. San Bartolome Perulapia, is san bar to ol lo om mer Peru ul ap pi ha, and means “boat to Peru to explain to companions about those sacrificed loose by the swollen crest, failed in the foamy swinging water (ocean).” The name repeats San Bartolome from the Arcatao Ulua origin story, indicating that the Cuscatlan also explained that story to the Peruvians, if they didn’t know about it already, and seems to imply sharing the story of the origin of the Purepecha with the Peruvians, given the origin of the male side of the Purepecha quite near Arcatao. The placement of this name in Cuscatlan indicates that the companions there were those, or among those, who went to Peru to explain the tsunami and likely prior to that had traveled around to investigate the cause and effect of the tsunami.

The name San Pedro Perulapan seems to have originated about 8,000 years after the tsunami, in the post-Classic period, telling the story of the arrival of the Purepecha and Toltec to Peru and relating it to San Bartolome Perulapia and the tsunami. We will tell that story at a later time.

The Origin of the Zapotecs - the Tsunami of 7280 BCE

First of three blog entries on the tsunami of ~7280 BCE

Just as the Maya suffered through a terrible tsunami at Lago Güija in about 7835 BCE, all the Maya lineages, especially the Ik’ lineage, suffered tremendously due to an ocean tsunami more than 500 years later, in about 7280 BCE. But they weren’t the only ones to suffer – place names on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts throughout the Americas indicate being hit by a terrible tsunami too.[1] The Maya determined the cause of the tsunami, which is revealed by the name of the mythological figure Sihuehuet: the Great Lakes region of the present-day U.S. and Canada. This chapter will look somewhat briefly at the cause of the disaster in the Great Lakes area, then examine the impact on Maya communities, especially the displacement of the leaders of the Ik’ lineage from the Rio Lempa to Oaxaca.

[1] This will be documented in a separate publication.

The most likely cause of the tsunami was the draining of Lake Agassiz, a huge lake on the North American continent – mostly in Canada – which emptied much of its huge volume of glacial melt into the oceans. But it wasn’t that simple. The lake shore had many communities along its rim. The draining of the lake was a very violent thing.

The lake was likely somewhat smaller at the time of the tsunami than what is portrayed above.[2] Place names around Fargo indicate that the lake may have been 15 to 20 miles wide by Fargo rather than the roughly 50 miles indicated on the map. Scientists estimate that Lake Agassiz began to form in about 10875 BCE when the ice sheets began to melt.[3] It lasted until about 6480 BCE, leaving behind remnant lakes like Lake Winnipeg. Scientists have determined that it reached its largest size during the fourth of its five stages, the Nipigon, from about 8630 BCE until about 7160 BCE,[4] when a large amount of water drained from the Lake.

[2] Source Upham, Warren. "The Glacial Lake Agassiz". Plate III. Monographs of the en:United States Geological Survey: Volume XXV. Washington Government Printing Office: Washington, 1895.
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Agassiz
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Agassiz#Nipigon_Phase:_10.2C630.E2.80.939.2C160_YBP.

The 7160 BCE date comes quite close to the date in the Maya Mars retrograde calendar that seems to correspond with the tsunami (7280 BCE). The name Nipigon comes from Lake Nipigon, a large lake north of Lake Superior. During the fourth stage of Lake Agassiz, it reached Lake Nipigon, which has an elevation of 260 meters (850 feet), 14 meters below Fargo. Nipigon is a name in Mi which comes from the time of the tsunami. In Mi it is ni pi ik’ k’o on and means “companions in the biting wind from the knob of the previous age.” The biting knob was the ice slab which slammed into Lake Agassiz near Fargo, making it clear that Lake Nipigon was named after the source of the wind was learned. The “previous age” was the ice age.

The Algonquin peoples that lived around Lake Agassiz at the time still spoke Mi at the time of the tsunami.[5] Place names around the lake spell out the cause of the tsunami. Cass County, where Fargo, North Dakota, is located, is k’as in Mi, meaning “broke open” or “broke away.” Fifty kilometers west of Fargo are the towns of Absaraka and Buffalo. Absaraka is ab sar ak’ ka and means “beginning of the swinging wall of the covering,” where covering refers to a piece of the ice sheet which may have been centered around Devils Lake. Buffalo is buh bah al lo in Mi and means “time of cut up bodies from the loose one.”[6] The name Fargo likely was named after a European, but it also could be indigenous: bah ar k’o means “time of the bodies in the teeth,” with teeth referring to the sliding ice sheet.

[5] Research by this author indicates that the Algonquin were, in part, the result of a migration of the Maya from the region of present-day El Salvador to the Great Lakes region in about 7430 BCE, less than 300 years before the tsunami.
[6] Buffalo repeats the usage of this name for an ice berg or ice sheet, first used by the Sioux ancestors on the Mississippi River in modern day Wisconsin. At other times it was also used to describe the bison. While it was Algonquin further north along the edges of Lake Agassiz, in present-day North Dakota it was likely Dakota.

The name Norman, the Minnesota county 50 kilometers northeast of Fargo, indicates that the tsunami resulted from an ice sheet. It is noh hor mah an in Mi and means “large crest from the bad flow,” with ma in the name indicating deaths. Manitoba is ma an ni to ba and means “sacrifice of bodies in the bad flow due to the knob (ice slab).” Anola is a place name 24 kilometers east of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Anola is an no hol ha’ and means “large flowing crest of water,” indicating a lake tsunami as it flowed north in the lake. The tsunami slammed into the north rim of Lake Agassiz, breaking through at the present opening of Nelson River near Purvis Island, pur bi is, which means “companions in the up and down movement.”

A large flow of water poured out of Lake Agassiz toward James Bay. There were several villages around the bay at the time, evidenced by the place names, which indicate a tsunami there too.[7] For example, Akimiski Island is ak’ ki im mi is kib and means “tender cats covered by the rising, blasting motion.” From there the large flow of water from Lake Agassiz entered the Atlantic Ocean, where it caused an ocean-wide tsunami. Names throughout present-day Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Dominican Republic indicate a tsunami. The same is true of present-day coastal Venezuela and Brasil. Because it was a flow of a significant amount of new water, the tsunami maintained itself and possibly strengthened as it passed the tip of South America and entered the Pacific Ocean. Names on the west coast of South America and Panama clearly indicate a tsunami. Then the tsunami reached the coast of present-day El Salvador, home to the Maya in 7280 BCE.

[7] While it is possible they were Algonquin, the language seems distinct and more likely to be Eskimo-Mi.

The Tsunami in El Salvador

The names along the coast of current-day El Salvador indicate that there was population on the coast – and therefore tsunami-relevant names – at the time of the tsunami. Conversely, there are no tsunami-relevant Pacific Coast names between Panama and El Salvador and few in Guatemala and Mexico. In the case of the region of El Salvador, I will start by looking at the eastern part of the coast, then the western portion, and finally the central area, where the tsunami had the biggest social and cultural impact.

During the presence of Xibalba, the Olmeka/Lenca ancestors would have been mostly limited to Lago Olomega in eastern El Salvador. The Xibalba were eliminated about 200 years before the tsunami and in that time, it appears that the Olmeka people spread out along the coast, 20 to 30 kilometers away. A similar process happened in the west. The department and city name, La Union, might have originally been a Mi name, then adapted into Spanish. It could have been la an yur ri on, meaning “formerly fatigued current beside breaking through.” Historically, the Gulf of Fonseca was called “fatigued current,” so calling it “formerly fatigued” may have been a play on words referring to the tsunami. Cutuco is a place name a couple kilometers east of the modern city of La Union. It is kut tu uk’ k’o and means “sadness for the corpses from the beating teeth.”

The most prominent name around la Bahía de La Unión is Sirama, with two rivers of that name and a village. There is a Sirama River just north of the bay, also called Rio el Amatillo, which drains into Estero Manzanilla, a Sirama River southwest of the bay, which starts near El Pilón, and a Sirama village located about 10 kilometers west of La Unión. Sirama must have really garnered the feeling of the communities after the tsunami. In Mi, it is sir ra am ha or “spiders in the rising tired water.” They self-identified as spiders – sailing people. “Tired water” was a reference to the Gulf of Fonseca. A second similar meaning for Sirama is “see a number of spiders in the water.” Ending in ma, the name also connotes badness and death.

Rio Pavana drains into Rio Sirama (Amatillo), Pavana is pah ab an ha’ and means “bodies in the swinging water current.” Mogotillo is a village located next to Rio Pavana, about five kilometers from the bay. It is mo’ ok’ k’o ti il lo’ and means “see loose ones trapped and split open from the teeth by the mouth.” The teeth are the giant tsunami waves.

Further to the west and away from the bay, at San Alejo the focus was on healing the survivors. San Alejo is one of many examples where Mi names were transformed into Spanish names, often beginning with “san.” San means “swelling” in Mi. San Alejo is san al leb bo’ and means “time of stroking (healing) those from the swollen hole.” Hole is one of the words used frequently for ocean. El Jicaro is eight kilometers east of El Carmen and would be hi’ ik’ k’ar ro’ or “retained loose sand from the wind.” This is a key name and the first of many in the El Salvador region that indicate that the winds that accompanied the tsunami blew up sand that became retained under the skin of survivors. Five kilometers south of El Jicaro, up in the hills safe from any tsunami, is the village of El Pilon. This might be a Spanish name, but it could be Mi, coming from pi il lo’ on or “see the previously loose companions” – those loose in the wave but who survived and then relocated away from the ocean and bay.

To the southeast of La Union is Amapalita, an obvious reference to Amapala on Isla Tigre. It means “remnant beside Amapala,” indicating that people either floated across from Isla Tigre or moved to the mainland due to the destruction from the tsunami. The nearby town and volcano of Conchagua have a similar meaning, it is k’o on ch’a’ ak’ wa’ in Mi and means “beings previously covered and horizontal from the teeth,” likely referring to people who previously lived on Isla Tigre or other islands in the Gulf. Conchagua has a double meaning of “two” which seems to refer to there being a second group from Isla Tigre. The name of another nearby village, Yologual, provides more information. It is yo’l lo’ ok’ wa’ al and means “the time of splitting off of the beings who were loose in the perforation.” This indicates that they were loose in the gulf, floating to the mainland. Splitting off probably means both “split open” and is an expression when one family, clan, etc. is split in two, indicating that some of their people remained on Isla Tigre. They could easily have returned but probably interpreted their situation as fate, they were meant to stay in Conchagua.

Playa el Flor, south of Conchagua volcano, might be from Mi, pel lo’ hor, meaning “loose ones collapsed in the crest.” Near where the gulf meets the Pacific is Playa Tamarindo. This appears to come from Mi and perhaps the plant was then named after this place. Tamarindo in Mi is ta’ am mar ri in toh and means “remnant spiders from the sea beside where the first sacrifice.” This indicates that there was a second group from Isla Tigre that floated from the island, where the first heart sacrifices took place as described in Chapter 3. Those that floated to Tamarindo were sailors – very adept in the water. The point, Punta Amapala, named after Amapala, Isla Tigre, is further evidence of a group floating from Tigre. That the people floated west indicates that the tsunami took place in the rainy season from May 1 to October 31 when the wind and ocean currents go west along the coast.

Further west in current day San Miguel, is Playa el Cuco and San Jose Gualozo. Cuco might come from the time of the tsunami. It could be kur uk’ k’o, meaning “sadness from the points and teeth.” Gualozo is wa’al lo os soh and means “loose ones set down by the standing curve (wave).” This would seem to indicate that bodies or persons were carried up to Gualozo, about five kilometers inland, by the wave.

A little bit east, Isla el Arco might be a Spanish name, but if indigenous, it would be ar k’o or “time of the teeth.” Nearby is Isla Espino – again, possibly a Spanish name, but in Mi it would be etz’ pi noh or “observe the companions in the large one.”

The water from the tsunami crest backed up the Rio Grande de San Miguel, the major river in eastern El Salvador. Moropala, about 15 kilometers upstream, is moh hor ro bah al ha’ or “the time of loose bodies trapped in the water’s crest.” It has a double meaning of boats, indicating that boats were also trapped and lost in the current. Across the river from Moropala is La Anchila, which in Mi is an ch’i’ il ha’ or “see the large water current.” Chilanguera, about 30 kilometers upstream, and the name indicates the current went at least that high. In Mi it is ch’i’ il an k’er ha’ and means “see the large gashing water current.” Today Chilanguera is 35 meters (115 feet) above sea level. The name Talpetate, present up one of the narrow canyons from Chilanguera, may indicate that the flow of the tsunami reached that high – as flood waters were forced up the narrow valley. It located 200 meters above level – which at the time may have been the equivalent of 180 meters above sea level.[8]

[8] The crest of the wave would not need to be that high but the wave could force water much higher than the crest up a narrow valley.

Maya communities existed in ~7280 BCE along much of the present-day El Salvador coast, including in the west. Communities located in today’s La Libertad Department probably were linked to Lago Guija. The last chapter described the historical connection between Lago Guija and La Libertad following the Guija flood.

The name La Libertad may come from Mi from the time of the tsunami. In Mi it would be li ib ber ta’ at or “beside the remains of the spirits collapsed in the bath.” Rio Aquiquisquillo in eastern La Libertad is ak’ ik’ ix ki’ il lo’ or “see the tender ones loose in the covering movement and wind”. Above Aquiquisquillo is the municipality of Rosario de Mora in today’s San Salvador Department. It might be from Spanish, but probably comes from Mi: ro’ os sar ri ho’ ot te’ em moh or ha’, which means “shelter for those beside, the desirable ones trapped loose in the crest of the wall of water, set down in the trees in the descent.” This indicates that the survivors may have sought shelter up the hill in Rosario de Mosa.

Rio Chilama is just east of Puerto La Libertad. Chilama is ch’i’ il am ha’, which means “see the spiders (sailors) in the large water,” with “badness” (death) as a double meaning. Just west of the mouth of Chilama is Playa Conchalio, which is k’o on cha al li ho in Mi, meaning “the time in the two teeth, the desired ones previously beside.” This name suggests that there were two waves in the tsunami. This area of La Libertad may be where one of the groups that made it to Mexico were from: most likely the Mangue/Chorotega.

Beyond the beach ten kilometers up the coastal range is La Shila or ch’i’ il ha’, simply “see the giant water.” A couple kilometers west of Conchalio is El Sunzal. In Mi it is suh un sal or “youth under the layer of the wall,” with a double meaning of “foreigner.” This is one indicator that the Maya believed the tsunami came from elsewhere – across the ocean or perhaps when Sunzal was named they had learned of the North American origin.

Near the coast the name El Zonte describes trees that were completely covered up by the tsunami. El Zonte is soh on te’, meaning “trees previously in the curve (wave).” Far above El Zonte is the municipality of Tamanique which describes a very common condition of those near the ocean. The very strong tsunami wind blowing sand into the skin. Tamanique is tam an ni ik’ k’er and means “in the current for the interior of the bumps from the gashing wind.” To relieve their painful skin they rested in the Rio Huiza. A little west is Siberia or si ib ber ri ha’, which means “beside the many collapsed spirits in the water (ocean).”

The collapsed spirits in the tsunami included a shaman or spiritual leader, according to the meaning of the nearby municipality of Chiltiupan and the Rio Sunzacuapa. Sunzacuapa is sun sahk uh ha’ pah and means “search for the body of the sacred one in the greedy (foreign) water.” Chiltiupan is ch’i’ il ti uh pah an and indicates that the body of the sacred one was found. It means “see the opened body of the sacred one in/from the giant current.” Perhaps the sacred one and others lived near the present-day town of Taquillo near the coast. It is ta’ ak’ ki’ il lo’ and means “see the remains of the loose covered-up tender ones.”

Like Tamanique, Jicalapa refers to the sand flying penetrating the skin with the strong winds. Jicalapa is hi’ ik’ k’al ha’ pah in Mi and means “in the river for sand from the wind retained in the body.” This meaning is extremely clear.

In far western La Libertad and Sonsonate are several coastal villages that appear to be from the K’iche’ lineage at Lago Coatepeque rather than the Ch’orti’ lineage. Mizata, or mi is sat ha’ or “cats lost in the movement of water.” Next to Mizata, in present day eastern Sonsonate, is Apancoyo and Playa Dorada. Apancoyo is ap pa an k’oy yor, meaning “swinging bodies of the smokers hit by the current.” The K’iche’ lineage is known for first cultivating tobacco. “Pan” is used in the name, linking it both to Teopan and to the Tlapanec in Mexico. Finally there is Playa Dorada, which is to or at ta’ or “remains of those sacrificed by the crest of the bath.” The name of the Department of Sonsonate comes from the time of the tsunami. It is so on so on at te and means “previously on the arched wood who previously were at the curved bath.” Curved bath refers to Lake Coatepeque, long-time home of the K’iche’. Arched wood refers to the boats they used to sail in the ocean. A double-meaning of Sonsonate is “distant”, hinting that the name originated after they were aware of the landing of the survivors in Guerrero.

In western Sonsonate is a curious repeating of the name Amatal, the beach where the first families arrived from South America about 80 kilometers to the east (see Chapter 2). In this context it appears to be am ma at ta’ al and mean, “the time of the remains of the spiders (sailors) in the bad bath.” I take the repeated name to be likening the death(s) in the ocean among the first families to the many deaths in the ocean at the time of the tsunami.

Further west in today’s Ahuachapan is Barra de Santiago, the first of many examples where names begin with the syllable “san” and the Spanish claimed them, in most cases, to be saints’ names. In Mi, Santiago is san at ti ak’ k’o (Sanatiago) and means “in the bath for swollen open bumps on skin from the teeth.” San means “swollen” and was usually used as a prefix to describe the bumps from the sand in the skin.

Finally, the Garita Palmera lagoon name seems to date from this time. Garita Palmera is k’ar ri ta’ ap pah al mer ha’ and means “time of being beside the remains of the failed bodies in the swinging water,” with “boats” as a double meaning. It is likely that the community at Garita Palmera was related to the Ch’orti’ community at Lago Güija, serving as one of the primary sailing communities of the Ch’orti’. As we will see, many of the Garita Palmera community survived.

The Origin of the Zapotec

Perhaps the most important story from the tsunami in Mesoamerica took place in the central part of present-day El Salvador in the regions of Usulutan, San Vicente, and La Paz. This event resulted in the creation of a new ethnic group in Mexico, when the leadership portion of the Ik’ lineage communities survived the tsunami blast but were carried out to sea, landing eventually at the Oaxaca coast. Other surviving groups carried out to sea did not include the core leadership of their respective lineages.

Two stories were told about the Balam Ik’ leadership getting swept to Oaxaca: one by the survivors who stayed along the coast and other Maya who searched for their lost Balam Ik’ lineage who lived by the ocean, and the second by the survivors of the tsunami who floated to the shores of Oaxaca. The place names on both sides of the lower Lempa River tell the story from the perspective of the Maya. On the east side of the Lempa (Usulután), the story starts near the coast at Salinas de Sisiguayo, a place where salt is made. Sisiguayo is si ix sik’ wa’ yo’b and means “search for the series of beings struck by the arriving movement.” This describes where they may have searched for the missing people. “Arriving movement” is an apt description of a tsunami-type wave. Sisiguayo has a complete double meaning – sis si ik’ way yor – or “series of cold wind gusts hit while sleeping,” indicating a possible warning before the tsunami, which apparently hit at night. A third meaning is “Ik’ beings.”

A few kilometers northwest of Sisiguayo is El Zamoran, which is tz’ah am mo hor an and means “spiders trapped by the cresting shiny current.” Spiders was a common expression for sailors, going back to Taiwan and Siberia in Chapter 1. “Shiny” was an expression for various bodies of water.” The Ik’ lineage on the Pacific Coast were sailors in the ocean. Recently the ancient bones of a woman and a child were excavated at Zamoran.[9] Perhaps they are from the time of the flood.

[9] Personal conversation with University of El Salvador anthropology student, Ariana Ninel Pleitez, August 2012.

Along the Usulutan coast are San Juan del Gozo and Isla Cumichin. Cumichin, a kilometer south of Sisiguayo, is k’um mi ix ch’i’ in and means “first cats (of us) rinsed in the large movement.” The tsunami struck there before Sisiguayo. San Juan del Gozo is a village five kilometers west of Cumichin. The whole name appears to come from Mi: san wa’an tel k’o soh, meaning “teeth of the swollen rising curve on the ridge.” It has a double meaning of “running beings set down.”

To west along the La Paz coast are El Chingo and El Pimiental, indicating that the Ik’ lineage spread out in this direction as well. El Chingo is ch’i’ in k’o and simply means “first ones in the large teeth.” El Pimiental is pi im men ta’ al and means “time of the spirit-remains of the companions in the blast.” It has a double meaning of “arrival.”

A few kilometers north of El Zamoran is the oddly named Quita Calzon. I believe that a similar sounding Maya name was replaced with the two odd Spanish words. Quita Calzon or kitakalison in Ch’orti’-Mi is ki’ ta’ ak’ k’al li ix soh on and means “beside where dear ones previously set down by the arch, remnant with retentions in the skin.” It is a name that recognizes those whose bodies were carried by the wave and set down upshore here, as well as discussing the problem of the sand embedded (retained) in the skin. In a similar way, Mata de Piña received its name, a few kilometers north of Quita Calzon. Mata de Piña is mah ta’ pi in ha’ and means “remains of the first companions in the bad water.” The water was described as bad because it had caused the deaths of the first companions.

The bay in Usulutan also has a name that dates to the time of the flood. Jiquilisco is ji’ ik’ ki’ il li ix k’o and means “see the movement of biting sand in the wind beside the tender ones.” It was a location from which a survivor(s), perhaps higher up from the ocean level, saw and felt the sand in the wind generated by the tsunami wave(s). They were beside those who passed away – the tender ones.

On the west side of the Lempa (present-day San Vicente), the story starts with La Pita, near the present small port on the Lempa used to access Isla Montecristo and the Pacific. La Pita is lap pi ta’ and means “rubbing remains of the companions,” where “rubbing” was an expression for caring for the bodies of those who had passed. La Pita has a second meaning indicating that people moved back there: “remnant of the rubbing (stroking) companions,” referring to ocean paddlers. Montecristo, at the mouth of the present-day Lempa, might come from Mi: Montekeristo would be moh on te’ ek’ k’er ri ix toh and means “ancestors on the broken wood under the stars beside those sacrificed while trapped in the movement.” The ancestors on the broken wood are those that floated to Mexico, indicating that this name came after there was contact between those in Oaxaca and those here. If Montekeristo is a name from the time of tsunami it likely referred to an island near the mouth of the river at that time rather than the precise island that is today called Monte Cristo.

A little north of La Pita is the town of Santa Marta, which is san tam mar ta’ and means “remains in the depth of the swollen sea.” The next town north of Santa Marta is San Bartolo. Its name – Sanabaratolo, also derives from Mi and is san ab ba ar at toh lo’, which means “time of the sacrificed bodies in the swinging swollen bath.” Double meanings here include “boats” and “forgotten ones.”

Ojushtada, a more obviously Maya name, is one kilometer north of San Bartolo. Ojushtada is ho’ huch’ ta’ at ha’ and means “the remains of the nice ones pressed by the water bath.” While many Ch’orti’-Mi names have two, three or more meanings, Ojushtada is constructed in such a way that there is no other possible meaning for this name.

The present-day city names Tecoluca and Zacatecoluca describe the sentiment of the Maya who remained. They were named at a time after the Ik’-lineage surviving leaders were located in Mexico. Tecoluca is te’ ek’ k’ol uk’ ha’ and means “water transport on branches by the stars in sadness,” describing the journey of those who floated to Mexico. The theme of being under the stars in the ocean is repeated in El Salvador and Oaxaca. This name brings up two historical references, both described in Chapter 2. First, it was the Ik’ lineage that was especially adept at navigating by the stars on the original journey from South America to the El Salvador coast, about 1,400 years before the tsunami. Second, it sounds similar to Toluca beach, where the original four rafts landed. Zacatecoluca is sak’ k’at tecoluca or “search for those who crossed, Tecoluca,” indicating that the Maya sent search parties out into the ocean to look for the survivors, eventually finding them in Mexico.

The name Talpetate describes the extent of the flow of the tsunami wave – no doubt reaching elevations higher than the height of the wave itself, especially as it flowed up steep river valleys. Talpetate is tal pet ta at te and means “arrival of a residual of the pouring of the bath on vegetation.” In contemporary Salvadoran parlance, talpetate means a subsoil layer of clay and sand.[10] The wave brought sand and soon the word meant any place of sandy-clay soil, an indicator that at some much earlier time the ocean covered a portion (or all) of Central America. There are at least 12 occurrences of Talpetate.[11] They occur only in areas that are indicated by this research would be occupied at the time of the flood – there are none in Mexico, Belize, or northern or western Guatemala.

[10] Personal conversation, Rolando Velo, November 13, 2015.
[11] 11 indicated by maplandia.com and a 12^th located in Usulutan, El Salvador by the author.

Two of the Talpetate name placements have equivalent elevations – 100 meters – likely indicating the height of the tsunami, although the ocean level was perhaps 17 to 20 meters higher at that time in Central America.[12] This would indicate a 61 to 80 meter tsunami (200 to 262 feet). These two places are Talpetate, Usulutan, El Salvador, and Talpetate, El Viejo, Chinandega, Nicaragua. Two other Talpetate place names have a lower elevation, likely indicating other places where the tsunami dumped sand once it had receded. A fifth Talpetate, in San Miguel, El Salvador, has an elevation of 200 meters. However it is in a narrow river valley and could indicate that tsunami swell reached that height as water was pushed up the narrow valleys.

[12] The 8670 BCE sailing stones at Toluca are 17 meters above sea level today. The rising continental shelf has dropped the ocean level to its current level. However, there may have been a counter force of a rising ocean from 8670 to 7270 BCE due to melting ice sheets worldwide.

Next, in the next blog entry, we will look at those who somehow survived this giant tsunami and floated under the stars to Mexico.

 

 

La Captura de los Antepasados Maya al Llegar a El Salvador

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discusión de la Lucha de Chinameca

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

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

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

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

Discusión de los Grandes Extranjeros Amarillos

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

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

The Tao of Chalatenango: Path of the Great Ones

[Major edits Nov. 27, 2016] The founding lineages of the Cho Maya, Kiche, Olomeca, and Cuzcatlan began their Mesoamerican culture on Isla Tigre, Honduras. Soon after splitting into the four communities, each by water, the leaders of the communities - Olomega, Tehuacan, Güija, and Coatepeque - decided to meet together in a central location perhaps once a year. They chose a spot that is roughly halfway (by water) between the mouth of the Lempa, the Cuscatlan base, and Lago Güija, where the Cho (Chorti/Itza) were located. This was essentially where the Sumpul River enters the Lempa River. This is known from the name Arcatao, a name that used to be associated with a place along the Sumpul River a few kilometers upstream from the Lempa.

The first meaning of Arcatao in Mi is ar k’at ta or, “the time of the crossing of the leaders of the remnants.” The ‘a’ followed by the ‘o’ is an unusual construction, saved for a special place. It is likely the early names Teotipa, Teopan, and teosinte were meant to mirror the ending of the name Arcatao.

The name Sumpul also explains a reason that the four remnants came together. On the surface the name is sum pul or “up and down twisting,” which does describe the motion of the Sumpul River as it comes out of the mountains of Chalatenango. However a double meaning is revealed by a hidden, dropped ‘r’, a somewhat common linguistic trick in Mi, in the first syllable. In this meaning Sumpul is sur rum pu ul, or “explain the land of the foreigner who slashes.” The foreigner was the Xibalba based in Corinto to the east. The four remnants came together to discuss what they had learned about the Xibalba and to defend themselves from the violent Xibalba. They probably hid this meaning so that the Xibalba themselves, who spoke the same Mi language, wouldn’t know the purpose of the Sumpul meeting place, which would be relevant if the four leaders planned to continue to meet regularly at the Sumpul River.

It may seem ironic for the Mesoamerican leaders to call the Xibalba “foreigners” since the Mesoamerican leaders were in the land of the Xibalba. But “foreigner” doesn’t relate to whose land but rather simply that the Xibalba were foreign to them, that is, from a different migration from Asia from them. This would seem to connect the Xibalba to the Zuni who were also called foreigners by Lakota-related people.

The use of sur in the hidden meaning of Sumpul explains who was doing the explaining - the Olomeka.[1] Based in the east at Lago Olomega, this makes sense - they were the closest to the Xibalba at Corinto. If Sumpul was named at the first gathering of the four lineages since they left Isla Tigre, the Olomega might have needed a year or two, but not too much time, to scout out the trails, hunting and other routines of the Xibalba. This would place the Sumpul-Arcatao encounter right around 8200 BCE.

[1] The Olomeka lineage identified culturally, or at least linguistically, with the n-mtdna division of the two migrations that left Africa about 60,000 years ago. The n-mtdna division used sur for “foreigner”, while the m-mtdna division used sun for “foreigner.” The n-mtdna identity for the Olomeka could stem from either the indigenous Taiwanese lineage or the Xibalba lineage or both, but not from the Torok, Siberia, lineage.

The place names around the Rio Sumpul tell the story of what happened next. At the confluence of the Sumpul and the Lempa is El Dique. In Mi this is ti ik’ k’er or “slashed and opened Ik’.” A member of the Ik’ party, from Tehuacan near the mouth of the Lempa, was killed. Next to El Dique is San Benito, tza an ben ni it to, “run from the sacrificing blows at the wetness to the wild hills.”[2] This name indicates that the men pursuing the woman still desired to carry out the sacrifice of the woman’s child. It also tells that it was the slain Cuscatlan leader’s child that the two shaman wished to sacrificed, but which he stopped.

[2] San Benito may be the first use of the prefix “San” in a name in Mesoamerica, usually indicating the death of a person or people. This usage of San may stem from a visit by the Mesoamerican people to the San people of southern Africa, the first human dissident group to flee the main group of humans over 100,000 years ago. The San name uses “san” in a similar way tza an or “run from the shiny (wetness).”

Northeast a couple kilometers is El Candungo or hel ka an tu un k’o or “other (woman) and beginner (young child) run from the corpse from the blades.” The wife of the Ik’ man and their child(ren) fled from the river up into the hills toward Candungo.

Who was this Ik’ leader? The ethnic name Ulua tells us more. Ulua is ul uh ha’ or “explain to the sacred (shamans) at the river.” It seems that the Ik’ leader (Ulua) was stopping a sacrifice process by one or more shaman at the Sumpul River. This tells us that the sacrifice practice did not stop at Isla Tigre. A link between the Ulua and the Cuscatlan is the name Usulutan near the mouth of the Lempa River which has a similar, but rare, structure: ulu.

The surviving woman and her family may have been pursued because soon they sought a more remote hideout. North is Eramon Mountain (left) and along the river, San Antonio de la Cruz.

San Antonio de la Cruz provides some detail about events: tza an toh on ni ot te hel la ak’ k’er ruz, or “shelter for the woman in the trees on the hill tired of the slashing of the skin of the swimmer.” Calling her husband a swimmer indicates that he was trying to escape in the river when he was killed. Nearby Eramon echoes these events: her ra am mo on is “woman tired of the previous trapping by the spiders.” “Previous” indicates the events did not happen while she was resting at Eramon. “Spiders” refers to the paddlers who killed her husband. Generally “spider” is used in a derogatory fashion. The wife of Ulua hid in the thick woods on Eramon Mountain.

Near the base of Eramon is El Zapote or hel tza ap po ot te, which means “shelter in the trees for the woman from the swings of those at the wet hole.” It has the double meaning of “rub” indicating that the woman rubbed her muscles from the difficult hiking. To the east a couple kilometers is the place name Tequeque, a curious name that indicates the woman played a trick on her two pursuers. Tequeque is te ek’ her k’er or “woman slashing the trees under the stars.” It repeats the slashing syllable twice to over emphasize it. I believe this name indicates the woman cut a false path through the trees to fool her pursuers and then doubled back toward the Sumpul River. Tequeque has double meanings of “strengthen” and “to flatten on the hills.”

About four kilometers northwest of Tequeque is El Zacamil. This indicates the direction of the two leaders following the false path of the woman. It is hel sak’ k’a am mi il and means “Woman satisfied to see the searching cats spidering along.” The leaders - the cats - continued walking, spidering, on the false path. El Zacamil became a well-used name in indigenous El Salvador and this was very likely its first usage. El Zacamil has a complete double meaning, hel tza ak’ k’a am mi il, “woman satisfied to see the skin of the cat at the wetness.” The woman doubled back from near El Zacamil, going west to the Sumpul River and saw the body of her deceased husband there.

The woman arrived to the Sumpul River perhaps near where the Manaquil River pours into the Sumpul, about four kilometers southwest of El Zacamil. Manaquil is ma an ak’ ki’ il or “run from the badness, see the skin of the dear one at the current.” This name seems to indicate that for some of her journey she followed the Manaquil River and upon reaching the Sumpul River saw the body of her husband. This also seems to imply that the Olomega leader in the boat with the body moved the boat upstream to the Manaquil confluence. Manaquil uses the nak’ syllable for a double meaning of “planets,” indicating that the same leaders who saw the spectacular triple planet alignment on Isla Tigre in 8208 BCE seem to be the ones who killed her husband and who now pursued her. The Kiche day sign of Manik seems to have been named for this woman, playing off the name Manaquil. Manik would mean “Ik’ who ran from the badness into the hills.” The Mars retrograde calendar moved into the Manik’ position in 8199 BCE, nine years after the triple planet event.

The second name of the Manaquil River, the Guayampoque tells more of the story of the woman fooling the pursuing men, wa ya am po ok’ k’er - “being who slashed (the brush) splits to the hole (Sumpul) from the painful spiders.” The prefix “Guaya” (Waya) was meant to sound like Maya, linking the name Maya to the two men who killed her husband. Guayampoque has double meanings of “night”, “circle”, and “rinse,” so during the night she circled back to the rinse of the Sumpul River.

The name of the patron saint of Arcatao, San Bartolome, tells us that the wife of the Ik’ (Ulua) leader attempted to secure the body of her husband at the river. San Bartolome is tza an ba ar to ol lo om mer or “time of the failure to free the shiny (bloody) body of the one sacrificed by the leaders at the foam.” In her first attempt and perhaps more, the Ik’ woman failed to secure the body of her husband. The name has a double meaning of “boat” indicating that the body was in a boat. Perhaps in a boat at the Manaquil.

The names Nombre de Jesus and Escalante on the Lempa River slightly downstream from the Sumpul confluence tell us that the body of the Ulua leader in the boat with the Olomega leader was also located there, probably after its Sumpul location. Nombre de Jesus is no om ba ar re et te che es su us or “the time of being capable of the challenge of observing the large paddler at the foam with the body from layer of trees.” The use of re at the end of Nombre helps to confirm it was an Olomega paddler since the Ulua women would have said rep while the Olomega man would have said ren; dropping the last letter - resulting in re - is consistent with one describing the other. A double meaning is “boat”.

Escalante is es k’al la an te or “observe the retained in the fatigued current from the trees. “Fatigued current” - lan - is a specific ethnic marker for the Olomega. Another indicator that it was an Olomega man with the body. The village just north of Escalante is Los Henriquez: lo os sen ri ik ker re ez or “beside the loose sky one (Ik’) who observed the (Olomega) paddler to free the gashed wise one.” This village is beside where the Ulua (Ik’) woman observed the boat with the body. It makes it clear she was attempting to free the body at the Lempa River.

Patanera is six kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus and seems to indicate the direction that the woman fled with the body, into the steep hills. Pa at ta an ne er ra - is “other (woman) runs with remains of body from the tail bath (Lempa) tired.” Pat has the double meaning of “pod” or “husks” which seems to indicate how the woman drug the body.

To the east is Quipure, which is ki ip pu ur re or “explain to the paddler the splitting open of the dear one.” Quipure indicates that the woman used persuasion with the Olomega paddler to free the body. Quipure has a double meaning of “lever on the up and down,” which seems to indicate that the woman used branches as levers to move the body up and down the hills. Los Sitios, about 10 kilometers north of Nombre de Jesus, seems to indicate the first camp of the Ulua woman on the run with the body. It is lo os si it ti os and means “the one who freed the one set down and opened by the blows from several (more than one) sets down.” This indicates that both Maya leaders (Cho and Kiche) attacked the Ulua man at the Sumpul River. Gualcimaca is two kilometers east of Los Sitios, in present-day Honduras. It is wa al si im ma ak’ ka, meaning “time of the being with beginner and the one blasted several times on the skin by the bad ones.” This meaning helps to confirm that the woman was carrying a (first-born) child while she was dragging the body of her deceased husband. Gualsimaca has a double meaning of “observed the trapped (body) at the river,” linking the name to the events at Nombre de Jesus.

Continuing to move toward Arcatao, Hacienda Vieja probably comes from Asenda Vieja or as sen ta ap pi es cha or “companion with remains observes the two with knowledge of the swinging practices.” She saw the Cho and Kiche leaders from the heights of Hacienda Vieja.

The name Nueva Trinidad, north of Eramon Mountain, and six kilometers from Arcatao, confirms that the woman did succeed eventually in acquiring the corpse of her deceased husband. Nueva Trinidad is ne eb ba at te er ri in ni it tat or “woman and first born separate from the tail with blasted body beside into the dense trees of the hills.” It has double meanings of “husks”, “ridge”, and “father.” The father reference likely refers to patriarch, or the leader of the highest-held lineage, the Cho at Lago Guija, pointing the blame at this leader. Whether the Ik’ couple brought a young child with them to the gathering (Arcatao) or the woman gave birth at the Sumpul, it seems like their child was threatened with sacrifice by the Cho and Kiche leaders. Through the intervention of the Ik’ man the child was saved. Although the Ik’ man was killed.

A few kilometers northeast of Nueva Trinidad is Las Vegas, in the direction of Arcatao. Las Vegas is la as pek’ k’as or “the one tired of the practice broke away into the hills.” The name Arcatao has a second meaning that corresponds to its moved location, its current location, about 10 kilometers northeast of the Sumpul River. Its second meaning is ar k’at ta hor or “the time of crossing the crests with the remains.” The k’at syllable ties Arcatao to the Cuscatlan people. The moving of a place name, like happened in the case of Arcatao, was extremely rare, but the Ik’ woman won that privilege through her strength and bravery.

The changing of the place names, is echoed in the modern day story in Arcatao of San Bartolome. This story maintains that the town of Arcatao was originally along the Sumpul River near Eramon Mountain. The community’s patron saint was San Bartolome, back in those ancient days. The statue of San Bartolome desired to be located at the current site of Arcatao, 10 kilometers away, and mysteriously moved to the current site. The townspeople found the statue there and moved it back to the river. Again the statue moved (or was moved) to the current site. Three times this happened, each time the townspeople moving the statue back to Eramon. Finally the fourth time the townspeople decided to follow the statue and relocate to the current Arcatao.

There are many similarities or at least consistencies between the community folk history and that portrayed in the place names of the region in the Mi language:

• The statue (the body) was moved clandestinely from the river to the hills of Arcatao.
• The community (place name) of Arcatao was moved from the Sumpul River to its current location, with Eramon Mountain figuring in both sources of the story.
• There were those opposing a move to Arcatao in both stories.
• The repeated moves of the statue seems to parallel the many attempts of the woman to secure the body.

The Sumpul-Arcatao incident shows that even though on the surface the Xibalba were the main enemy of the Mesoamerican people, the internal divisions would become the greater threat.

Many of the most common last names in Arcatao are likely indigenous rather than from Spain, with the meanings originating at the time of the Sumpul event. These last names include Guardado, Menjivar, and Dubon, which are rare - especially the latter two - in Spain.

Guardado is wa ar ta at to and means “time of the remains of the being sacrificed at the bath.” Guardado has a double meaning of “observe the fathers (elders)” - war tat, indicating that as the woman carried the remains she (the Guardado) were observing the Maya elders to ensure they weren’t caught. The tat (father) syllable was also used in Nueva Trinidad.

Menjivar is men chi ba ar and means “time of the large one with the body in the shade (nighttime).” Large one in this name refers to the ethnic group, the Olomeka. The Olomeka leader was watching the body of the slain Cuscatlan leader. A double meaning of “boat” confirms the body was in a boat. A second double meaning is “chip,” perhaps indicating that the woman through a rock at the Olomeka man.

Dubon is tu ub bo on and means “listen with corpse previously at the hole.” Dubon indicates that once the woman arrived to Arcatao she continued to listen, perhaps in the caves, for the two Maya leaders. People with the last name of Guardado, Mejivar, and Dubon are all likely descendants of the Ulua woman who grabbed the body of the husband and ran for the hills.

The hill directly behind Arcatao is called La Cañada. This name also seems to originate from these early events. It is ka an ya at ta or “one who ran, beginner, and remains of one pained at the bath,” indicating the presence of the woman, her child, and the remains of her husband. Within the flanks of La Cañada are small creases, some large enough to be caves. In Arcatao these are called “tatu.” This word seems to derive from the time of the woman hiding from the two leaders who searched for her. Tatu is ta at tu or “remains of the corpse from the bath.” It has a double mean of “father shaman” a slightly sarcastic expression for the Cho and Kiche leaders, just as Ulua is.

The Ulua killed at the Sumpul was perhaps one of the better known martyrs in El Salvador until modern times. The Zapotec, part of the Ik’ lineage like the Cuscatlan/Ulua, took this story as their deity, Pitao. Pitao means “remains of the companion from the blow of the leaders” or “companion of Arcatao.” Following this event the prefix “sum” became associated with the Cuscatlan/Ulua ethnicity. The name Chalatenango derives almost certainly from these events. It is cha al la at te ren nan k’o or “time of the woman in the trees tired of the blades of the two and the paddler at the bath.” What especially links the name to these events in the inclusion of paddler, using a syllable en that refers in a hidden way (leaving off the ‘r’) to the Olomega. It also has double meanings of “horizontal” perhaps referring to the woman in the tatu and “load”.

Tehuacan - The Learner. Origin of the Zapotecs

In this blog post I will establish the Zapotecs as one of the four Mayan heritages that had their beginnings at Isla Tigre, Honduras, and then on four islands in El Salvador. The Zapotec-ancestor island, at the mouth of the Lempa River (left), was called Teoahkan, which changed over time to Tehuacan among the Zapotec ancestors. Due to the rising ocean level the Zapotec ancestors moved to the area now called Puebla, Mexico, and brought the Tehuacan name along with corn seeds with them. It seems they found avocados in the Tehuacan valley and sent them back to El Salvador.

The four grandfathers of Mesoamerica are Akbar, Kinche (Quitze), Maix (Majukutaj), and Ik, the latter translated as Dark Jaguar by Tedlock. Another translation is Evening and refers to the shift that Ik took in leading the four rafts from South America to El Salvador. The Popol Vuh says that Ik had no sons:

"These three had sons, but Dark Jaguar had no son." (Tedlock, pg. 174)

But Ik is mentioned many times in the Popol Vuh, including the more than 500 years on Isla Tigre when the Mayan ancestors learned how to cultivate (tobacco) and first domesticated animals, starting with the macaw parrot. Clearly the original Ik had offspring and his lineage continued. For much of the time that the Popol Vuh speaks of the four Mayan founders it is speaking of their lineage not the person directly.

So what does the Popol Vuh mean when it says that Ik had no son? It is a reference to the Maya losing track of Ik's lineage when they left. Ik is the founder of the lineage which became the Zapotec and Mixtec people. The Kiowa and the Hopi also partly share this lineage. Depending on the inflection and context, Ik' can mean air, atmosphere, wind, dusk, or dark. From about 8200 BCE to 6800 BCE Ik's lineage lived on various islands at the mouth of the Rio Lempa in El Salvador, each or at least the first called Teoahkan - "island of the learner" in Ch'orti', a language very similar to what they spoke in 8200 BCE.

Symbolically it was important for the Ik' lineage to live at the mouth of the Lempa - the Ak'bar lineage lived at one of the sources of the Lempa, Lago Guija. To have people at each end of the great river of the land they lived in completed the symbolism. Even more it was important in a practical sense: the Ak'bar and Kinche lineages would cut logs far upstream for the construction of ocean-faring sail rafts. Someone had to be at the mouth of the river to intercept the logs and assemble them into rafts.

The lower Lempa River is a volatile, changing place, especially when the Ik' lineage moved there in about 8200 BCE. The ocean was quickly rising from climate change and glacial melt. No doubt the island that they first lived on was submerged after several hundred years, or even quicker. But they had to continue to live on islands to escape their arch-enemies, the Xibalbhans, who had earlier captured them and who were afraid of water.

The constant floods and the rising water are supported by the Ik's partner's name: Kaqixaja. Tedlock translates this Macaw House. It is:

Kah - start, beginning
Kiix - already, by now, by then
Aja - water

This could be translated "already water and beginning of the (rising) water" referring to living at the side of the ocean and then having the ocean continue to rise.

The Lempa itself often changes course during floods, cutting new channels, such as the Izcanal (left), and creating new islands. It is interesting that the name Iz canal is so similar to Ik', the lineage founder of the Zapotec. An example of the changing course of the Lempa is that it seems probable that the Lempa used to empty into the Bahia de Jiquilisco, seen on the right of the photo. And the Lempa, center of the photo, carries a large amount of silt downstream, depositing it at the mouth. This is seen in the name of the community Zamoran, about 14 kilometers from the current mouth on the east side of the river.

San - swelling (Ch'orti')
Mohr - pile, things brought together
Ahn - a running; race

Ahn could refer to a current, which would make it "swollen pile formed by a current" - an area silted over. Recently the ancient bones of a woman and a child were excavated at Zamoran.

And then there is the place called Nancuchiname, now a national forest on the east side of the river 15 to 20 kilometers north of the mouth.

Nak - side of (Ch'orti')
Kuchi - carry on back, transport
Nam - vanishing, disappearance

It was beside or across the bank from the place of transport that disappeared, either from a river flood or the rising ocean. Nancuchiname reminds us of the significance of the lower Lempa in the transportation system of the Mayan and Zapotec ancestors.

One more example of the volatility of the lower Lempa, and the reason why the Zapotec ancestors may have seen the need to migrate away, is the lagoon called Talquezal.

Tal - a coming, arrival
Ker - dividing in half
Tz'ah - wetness

"Coming of the wetness which divides in half." Perhaps this is referring to a Lempa flood where half of the river over-ran the banks and divided itself in two. When the flood was over the lagoon was left.

A long time after the Ik' lineage left for Mexico, the Maya built a structure in remembrance of them and called it Tehuacan - "island of the learner". It is built on the flank of the Chichontepec volcano. No doubt Tehuacan was important for the Nahuat (Pipil) people who migrated from Mexico in between 1000 and 1500 CE, some from the area of Tehuacan, Puebla. It was like coming home. In a way, it was coming home. The search was over.

The Popol Vuh refers to the Zapotec ancestors as the Saqik (Tedlock, 1996, pg 184). The translation in Ch'orti' is pertinent:

Sahk : a hunt, a search
Ik' : the wind, dusk

Wind-hunter or wind-chaser. One who travels, who eventually sought out the future in the direction of the dusk, the west. But there is a double meaning, Ik' was also the name of the lineage-bearer of the Zapotecs, who became separated from the Maya. So Saqik also means "to search for the lost Ik' lineage".

I think that when the Zapotec ancestors left for Mexico in about 6800 BCE, that the Maya seeded a new community in the lower Lempa, partly to continue to receive the logs for the ocean rafts floating down the Lempa, but also due to the very good soils in the floodplain. However, while they planted close to the river, the community was likely a day's half walk away at the higher elevation to avoid both the ocean which was continuing to rise due to climate change and the river which frequently floods. The ocean was much higher then in than now in relative terms because of the historical trend for the Central America coast to be rising, caused by the Caribbean sub-continental plate rising above the Cocos sub-plate. The location of the new Ch'orti' community was likely at the Tehuacan archeological site on the flanks of the Chichontepec volcano or the nearby Tehuacan Ecological Park. The Maya kept the name Tehuacan, due to their belief in the sacredness of names.

Later the Maya would build structures at the Tehuacan site. There are at least four structures visible under the planted corn and the double-coned volcano of Chichontepec, literally the "breast peaks".

When the Tehuacan Ecological Park was being built many old and very old pieces of ceramic and formed rock were found. Many of these are found in their viewing room - photos are in the gallery below. A swimming pool was excavated and when it was filled with water, it leaked out over several hours. The floor was examined, a hole was found. It was chipped away to create a hole big enough for persons to lower themselves in. They found a rock-lined tunnel - a tunnel going in the direction of the Tehuacan ruins, a tunnel that runs for who knows how many kilometers. They were not prepared to adequately and safely explore it so they sealed it up and re-filled the stream-fed swimming pool by diverting a stream that flows from a spring up the volcano.

Not all the pieces at the Ecological Park's viewing room are from the Classic or even pre-Classic period. Some are much earlier, like the carved rock at right. This likely dates to a period earlier than 2000 BCE. Perhaps it was created to remember the Zapotec ancestors who moved to Mexico.

To where did the Zapotec ancestors migrate about 6800 BCE from the lower Lempa River? They probably scouted out various places on many trips before moving. Puebla's Tehuacan valley must have been attractive for its cool climate and avocados. That was one location. But it appears that they moved around and one other location without a doubt was the Balsas River valley where corn dated to 6700 BCE was found, in an area near the border of Michoacan, Guerrero and Mexico state (map, below). This is within the current natural range of balsas teosinte. It was necessary to continue hybridizing the corn with teosinte to make it more resistant and a stronger plant. By 6800 BCE it is possible that the range of balsas teosinte had shifted definitively northwest from Central America to southwest Mexico. The Balsas valley is 350 to 400 kilometers west of Tehuacan.

Tehuacan also gave its name to Teotihuacan, as the Zapotecs were one of the primary components of the Teotihuacanos. In Tehuacan valley the Zapotecs may have stayed at a cave called Coxcatlan. They definitely used it as a rain shelter and food storage. Plant matter has been dated within the cave starting in 8000 to 7000 BCE until just before colonial times, including avocados. Coxcatlan is highly likely to be a derivation of Cuxcatlan, the name that the Zapotec ancestors gave to the central region of El Salvador. When they arrived in Mexico they named their first home after their homeland. While the Zapotec language was already moving away from Ch'orti' when they left it is possible to gain a good idea of the meaning of Cuxcatlan.

Kux - birth, sprouting, come to life
Kat - super natural being
K'at - cross, crossing of two objects
Katu' - moon
K'uxkatu' - lunar eclipse
Waran - light, shiny, radiant

There is no phrase lan in Ch'orti', but waran seems plausible. The 'r's and 'l's would have been interchangeable. So the difference is the wa at the beginning. There are three related possibilities: "birth of radiant super natural being", "birth of crossing of two radiant objects", or "radiant lunar eclipse". The first one seems like a more abstract use of language than I have seen at ~7000 BCE, so I discount it. The second could be describing a lunar eclipse, so the third one is my inclination. It could be referring to a powerful lunar eclipse or perhaps when they first began to predict the eclipses.

Cuxcatlan is a Mayan-Zapotec word that seems to be referring to a radiant sky event, most likely a lunar eclipse. In Mexico the Zapotecs then pronounced it Coxcatlan, but it is the same word as what became Cuscatlan in El Salvador.

The Otomi are from the same background as the Zapotec, both speaking an Oto-Manguean language. Otomi is a name that originates from the move from El Salvador. It is ot ohom mi or "shelter for cats from the foam." Cats refer to the Maya (and Zapotec/Otomi) people. Foam refers to the ocean and the fact that the Zapotec/Otomi were fleeing the rising ocean when they moved to Mexico.

The Zapotec ancestors moved to the Oaxaca valley, perhaps between 3000 and 2000 BCE. Others of their lineage stayed in the Tehuacan valley, while others moved to the Cholula or the central Mexico area.

The Zapotec ancestors found avocados in the Tehuacan valley, likely on their scouting trips before they moved there according to the archeological evidence. At some point they brought avocados back to the lower Lempa River. We know this because "West Indies" avocados, a lowland avocado, developed separately from the Mexican highland avocado. From the El Salvador-Guatemala coast the avocado was taken at a later point to the Guatemalan highlands, creating the Guatemala variety of avocado.

But there is more convincing evidence for the avocado being brought to the Lower Lempa and that is the name of the village of Pacun near the Lempa about 25 kilomters north of the current mouth. Pacun refers directly to avocado cultivation: (in Ch'orti')

Pak' - planting
Un - pear, avocado

This name could have been given by the Zapotec ancestors before they left for Mexico and their language was still very close to Ch'orti'. But more likely it was given by the Ch'orti', a portion of whom moved to the lower Lempa when the Zapotec ancestors left. In this scenario the lower Lempa Ch'orti' would have gone from their homes each day at the site of Tehuacan, San Vicente, high enough to be definitively safe from the rising ocean, and walked to the flat floodplain of Pacun to the cultivated avocados and various plants. It is likely that avocados were cultivated in the lower Lempa prior to or at the same time as avocados in the Tehuacan valley of Mexico - most likely between 6800 BCE and 6000 BCE. A later transference of the avocado from Mexico to El Salvador is doubtful since the Maya said in the Popul Vuh that they lost contact with the Zapotec ancestors. It is more likely that avocados were brought back to El Salvador by the same generation that migrated to Mexico. It is also possible that they were first found in the region of El Salvador and then taken by the Zapotec ancestors and cultivated in Mexico. This is doubtful given that some of the avocado remains in the Tehuacan valley have been dated prior to 7000 BCE. For more background on the beginnings of avocado use and cultivation: Amanda J. Landon or Galindo-Tovar, Arzate-Fernandez, Ogata-Aguilar, and Landero-Torres.

To finalize, I will look at three more names along the Lempa River: the Acahuapa River, which runs east through San Vicente to the Lempa, the Titihuapa River which forms the boundary between San Vicente and Cabañas departments, and Guayojo name of a village and forest north of Pacun. The huapa or "wapa" suffix is common to both of the rivers.

Acahuapa

Ahka - rumble
Wahp - continuous

Titihuapa

Tihti - shake
Wahp - continuous

So wahp or huapa was a suffix commonly used with rivers that had a continuous flow. What's interesting is that the same suffix was used to describe the creek next to the Monte Verde site in southern Chile that dates back to 12,500 BCE - the Chinchihuapi. This demonstrates the continuity in language from the moment of arriving in Chile from Asia until settlement in El Salvador in about 8200, at least with the branch of the American family that became the Ch'orti' Maya.

Finally, to conclude is Guajoyo, just upriver from the lower Lempa and the island of the learner.

Wa' - being, being in a place
Hoy - liking
Hoyi - make satisfactory, to please

Guajoyo is "being in a place of liking". Some photos from near the place of liking follow.

Photo Gallery

Mangroves on Montecristo Island at the mouth of the Lempa River. Montecristo may be the closest thing there is to a symbolic representation of the first Teoahkan, which is likely buried under many meters of silt.

 

Protecting serpents on a home in California, Usulutan, not far from the mouth of the Lempa River

The largest mound at the Tehuacan archeological site.

The top of the same mound at Tehuacan, planted with corn.

View to the west from main mound. Mounds visable at the end of the field in the mid-ground. Chichontepec left flank in the distance.

The view north, where structures are outlined under the corn, possibly including a ball field.

Finely cut stone at the Tehuacan site

Likely remains of a very old rock wall about a kilometer from the Tehuacan site could indicate settlement here 7,000 to 10,000 years ago.

Guanacaste trees at the entrance to the Tehuacan Ecological Park, administered by the municipality of Tecoluca, 2 kilometers from the Tehuacan site. It had been a plantation until the 1980-1992 conflict when the FMLN gained control and used it as a base throughout the conflict.

In addition to restaurant, cabins and gardens, the Ecological Park has a viewing room. One of the more interesting and perhaps one of the oldest was this carved rock sphere.

Piece from Tehuacan

These ceramic pieces were the "feet" for bowls

Perhaps this piece provides evidence that the Maya, in addition to the Olmecs, had contact with Africa.

A Mayan character

Part of the permaculture garden at the Tehuacan Ecological Park. Tehuacan means "the learner".

Tree decaying a wall with its roots.  The wall was part of the exploitative plantation here from colonial times until it was ousted by the FMLN in 1981 during the conflict. The plantation was built on a sacred Nahuat-Pipil site. The Nahuat-Pipil site was located at an earlier sacred Mayan site, evidenced by the archeological structures. The Mayan site was located in the area of the Zapotec ancestors, who lived here from about 8200 to 6800 BCE. The sign says, "What is metamorphosis?" and points in the direction of the butterfly house of the Ecological Park.

 

Baby raft, day of rest began during years of wandering

8800-8700 BCE: Tobacco, Back Packs, Artificial Lagoons, and the 20-Day Calendar

Earlier I have written about how the sailing people came from South America to El Salvador, were captured by an opposing group of humans and taken to the Corinto cave, escaped from the cave and wandered around eastern El Salvador for many years until they found a citadel which was Tiger Island in the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras. It is clear from the Popol Vuh that none of original four leaders lived to see the move to Tiger Island. With this post I will add some detail to the period of the escape and up until the move to Tiger Island, based on my trip one month ago. This part of my research is ongoing.

As I have mentioned, the two biggest pieces of evidence that the four sailing families were captured and soon escaped from the Corinto cave are that three of the four sailing leaders seemed to gain the jaguar moniker while being held captive in the jaguar room of the cave and that one of the four leaders - I believe Maix (Not Ready Yet) since his name implies he is the youngest - partnered with Xbakiyalo (Egret Woman) whose name implies she was a tall foreign woman associated with Xibalba. Without having been captured there would have been little opportunity for Maix to partner with Xbakiyalo.

When the sailing people escaped the Corinto cave they ran to the west toward the Torola River (click to enlarge). In the photo they would have been coming from the right, through the area known as Calavera (Skull) and once they reached the river they would have followed it to the left.

From the place names and location of Nuevo Edén de San Juán (New Eden of St. John) and the village Jardín (Garden), it seems likely that the sailing people followed the Torola River (to the right in the photo) as far as they could to the west until it entered the Lempa River (Jardin of Nuevo Eden) (just left of center in photo). This would have been a 60 kilometer journey with little rest. Eden or eten means "the cleared area" in Ch'orti' Maya. It seems likely that these places would not have received the names Eden and Jardín unless they maintained local history of being an important origination place in addition to likely having the indigenous name of Eten (one of the first clearings/campsites).

Important in the photo (click to enlarge) is the guanacaste tree in the mid-foreground, showing that it is likely native to the area. This is known as conacaste by the Maya. It means "breaking off from the cave tree" or "breaking off the cave tree". I believe it is the former meaning and supports the idea that the sailing people had just left the Corinto Cave. Nuevo Edén de San Juán is a very hot area and the presence of a large shade tree like this would have been very welcome to the despondent sailing people. It is still known as the tree of life among the Lenca people and some Maya closer to El Salvador. Perhaps they tried the seeds of the guanacaste and became sick - they can only be eaten after being boiled. Flowers, left, Jardín de Nuevo Edén.

It was while they were are at Nuevo Edén de San Juán that the sailing people found out an important characteristic of the hunter people from the cave. Eventually the hunter people found their location and the sailing people retreated with all their children into the Lempa River. As sailing people they knew how to swim. The hunter people pursued but could not swim and were swept up into the river downstream. Others quickly left. The sailing people had a new name for the hunter people - Xibalbha - "those who are afraid of water."

But it was very hard for the families to do this with young children. I think that this was the place that the first gift was given, Auilix. Ah-wir-ix (or ah-wil-ix) has a double meaning in Ch'orti': "the on-the-go wing" and "the woman's wing". Both describe what I think Auilix was - a mini raft that was used to transport babies and small children in the water when the sailing people were being pursued by the hunter people. The woman probably grabbed on to the wilix while in the water, both for support and to watch the baby, making the wilix look like a woman's wing. And it could be carried on the back like a backpack. Perhaps the first backpack. No doubt the wilix saved many lives. They may have had a saying like, "Tomorrow's men and women were saved by the women with the wing that extended from their side."

The translation of Jardin confirms that the wilix originated at Nuevo Edén de San Juán. Har ("weaving") + tihin ("clinging object"). Hartihin is "clinging to a weaving" or lattice, ah wilix. The verb "cling" gives a sense of desperation and helps one imagine escaping the Xibalba just in time into the river with the weaving to support one and one's children. Thousands of years later when the Spanish arrived they heard a name that sounded just like Jardin and gave the caserio that name. There is little else there that would justify the name.

While they were at Nuevo Edén de San Juán and subsequent wondering they ate whatever they could find. The Popol Vuh mentions that they ate the larva of the yellow jacket, wasp, and bee. They probably also found honey.

The sailing people needed to find better security than the Lempa River. For much of the year it was too shallow to be a deterrent to the hunters. They probably sent scouts out looking for any other body of water. The closest ones are the Laguna de Alegría (Usulutan) and the lagoons near Santa Clara (San Vicente), across the Lempa River. Apparently they went to the Laguna de Alegría in the Tecapa volcano. It is a hot spring fed crater lake - nice for bathing and washing but not so good for drinking. Tecapa is about 40 kilometers south of Nuevo Edén de San Juán.

Considering Tecapa: te' means "plant" and kap means "clench in teeth" and kapar means "suck" in Ch'orti'. This seems to indicate that this is the area that the Mayan-Olmec ancestors found tobacco. Both of the Mayan gods Hacawitz and Tohil seem to be associated with tobacco or smoking in the Popol Vuh. I believe that the Tecapa volcano is Hacawitz. This is borne out by its name: hak means "beginning" but a double meaning is ha'hk', which means "gasp" or "suck". K'ah is "happiness" or "content" and witz is "mountain". So Hacawitz means "happy beginning mountain" but also "happy sucking mountain" - a reference to tobacco. The happy mountain explains the names of the Laguna de Alegría (joy)(left) and the nearby town of Alegría. No doubt tobacco brought pleasure. More than pleasure, tobacco smoke was used to commune with the spirit world. But one also paid a price.

Perhaps people abused the tobacco plant. It seems soon after finding tobacco they instituted the Tohil god. Toh means "payment made" and hil means "rest or remainder". It is clear from the Popol Vuh that it is associated with tobacco. There are several references to Tohil giving fire. And it says that Tohil demanded suckling from the side and under the arm. I believe this is a reference to the coughing that comes from the smoke and the cancer that can be caused by tobacco.

Given that one of the 20 day signs is named after Tohil - Tojma'r in Ch'orti' and Tok in Quiche, what Tohil seems to mean is that people gave their 19 days of hard work, and then on the 20th day they brought the remainder of their labor - the blood of animals that they killed - to give to Tohil and in return they received tobacco to be used only on that day. The Ch'orti' word for rest, as in relax, has the same root as hil, suggesting that the Tohil day was also a day of rest. In this sense the payment made was the 19 days of labor and the reward was a day of rest.

Both Hacawitz and Tohil were represented by stones. No doubt that the Hacawitz stone looked like a volcano. But it likely was shaped like a flat-topped volcano like Tecapa pictured above.

The relationship between the Tojma'r day sign and Tohil the god implies that the pre-Maya were using a 20 day calendar no later than this date and possibly it was instituted at Tecapa. This seems likely since a 20-day calendar is generally not in use in South America, where the sailing people had come from only a few months or years before. The change to a 13-day calendar rotating within 20 day signs over the course of  260 days (tzolkin) seems to have come later.

The Popol Vuh: "And then Hacawitz was placed at the top of a great pyramid. Hacawitz is the name of the mountain today, and it became their citadel." Unlike Tedlock, I read kaqja (k'ahk'kah) to mean volcano not pyramid. It is "fire, light, heat" and "beginning". So more precisely it was the beginning volcano -- the first place that they lived in El Salvador for more than a couple years.

After many years the Mayan-Olmec ancestors left Hacawitz-Tecapa. One possibility is that the hunters - the Xibalbha lords - overran Tecapa, seeking the tobacco. The Popol Vuh says that the "tribes" (Xibalbans) took up Tohil (tobacco). There is a reference to a later battle taking place at Hacawitz. I think that the Mayan-Olmec ancestors may have gone to the shore of Olomega Lake (meka = "carry in one's arms"). Olomega, above, is 45 kilometers southeast of Tecapa. It is the only sizeable lake anywhere near Tecapa.

I believe that it was about this time that the Mayan-Olmec ancestors went to dig out and damn the Laguna de Jocotal, in an effort to create another body of water where they would be safe from the Xibalba lords who were afraid of water. Jocotal (left) is located 20 kilometers directly west of Olomega, a distance that could be covered in one day. Jocotal: hokot' = excavated, hollowed out; tal = arrival, place, or, ahl (ahr) = time, occasion. (Ch'orti') So Jocotal either means "arrival to the hollowed out place" or "time of the hollowing out". The former meaning leaves a question whether Jocotal is a natural lagoon while the latter meaning is clear that it is made by humans. I think this is the place referred to as Great Hollow (Nim xol) in the Popol Vuh which is mentioned as being visited both before and after the time living at Tulan. It would have been on the trail to the west (now more or less the Carretera del Literal).

One other place that I think the Mayan-Olmec-Zapotec ancestors lived at or visited before going to Tulan is Tihuilotal, a small village today about 10 kilometers east of Olomega. It might have been the only good source of clean, year-round drinking water (well, right) within easy walking distance from Olomega. It has a year-round spring still used today for washing and drinking water and a nearby natural bathing hole (see below) that also has water year-round according to local people. I believe that this is the bathing place in the Popol Vuh that the three gods (or bearers of the gods) go to where the two Xibalban maidens try to seduce them.

There are two other clues that Tihuilotal may have been special this early in history. Even though it is a rather plain and ordinary small village, it has a very special place for the Lenca and is a place where the Lenca royal house(s) has lived. For example, it is the place that the Lenca crown princess Antu Silan Ulap retreated to after she became pregnant while leading the Lenca resistance to the Spanish from 1525 to 1529. She turned over the leadership of the resistance to Lempira and stayed in Tihuilotal to raise her baby.

The second clue comes from Tulan itself, Isla Tigre in the Gulf of Fonseca. There is a village directly on the east shore of the island called Tiguilotada, the most likely place for the first settlement on the island. The name seems to have been borrowed from Tihuilotal. Tiguilotada means "origin land in the flattened (cleared) forest" while Tihuilotal means "arrive to slack spring source," referring to the natural springs at Tihuilotal.

How many years did the sailing people spend in eastern El Salvador before moving to Isla Tigre? Because the original leaders did not live to be part of the move to Tulan/Isla Tigre, I would say a minimum of 40 years. However I don't think it was more than 200 years. Since I believe the escape from the Corinto cave took place in 8800 BCE based on the Mars retrograde long-count calendar, this would place the move to Tulan between 8760 BCE and 8600 BCE (+/- 300). The Popol Vuh clearly associates Tulan with the cold, the mini Ice Age that lasted from about 9000 BCE to 8500 BCE. So I don't think the move to Tulan was any later than 8600 BCE.

El Salvador: The Mesoamerican Cradle of Civilization

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

English	Quiche	Place Name
Hacawitz Mountain	Jakawitz	Usulután Volcano

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

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

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

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

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

El Salvador's Four Islands of Civilization

The beginnings of Mesoamerican civilization happened at Tulan Zuyua, Isla Tigre, in the Golfo de Fonseca. It was here that the four Mayan-Mesoamerican tribe leaders attained greatness by communicating with the gods at the center of the galaxy, with the aid of a tobacco smoke bath, one of the three gifts of the gods. But the tribe leaders sought to establish greatness on earth and to do that they knew that they needed to begin to work the earth.

Leading this effort was the Quiche Maya leader who was renamed Masa Manix. Masa or "Deer" for copying the deer in trying various leaves, fruits, nuts, and berries to see if they were edible. And Manix or "Work the earth" for having the vision of cultivating edible plants toward the end of establishing a way of life based on agriculture. But the tribes had to find sites that were on islands in order to keep their people, as well as their experimental gardens, safe from the Xibalban lords who were afraid of water. The tribes learned that they were safe in water during the escape from the cave, La Gruta del Espíritu Santo. Even the babies were safe when place on reed baskets in the water.

The four leaders and their tribal followers left Isla Tigre toward the north and then headed west into present-day El Salvador. The four leaders took the Dog star, Sirius, as a sign, and while fasting, watched the eastern horizon to see if Siruis was rising before the Sun. This would have placed their departure from Isla Tigre in the month of July. This also could be a reference for the Mars long-count date, of 4 Tzi or 4 Dog. That would be approximately 8050 BC (+/- 200 years). The Popol Vuh notes that the tradition of silently looking to the east began at this time to honor Tulan Zuyua, the place where the tribes first attained greatness. In the east they also left behind their Bat room brothers and the sisters, the Tams and the Ilocs.

One of the four leaders, Balam Akbar, and his tribe, stayed in the east. [Click to enlarge map.] They went to Isla Olomega on Lago Olomega, in the south of present-day San Miguel Department in El Salvador. This is who the Popol Vuh calls the "Olomans". This includes the "Greathouses": the Lencas, the Uluas, the Olmecs, and many more.

The other three tribes were very sad to leave the Olomecans behind. And the people were very hungry. According to the Popol Vuh, the Quiche leader sniffed his staff and wondered if even the wood could be consumed. At that moment the tribes approached the Lempa River, which was so wide it appeared to be a sea. Somehow the sea seemed to part and they were able to cross. It could be that they approached in a drought and the normal June and July rains had not occurred, allowing people to wade across the river. Or maybe they were able to cross on their rafts.

The tribe of Ik Balam went to an island at the mouth of the Lempa River, to a place called Teokan, or island of learning. At that time the ocean would have been at least 100 meters lower and the mouth of the river several miles further south. The island village that they established would have been flooded over between 8000 BC and 5000 BC during the period of global warming. In fact, it is likely that the village would have been re-established several times.

The Popol Vuh says that Ik Balam had no children. While that might be a literal statement, I think it is more likely that this tribe was wiped out, either by disease, by an attack from the Xibalbans, or, most likely, a flood as the ocean levels rose. In fact, my guess is that the early city of Teokan was destroyed in the Lake Agassiz flood of 6400 BC. Lake Agassiz was a huge lake on the North American continent which emptied much of its huge volume of glacial melt into the oceans in about 6400 BC. It is possible that this event caused a tsunami that impacted most coasts around the world, including El Salvador. The civilization of Teokan would have been destroyed and the Ik Balam tribe wiped out. Or maybe not - but more on that later. The Olomecans then resettled Teokan from Lago Olomega and renamed it Teok'an'an, or "island of ripe spring maize."

The other two tribal leaders, Masa Manix and Balam Kitze settled their tribes on Lago Coatepeque (Tammakchan) and Lago Güija, respectively. These became the Quiche and Ch'orti' lineages, respectively, and all the Mayans can trace back their roots to these two tribes. Tammakchan means "deep inside the rainbow" and Güija means "source" or "navel". Lago Güija is one of the sources of the Lempa River, which has great symbolism considering that Teokan was at the mouth of the same river.

From the four islands the Mesoamerican tribes started the American continents agricultural revolution.

The Mesoamerican Great Escape of 8800 BC

The Mayan and Chibchan bands, as well as band leaders of other Mesoamerican lineages, were subjugated in La Gruta del Espíritu Santo near Corinto, El Salvador, by the Xibalba (xibahkha) lords. At some point they made an escape or guinda, as Salvadorans would call it. The Popol Vuh doesn't speak much about the actual escape from the cave, so much of what I write is a best guess based on the clues that we have from geography and the Popol Vuh.

In terms of a date, my best guess is 8800 BC, +/- 500 years, using the date 7 Cimin (Kame/Kimi) from the Mars retrograde long count calendar. To me the repeated use of the phrase "1 Cimin 7 Cimin" throughout Part 3 of the Popol Vuh (Tedlock revised edition) is a reference to the date of the escape from the cave, with the second name (7 Cimin) the date reference.

One can imagine that the escape took place at night and the clans escaped to the one spot that they knew the Xibalba lords would not follow them to: the impenetrable jungle, the Baja Profunda, several miles north of the cave and likely home, at that time, to jaguars and other wild creatures of the night. The Bradshaw Foundation describes this jungle as a result of the 2002 visit to the cave and the jungle and notes that there are petroglyphs similar to La Gruta cave there.

As day broke the clans ran as the Xibalbans lords threatened, going northwest, straight to the Torola River. With no other choice, they ran into the water. Those that submerged themselves were saved because the Xibalban lords did not pursue them. We know because xibahkha means, "those who are afraid of water." Where the Torola is met by Rio San Antonio there may be enough water to submerge oneself, at least in the rainy season.

From there the bands likely fled downstream to the west, in the river or along the bank, however they could go. They stopped when they reached the confluence of the Torola with the Rio Lempa. Here they made an encampment and any time that the Xibalban lords came near the whole community, with newly acquired swimming skills, could find safety in the Torola or Lempa River.

This is the location where I believe the Popol Vuh speaks of the Great Hollow (pg 157, Tedlock), which I think should be translated Great Canyon. The Rio Lempa is a Lenca name, for which I have not found a good dictionary. But I believe the base name in Chorti Maya would be Rum-pas, which would be "opening up" or "splitting of" the soil or land. The 'r' in Chorti became an 'l' in Lenca and other Mayan languages. The Rio Lempa certainly splits the land of El Salvador in two. 

The Popol Vuh also refers to this as one of the places of reeds. Here two place names provide evidence: The Rio Torola, where Torola is a type of reed and the Rio Jalala, where hararak is a type of cane grass and the 'r' would change to an 'l' in Lenca. The Rio Jalala starts near San Gerardo in northwest San Miguel department and joins the Torola just before it meets the Lempa. Click to enlarge map.

Finally, the first Spanish settlers to the area where quite aware of the importance of the area as a place of origin for the local indigenous, so much so that they named the municipality of this location, Nuevo Edén de San Juan. Even more to the point is the village of Jardín (Garden), near the confluence of the two rivers and two miles north of the municipality. Perhaps this marks the very spot of the guinda encampment of 8800 BC.

The Popol Vuh describes six clans being together in the escape, three from the jaguar room of the cave and three from the bat room. The three from jaguar room all became part of the larger proto-Mesoamerican people. But only one of the three from the bat room became part of the Mayan nation, the greater Quiche clan. At some point later on, the other two bat clans, the Tams and the Ilocs, according to the Popol Vuh, decided not to become Mayan. They preferred to remain mountain people, i.e. hunters and gatherers, rather than agriculturalists.

I believe that the Tams refer to the Talamanca people and all of the Chibchan language group which now spreads from southern Honduras to Columbia. And the Ilocs refer to the Miskitu, Sumu, Matagalpa, and Cacaopera people. The Popol Vuh refers to the 13 associated tribes of the Tams and the Ilocs.

How else does one explain the presence of the village of Cacaopera in El Salvador? Their nearest linguistic cousins would be over 100 miles away in central Nicaragua. Yet there is one lone village of this language group, five miles from the Corinto cave. All the others migrated east and south but this clan did not want to leave their homeland of 8800 BC. Some have mistakenly identified the Cacaoperans as Ulua, but Uluans, as we shall see, are much more closely related to the Lencas, i.e. part of the proto-Mesoamerican people.