The Indigenous History of El Salvador

Pre-Classic Maya: Meditation and Science

The pellagra crisis devastated the Maya community from 2400 to 1600 BCE, including nine banishments out of El Salvador, and one banishment within El Salvador. The Chol-Ch'orti'-Tzeltal lineage remaining in El Salvador probably went into a long period of self-examination and renewal. This post describes what came out of this period of renewal - a time of meditation, movement, gymnastics, and science, including bird watching and shark study. (Click to enlarge map.)

The Chol-Ch'orti'-Tzeltal lineage likely moved from Igualtepeque at Lago Güija to Chalchuapa soon after the discovery of the nixtamal process in 1600 or 1500 BCE. Chalchuapa is located 40 kilometers southwest of Igualtepeque and about 40 kilometers inland from the Pacific. Importantly, the Maya would have had access to the ocean from the nearby Rio Paz, about ten kilometers away. Chalchuapa is also 10 kilometers north of the Apaneca Range, with an altitude of 1800 to 2365 meters.

Chalchuapa was occupied for 2700 years by the Ch'orti', from 1500 BCE to 1200 CE, when the Ch'orti' probably moved to their current location in eastern Guatemala. Sometime between 1200 CE and the arrival of the Spanish, a Quiche-related Pokomam group moved into Chalchuapa and were present at Spanish contact. The Chol-Tzeltal lineages probably left the Chalchuapa area near the end of the pre-Classic period for the Chiapas-Palenque area, while some of the elite Ch'orti' went to Copan at the same time.

The Chol-Ch'orti'-Tzeltal built five ceremonial centers in Chalchuapa: Tazumal, Pampe, Trapiche, Casa Blanca, and Las Victorias. Unfortunately the Maya names of the latter two have been lost. The remaining names around Chalchuapa tell a story of meditation, yoga, and gymnastics, most likely beginning soon after they moved there in about 1500 BCE.

Tazumal at Chalchuapa

The first location that the Maya went to was probably Tazumal, later a pre-Classic and Classic site. Tazumal is tas uh mar in Ch'orti' or "sacred cutting of open space," referring to clearing the land when they first arrived. Not surprisingly, within a few hundred meters of Tazumal, is a park called Jardines de Eden. Eten means "challenge of flattening" and is a word the Maya had associated with clearing land before a new settlement since their arrival in El Salvador in about 8680 BCE.

Half a kilometer from Tazumal, in the opposite direction as Jardines de Eden, is a lagoon, Laguna Cuscachapa (right). In Ch'orti' it is k'ux kach ap ha' or "sore from tied swing over water." They likely tied a swing to the top of a tree in the lagoon and became sore from dropping at high distances into the lagoon.

Another pre-Classic site at Apaneca, 15 kilometers to the southwest, also speaks to gymnastics. Apaneca is ap bah neh k'ah and means "happy swinging of bodies with tails." "With tails" most likely refers to a rope system tied around the swinging bodies. Perhaps the Apaneca swinging bodies were similar to the flying dancers of the Totonac who still conduct a flying dance with ropes.

The name Chalchuapa speaks to both the gymnastics of the Maya as well as the meditation or yoga. In Ch'orti', Chalchuapa is ch'a'al ch'u ap bah or "hanging, swinging, and horizontal bodies." This was a center of movement and meditation. 

The gymnastics and meditation spread to Ch'orti' communities in the northern part of present-day San Vicente department, where there is a lagoon named Laguna Chalchuapa. To reinforce that it was named after the movement activities at Chalchuapa and not the name itself, a neighboring lagoon is named Apastepeque, or ap bah as te' (plus the generic suffix peque). Apastepeque means "practice bodies swinging in trees" and like Laguna Cuscachapa, the Maya used the lagoon water as a landing pad. One other interesting name here is the village of El Guayabo, way ahb ho', which means "likeable sleep swinging." This clearly refers to a hammock - in present-day Ch'orti' one of the meanings of ahb is "hammock." Either the hammock was invented here or simply used here.

Sketch of Maya Yogi relief carved above entrance to Temple of the Warrior, Chichen Itza. Source: Mayan Science & Religion; Bear & Co. Cited here.

Back in western El Salvador, one of the other ceremonial centers, two kilometers from Tazumal, is Pampe, which is bah am per or "drawn in spider bodies." While this could describe some gymnastic moves, it more likely is describing a yoga-like pose. (Note: the b and p sounds were identical at that time. Also the final r was often dropped in words ending in 'er'.) Pampe is also the name of a river that goes from near Chalchuapa to the Rio Paz. The Pampe River has an alternate name of Güeveapa or weh per ap bah, meaning "swinging bodies, drawn in flesh." This name speaks to both the gymnastics and the "drawn in spider" pose.

A village eight kilometers west of Chalchuapa is Izcaquilio or ix kah ki' li ho, meaning "beginning of likeable movement beside the heart." This seems to indicate that it was here that the yoga-like meditation was first done. It is interesting that it began away from Chalchuapa where the elite would have lived. It was someone of more common descent, who lived outside the main center, who invented this meditation. This type of meditation having its origin point in this area is reinforced by the nearby town of Turin, or tur in, which means "first condition."

About eight kilometers from Izcaquilio in the opposite direction of Chalchuapa is a village called Cuyanausul. In Ch'orti' it is k'u(ar) yana us ul or "explain useful changes to the founders (leaders)." The useful changes refer to the spiritual-emotional changes caused by the yoga meditation. This also shows that the meditation practice spread to several villages before they explained it to the leadership of Chalchuapa. Izcaquilio, Turin, and Cuyanausul are all in the modern-day department of Ahuachapan and the name Ahuachapan supports the idea that yoga-like meditation began there. It is ah wa' ch'a' ban in Ch'orti' and means "the one being in a good horizontal (position)" or "the good horizontal being."

Another clear indication of Maya yoga-like meditation is the written symbol for the tzolk'in day sign Ch'i' (Manik in Yucatec) - it is a mudra. Ch'i' means "growth," linking the meditation pose to growth as human beings. Curiously, this mudra is called Chinmaya in Buddhism. Chinmaya would mean "Maya vibration" in Ch'orti'.

The Ch'orti' taught the neighboring Lenca in eastern El Salvador to do yoga. The name Arambala is ahr am bah lah and means "the time of fatigued spider bodies." The spider body mention matches that of the Pampe River near Chalchuapa. Arambala is located north of the Torola River in Morazan department.

Maya Feathered Serpent doing a finger mutra. Source: Mayan Science & Religion; Bear & Co. Cited here.

There is evidence that the Maya yoga-like meditation, begun near Chalchuapa, continued through the Classic period to the Maya post-Classic. Meditation images are seen at Chichen Itza, a post-Classic site in the northern Yucatan. These images are associated there with Kukulcan, the feathered serpent. In the Chol-Ch'orti'-Tzeltal family of languages, Kukulcan is Kukulchon. In Ch'orti', Kukulchon is kuk k'ur chon or "exchange of rolled up one and one with points (feathers)." Kukulkan is the combination of serpent (a rolled up yoga-meditative body) and the feathered one (a gymnast swinging from the trees).

The concept of the feathered serpent seems to have originated in El Salvador during the time of meditation and gymnastics in the pre-Classic. This is seen in the name Chanmico, found in at least three locations in El Salvador.  The most prominent Chanmico is a lagoon and nearby town in present-day La Libertad department about ten kilometers east of the pre-Classic and Classic era site of San Andres and even closer to the Joya de Ceren site. Chanmico is chan mi k'o and means "cat's bird serpent." The bird serpent seems equivalent to the feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl or Kukulcan.

A second example of Chanmico is a place name (cantón) in current-day San Salvador within two kilometers of the Zacamil place name mentioned later. A third example of Chanmico is a village in current-day San Vicente department not far from the Lempa River and about ten kilometers east of Apastepeque, mentioned earlier. While it is impossible to prove the date of the use of the name Chanmico, all three examples of Chanmico lie within areas of pre-Classic Maya activity including meditation and gymnastics.

There are links between the Ch'orti' language and Toltec yoga-like meditation. This demonstrates that the Ch'orti' Maya were the likely originators of the Mesoamerican yoga-like meditation. The name of this meditation in Toltec is Kinam. This name comes from kin am in Ch'orti' and means "spider limbs" - a direct link to the name Pampe ("drawn-in spider body") at Chalchuapa.

Among the four steps of the meditation process among the Toltec, the third and fourth steps still retain meaning in Ch'orti'. The third step, which means divinization in Toltec, is teochiwa. In Ch'orti' this is teo ch'i' wa' and means "growth of the divine being." The fourth step means transparency in Toltec and is chipawa. In Ch'orti' it is ch'i' bah wa' and means "growth of the body being" or body-spirit being.

Embedded in the first syllable of Kukulcan/Kukulchon is K'uhk', the Ch'orti' word for the Siguanaba, described by the Wisdom, University of Chicago, Ch'orti' dictionary as an "ugly female apparition who is protectress of stream and fish and who frightens immoral people on lonely trail at night." Some people in Central America still believe in La Siguanaba who is seen as half hero - half mysterious, feared ghost. The root of La Siguanaba takes us back to meditation and gymnastics. Siguanaba in Ch'ort'i is si wa'an ahb pah or "series of rising, swinging bodies." La Siguanaba are those who protect the forest and streams, swinging from the trees.

The Maya day sign Ahmok speaks to meditation as well. It is am mo' ok and means "walking bird spider." The walking bird probably came first to honor the flying bird men who were gliding in 2400 BCE and possibly earlier, according to Palenque inscriptions. At that time Ahmok would have translated as "the bird one". The spider refers to yoga practice. Ahmok may have been the very first Quetzalcoatl/Kukulcan incarnation, but beginning as a feathered spider rather than a feathered serpent. Very soon, with Kukulchon, it became a feathered serpent.

Whether from the gymnastics or the yoga-like moves, the Maya had to deal with pain and soreness. A kilometer from Tazumal is a neighborhood called Cuje. This is k'ux che' and means "handle soreness." One way that they dealt with soreness is explained by the name of one of the five ceremonial centers, Trapiche (right). In Ch'orti' it is t'a' lahb pi che' and means "handle rubbing companion's flesh." The Maya were practicing massage.

Another way that the Maya practiced healing arts was through the sweat lodge. There are clues that this practice may have begun during the pre-Classic period in El Salvador as well. The sweat lodge is called temazcal or temazcalli in Nahuat and it is easy to see the Ch'orti' origin of this word. In Ch'orti' it is te' max cal li or "next to cavity of wood and lime." Temazcal is "cavity of wood and lime" and describes the oven to bake limestone into lime that was then used to soak corn in the nixtamal process. The Maya found the smoke of the baking limestone to be especially healthful.

While Temazcal is the oven, Temazcalli is the sweat lodge next to the oven. This also shows the derivation of the Nahuat word calli from Ch'orti'. Calli means house or structure in Nahuat and its first meaning must have been from sweat lodge or Temazcalli. Calli would mean "beside the lime" in Ch'orti'. Calli is one of the 20 day signs in the Aztec 260-day calendar. This same day sign in the Ch'orti' calendar is Ak'bar, the founder of the Ch'orti' lineage upon arrival in El Salvador in 8680 BCE. This is a clear indicator that it was the Ch'orti' lineage which originated calli, the house beside the lime.

Maya Science and Education

During the pre-Classic period at Chalchuapa, the Maya developed a knowledge base of birds and sharks. These are probably only the beginning of their science knowledge. This also may be when they developed an education system for their children.

The Maya knowledge of birds was so extensive that they were able to differentiate local birds and non-native (migratory) birds. Before one can identify a migratory bird one must identify most or all local birds. The primary areas of bird watching were the area around Chalchuapa as well as much of the current-day departments of Ahuachapán, Sonsonate, and to a lesser extent, La Libertad. Another cluster of bird-based place names occurs in Cabañas, about 120 kilometers northeast of Chalchuapa, indicating that it was another center of Maya population during the pre-Classic era.

The pre-Classic Maya often used the noun k'o' or "bird-beak" to denote bird. I translate it as bird beak even though the meaning in most cases is bird.

Turquoise-browed Motmot or Torogoz in El Salvador (national bird). By JoAnn Miller from Mexico City, Mexico (DSC00631 Uploaded by Snowmanradio) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Ahuachapán bird-based place names:

• Atiquizaya: at ti' ki' tz'a' yah - swollen bright-breasted bathing at opening. Atiquizaya was probably named before the meditation practice began since it is nearly at the midpoint of the three places with meditation-related names, yet does not have a meditation-related name itself.
• Los Huatales: wat ahr ehtz - time of observing the return (of migratory birds)
• Suntecumar: sun te' k'um aht - non-native washing itself in bath by trees
• Rio Sunza (Guatemala border): sun tz'a - shiny non-native
• Ataco: aht tak k'o - bird-beak dry (dust) bathing
• El Arco (near Ataco): ahr k'o - the time of the bird-beaks

Coastal Ahuachapán-Sonsonate bird-based place names:

Osprey. "Mike" Michael L. Baird [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

• Rio Sunzacuapa: sun sak wahp bah - regularly returning white-bodied non-native (osprey?)
• El Zarzal: tz'a' sal - boastful one in the wetlands
• El Salamo: sal h'a mo' - boastful parrot by the river
• Guaymango: way man k'o - sleep-trader bird beak (nocturnal)

Sonsonate-area bird-based place names:

• Sonsonate: sun tzo naht te’ - distant non-native nesting (resting) in tree

Red-lored Amazon Parrot, today a rare visitor to El Salvador. By Carlsonbl (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

• Rio Sensunapan: tzen sun ap pan - laughing non-native fruit parakeet (parakeets or parrots are generally not migratory so this may refer to one on the edge of their range, like the Red-lored Amazon Parrot)
• Sonzacate: sun sak kat' te' - white non-native crossing the trees (Swainson's hawk or osprey?)
• Caluco: k'ar uk' k'o - retaining the mournful bird-beak (dove or pigeon?)
• Izalco: - ix sa'r k'o - moving boastful bird
• Talcomunca: tal k'o mun k'a - arrival of excess of satisfactory bird-beaks
• Salcoatitan: sa'r k'o aht ti' tan - boastful bird-beak dust-bathing its heart (breast)

La Libertad bird-based place names: 

• Chiltiupan: chir ti' up pan - hear mouth of parakeet on rope
• Quetzaltepeque: quetzal te' - quetzal in a tree
• Tacachico: tah kach ch'ih k'o - large bird-beak in a net in the forest OR large satisfactory bird-beak in the forest

Another cluster of names are in the present-day San Salvador area, demonstrating a Chol-Ch'orti' presence there in the pre-Classic era:

American White Pelican. By Vkulikov (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

• Panchimalco: ban ch'ih mar k'o - large beautiful sea-bird-beak
• Soyapango: soy yah ban k'o - beautiful arched swollen bird-beak (pelican?)
• Ilopango: ir lo' ban k'o - view beautiful long bird-beak

Elegant Trogon. By dominic sherony [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Another Chol-Ch'orti' population was based in the present-day department of Cabañas, based on the number of bird-based names there.

* Ilobasco: ir lo' bas k'o - view long-wrapped bird-beak
* Guacotecti: wa' k'o tech ti' - bird-beak is opening mouth
* Sensuntepeque: tzen sun te' pek ker - laughing non-native in tree on the hill

Jiquilisco in coastal Usulután also appears to be a bird-based name: ji' ki' il li ix k'o or "observe the moving breasted bird next to sandbar." This is only a portion of the bird-based place names in El Salvador. This should demonstrate the extensive practice of bird-watching, most likely taking place in the pre-Classic time period, mostly in western El Salvador, but also in pockets around present-day San Salvador and Cabañas. The identification of non-native birds - eight examples cited above - show that the Maya had an extensive mental or written list of native birds: a scientific method.

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

Not only did the Maya observe birds, but also iguanas. There are several place names in El Salvador with iguana names:

• Juayua: juh yuh ha' - necklace iguana in the water
• Jujutla: juh hut lah - tired-faced iguana
• Jutiapa: juh ti' ap pa' - food swinging in mouth of iguana

"Companion Shark"

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Maya's scientific inquiry had to do with sharks. This took place at the site known as Cara Sucia in far western El Salvador. There are at least two shark-based place names in other parts of El Salvador. The first is the municipal seat of Jucuarán, located in the east, in Usulután department. Jucuarán is about 13 kilometers from the ocean, but the municipal territory extends to the ocean, including Playa El Espino. Jucuarán is huhk' wa'ar ahn in Ch'orti', meaning "sharp-edged jaguar in the current." It seems they used the image of a jaguar to describe the shark. This was likely an attack or death due to the shark. It is likely that the name El Espino - "the spine" - also originated from this same incident.

Shortfin mako shark. By Patrick Doll (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

To the west, the beach and beach-side town of Majahual in La Libertad, is in the midst of the international surfing zone, also refers to a shark, and likely a shark attack. Majahual is mah h'a wa'ar, meaning "bad water jaguar." This reference is clearly referring to a shark rather than a jaguar, calling it a "water jaguar." Additionally, Majahual is situated right on the beach.

This takes us to the lagoon next to the pre-Classic and Classic site of Cara Sucia. Cara Sucia had two stages of development. During the pre-Classic period it had development starting from 1200 BCE through the late pre-Classic. Most of the structures were built during the late Classic from 650 CE to 950 CE. The site is unique along the Pacific Coast being so close to the ocean - about ten kilometers. During the pre-Classic period it would have been even closer to the ocean, given the rising western Central American continental shelf.

(Click to enlarge.) Less than three kilometers from the pre-Classic site is a lagoon called either Gamboa or Bijagual, depending on the map. Gamboa has a rather generic meaning, k'am po' ha' or "useful hole of water," although it does suggest it has a specific purpose. Bijagual has an unequivocal meaning, pi ha' wa'ar or "companion water jaguar." Given the previous evidence that "water jaguar" refers to the shark, the meaning of the lagoon is "companion shark." This most likely refers to either befriending the sharks or studying the sharks. 

The lagoon is located 200 meters from a small river that flows into an estuary and then the ocean. The Maya would have needed to reverse the flow on this river to bring salt water into the lagoon, capture sharks with nets and guide them up the river into the lagoon, and then close off the lagoon. Their experience with public works, using gunpowder blasting, would have given them the engineering capability to carry out this task.

Several names around Laguna Bijagual support the idea of a shark enclosure there. Cara Sucia itself appears to be a Hispanicization of a Ch'orti' name, since it makes little sense in Spanish ("Dirty Face"). In Ch'orti', Cara Sucia is k'ar rah sus si ha', meaning "number of cutters in the retained slack water." "Cutters" is a reference to sharks. "Slack water" gives the impression that the river may have been an estuary up as far as the lagoon at that time, making river flow-reversal irrelevant.

On the other side of the lagoon about three kilometers is the village of El Gulsnay. It appears the name was sounded out when written in Spanish, but in Ch'orti' it would have been k'ul sin neh and means "series of flaps and tails." "Flaps" seem to be a reference to shark dorsal fins. Just west of El Gulsnay is the Rio Quequeishque. This curious name makes a little more sense knowing the Ch'orti' often dropped the 'r' on the syllable ker, which would then be ker ker ix ker, which would mean the slightly redundant "dividing, slashing movements that cut." It seems that the Rio Quequeishque is also referring to sharks. The seasonal Palma River and Quequeishque River meet southwest of the lagoon and may retain the name Quequeishque to the estuary.

Three other local names support the idea of a shark enclosure. A few kilometers upstream from the river that is next to Laguna Bijagual is a place called Irayol, or ir ha' yol. This means "see (them) put in water," which seems to indicate the sharks being placed in the lagoon. About eight kilometers east of the lagoon is a place called Faya, which would be bah yah and means "infected body." This probably refers to someone bit by the sharks. Finally, the Salvadoran border village with Guatemala is Hachadura. It is hach aht tur ha' and means "raised water condition of the bath (lagoon)," and seems to refer to filling the lagoon with ocean water. The Bijagual Lagoon impacted names up to 15 kilometers away.

It seems that the only purpose for the mid-pre-Classic settlement of Cara Sucia in 1200 BCE was to support the engineering of the lagoon and then the maintenance and learning of the sharks in the lagoon. This suggests that the shark enclosure was begun in 1200 BCE or soon thereafter, since that is when Cara Sucia was first settled. The Maya attempted either to befriend or learn from the shark (or both), possibly for several hundred years. The shortfin mako shark is the most common shark around El Salvador and may have been the one enclosed.

Education

There are a couple clues that the pre-Classic Maya around Chalchuapa may have developed a semi-formal education system for their children. One clue is the neighborhood of Amulunga about two kilometers from the Tazumal site. Amulunga is am ul un k'a or "explain desired spider to children." Someone was explaining the usefulness of spiders or the difference between unwanted spiders and desirable spiders.

The second clue is even more direct - about five kilometer southwest of Tazumal into the woods is a village called Zacamil. In Ch'orti' this is sahk k'am mi' il or "kittens useful searching and examining." The syllable mi can describe either cats or kittens but I think kittens is more appropriate here since the name seems to refer to children in an educational setting. Zacamil describes at least part of the Maya educational method: setting up searches for designated items and then examining. It is consistent with the scientific method.

There is evidence that Maya "schools" were set up in many areas. One sees the name Zacamil in several places in El Salvador. There are also Zacamil names in Candelaria, Tepecoyo, San Salvador, and Guazapa. The Zacamil by Candelaria is only 15 kilometers from Chalchuapa, so it is part of the same settlement area. The Zacamil by Tepecoyo is in the balsam range and is not a surprise - the Maya probably maintained a presence there since their first use of balsam sap and wood in about 7800 BCE. The San Salvador Zacamil, a famous insurgent neighborhood in the recent civil war, is further evidence, along with the previously mentioned bird-based names, of a Ch'orti' presence there in the pre-Classic era.

The pre-Classic Maya made major advancement in many fields in the pre-Classic era, as evidenced by the place names in and near Chalchuapa, the main home of the Chol-Ch'orti' elite during the era. These fields include:

• gymnastics
• meditative movement
• massage
• zoology, including birds, iguanas, and sharks
• education

Given Chalchuapa's role as the base for the Chol-Ch'orti' elite throughout most or all of the pre-Classic period, it and the surrounding area are one of the most important pre-Classic sites throughout Mesoamerica. And Cara Sucia hosted the only known shark retention area, likely for study, of the pre-modern world.

Pellagra, Nixtamal, and the Dispersion of the Maya

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

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

Pellagra - a Disease of the Monoculture of Corn

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

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

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

Maya Response: Banishment of the Diseased

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reasons for the Banishments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vegetation-covered Quelepa mound in midground.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Discovering Lime and the Nixtamal Solution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Questions and Conclusions

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

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

There are several conclusions about the pellagra crisis.

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

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

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

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

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

The Banishment of the Quiche from Coatepeque to Mexico

The first 3,000 years of the civilizing people of Mesoamerica were full of dramatic events: the escape from the ruthless rulers of the cave of Xibalba (Xibahkha in Ch’orti’); surviving the ravages of the wild with the help of three critical gifts from nature; the formation of a religion while on Isla Tigre in the Golfo de Fonseca; the dramatic death of One Hunahpu which led to their later liberation from Xibahkha; and the flood of 6400 BC which swept away one of the four island garden-villages.

But the second most important geo-political event of the last 5,000 years in Mesoamerica – second only to the arrival of the Spanish – was the banishment of the Quiche Maya in about 2200 BC. The Quiche Maya were always considered the lead among the four first civilizing nations. This is shown by their founder being called Manix, or worker of the earth – the first to embrace the vision of an agricultural way of life. In addition, the Quiches lived in the most beautiful of the four island homes – Coatepeque, or what they called Tammakchan.

By 2500 BC corn was getting much closer to it current size, from its start of just a few kernels. The leader of the Quiche was the most reliant on corn in his diet. Now we know that reliance on untreated corn can lead to pellagra and this is exactly what happened. Pellegra causes lesions on the skin, gauntness, mental illness, and death. But the other Mayan and Mesoamerican leaders didn’t know about pellagra.

Instead they remembered a story from their past, from their creation story, the Popol Vuh, that the famous Quiche leader, One Hunahpu, married an outsider, a Xibahkha woman. Her name was Xib’akiyalo. Surely it was this mixing of blood – the blood of the Xibahkhans, represented by the tapir, and the blood of the Quiches, represented by the serpent, that caused the disease – the lesions, the bleeding, the mental illness and the death.

Because they were considered a people of mixed race, which led to disease, the others decided that the Quiches must be sent away before any more inter-marrying happened. And the message of not inter-marrying must go out to all neighboring peoples. The Quiches were sent on balsa rafts as far as they could make it with their provisions of food and water. The Ch'ortis quickly moved into their Lago Coatepeque home and assumed role among the civilizing peoples.

The Quiches made it as far as an island along the coast of present-day Sinaloa, Mexico. [Click to enlarge map.] They named the island, Teocapan (now called Teacapan) for the island home they left, Teopan. The ka in the middle of Teacapan means 'to remember'. Thus, Teocapan means “remembering Teopan”. The made a spectacular home on this island and its memory survived in the stories of the Toltecs and the Aztecs.

The Quiches named the region after their totem, Maza (Deer), which is also the name of many early Quiche leaders. The present-day city of Mazatlán gets its name for the Quiche name of this region.

The Quiches were in Sinoloa before they split into lineage groups, so all those with Quiche lineage - the Kekchis, Uspantecs, Pokomams, Sacapultecs, Sipacapas, Tzutuhils, and Cakchiquels - share the Mexican experience.

The Quiche continued to hybridize corn at their new island home of Teocapan. They found a new location for Balsas teosinte grass in the mountains about 50 miles south. They named the place Teosinte and also named a place just off the coast Teosinte, so that they and the locals would remember how to get up to the highland teosinte.

They often visited a place to the south, Matanchén, where they harvested mollusks. They quickly became great sailors, living along the coast. They formed new villages to south near Tecomán, in present day Colima, at a site called El Opeño, in Michoacán, and up high on the plateau in the Valley of Mexico at a site now called Tlatilco. At some of these sites they reunited with their old cousins, the Olmec/Lencas, and the Tehuacanos/Zapotecs. The Olmecs introduced them to their allies from West Africa who had joined them on the Gulf Coast. Some of them joined the Quiches to live at Tlatilco. The Tehuacanos taught the Quiche how to sail to Ecuador and Perú.

By about 1500 BC, one portion of the Quiche community moved back toward their homeland. They settled at present day Guatemala City at the site known as Kaminaljuyu. This probably became the Uspantec – Pokomam lineage. The arrival to Kaminaljuyu from Mexico likely gave rise to the name for the present country of Guatemala:

Wate - to come back, to return home
Ma - [negative prefix]
Lah - fatigue

Guatemala likely means "to come back home, not tired". I'm not convinced about the meaning of "mala" but "Guate" is clear - to return home.

Remembering the bad blood between them, the Ch’orti’s at Lago Güija, Lago Coatepeque, Chalchuapa, and San Andrés were threatened by the Quiche presence so close by. To outflank the Quiches, they moved a significant portion of their elite and population to the north to northern Belice and to northern Petén and began to build the site of El Mirador.

The competition and the tension between the Ch’orti’ and the Quiche was only just beginning and hundreds of years later became outright warfare. All this happened because of a lack of understand about mental illness and a misunderstanding over the cause of that mental illness. And the message of needing to maintain pure blood was also based on false information and therefore a false message.

What are the clues that early Mayan leaders suffered from pellagra, that the Quiche suffered the first and most, and that the Quiche were banished to northwest Mexico?

• The Quiches have an oral tradition of having spent at least several hundred years in Mexico and of all the Mayan languages Quiche has the most Nahuat influences. The Toltec and Aztec traditions also speak of having come from an island city on the northwest coast of Mexico.

• As I have already discussed, the first chapter of the Popol Vuh appears to have been written in order to explain how so many people, including the leaders suffered from disease: it was the fault of the gods. The gods failed when creating humans three times, creating humans that were gaunt (stick figures), spoke to animals, or were mentally ill. This is an attempt to change the theology to account for widespread disease and mental illness. This chapter explains that it is the fault of the gods that people became ill, sick, and died. The gods goofed up three times in their creation of humans; it is not the fault of your grandmother and your grandfather that they were mentally ill.

• The Quiche seem to have become confused over key points and names in their history. This may be a result of leaders who suffered from mental illness due to pellagra and became confused in the retelling of the Popol Vuh. Another possibility is that the Quiche leaders had forgotten and when they asked the Ch’ol / Ch’orti’ Maya for clarification, they were deliberately misled. The best example of this is the name of the Quiche leader among the first four civilizing leaders. The Popol Vuh says that his name is Majukutaj, which means ‘Not Right Now’ in Quiche. This is an unusual name given that the other three are Night Jaguar, Ik Jaguar, and Kitze Jaguar.
  
  If it were a different name, the tzolkin day-sign calendar offers us a clue what it might have been. The day sign Manik in Yucatec has a symbol of a grasping hand or a working hand. In Ch’orti’, this would be Manix or worker of the earth. The fact that it refers to the Quiche is shown by the Aztec name for this day sign, which is Mazatl or Deer. Many early Quiche leaders were called Deer and it appears to be their totem animal, most likely since very early they followed the deer and tried out various plants to see if they were useful or edible. Thus this sign might have been Masa Manix or Deer Worker-of-the-Earth. Somehow, in their confusion, this morphed into Majukutaj for the Quiche. Another clue that this happened comes from the Ch’orti’ where maix means ‘not right now’. This would suggest that the first step in the confusion was to change the name from Manix to Maix, retaining the meaning of maix.

• One of the more curious anomalies in the tzolkin, the 260-day calendar of 20 13-day weeks, is that the Quiche version has a different starting day than the more commonly used Yucatec version. The Yucatec version begins with the day Imix (Imox in Quiche) and ends with day Ahaw, also spelled Ahau (Junajpu in Quiche). The end day is all important since it is the last day of the year that gives its name to that year. The Quiche version starts six days later with Kej (Manik’ in Yucatec and Manix in Ch’orti’) and ends with Kame (Kimi in Yucatec and Cimin in Ch’orti’). I believe that this is also a legacy from the banishment of the Quiches. Manix was the first Quiche leader while Ahaw (chief) was the title used by the Ch’orti’ leader after the Quiches left.

• Another change in the day sign appears with the sign known as Hunahpu in Quiche and Ahau in Yucatec. Both of these mean ‘lord’. The original name for this day sign was probably Sutz’ or ‘bat’ since the Quiche lord came out of the bat room of the cave. The other three leaders came out of the jaguar room and there is a sign associated with jaguars. When the Quiches were banished from their homeland, the Ch’ol’-Ch’orti’ changed this day sign to Ahau or Ahaw. The best clue that this happened comes from the Aztez name for this day sign, Xochitl. From their base in northwest Mexico, the Quiche provided many root words or sounds for the Nahuat language. In this case Sutz’ (bat) morphed into Xochitl (flower). In addition the Mayan glyph for this day sign appears to the be face of a bat.

• The Popol Vuh discusses how the Mayan leaders of the previous age, One Monkey and One Artisan are overturned and the new leaders, Hunahpu and Ixbalamque take over. While some interpret this as a transition from a non-Mayan time with non-Mayan leaders to the Mayan age, I believe that it really is one set of Mayan leaders overturning another set. In this case One Monkey and One Artisan represent the Quiches who were overturned and Hunahpu and Ixbalamque represent the Ch’ortis who took over leadership. One Monkey and One Artisan appear to become mentally ill: they are called monkeys, they run around naked, and roam the woods. Even their grandmother cannot keep from laughing at them.

• As I already described in a previous post, the meaning of ix seems to have changed from ‘Mother Earth’ to ‘the disease’ with the advent of pellagra. Likewise, after this, imix described untreated – diseased – corn, while a new word for corn – nar – described the good, treated, corn that did not have the disease. The curing of corn is called nixtamalization – ridding the corn of ix.

• Finally, we have the clue of the names along the northwest coast of Mexico, as already discussed above, including Teacapán, Mazatlán, and Matanchén. There are also only two occurrences of the place name ‘Teosinte’, or some variants of that, in Mexico, and both are close to their Teacapán home.

Return of the Mayans, the Repopulation of El Salvador in 400 AD

Soon I hope to discuss the Joya de Cerén, one of the most important archeological sites in El Salvador and sometimes referred to as the 'Pompeii of Mesoamerica'. But to set the stage, first it is necessary to talk about the repopulation of western and central El Salvador in about 400 AD. Remember that this region was depopulated after the Ilopango volcanic eruption of about 210 AD, which caused the decline of the entire Pacific coast region and the subsequent rise of cultures to the north, such as Petén, in part due to the immigration of Chorti Maya elites from western El Salvador following the eruption.

With the power vacuum in the southern Maya area following the Chorti movement north, the Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu, near present-day Guatemala City, became the predominant power. Perhaps this role of Kaminaljuyu/Guatemala City remained in the collective memory of Central Americans when Guatemala City was chosen as the capital of the Federal Republic of Central America in the first years of this short-lived republic following independence from Spain in 1821.

By 400 AD, the thick Ilopango ash in western El Salvador was transformed back into soil and the area could be re-inhabited. Pocomam Mayas moved into the extreme western part of the country around Itiquizaya, most likely from western Guatemala. In addition, many Chorti Maya moved back, probably from Copán, but possibly from the Petén.

Copán itself received an influx of elites from the Petén between 300 and 400 AD, its start date as a ceremonial center. Perhaps Copán was chosen as a halfway point between the Petén and the old Pacific Coast centers, like Chalchuapa. Or Copán may have given the Tikal Chorti access to the jade along the Motagua River Valley and allowed them to challenge the supremacy of Kaminaljuyu in the south. Soon Copán would be a regional power on its own.

The Chortis resettled San Andres, Chalchuapa, Santa Leticia, Cara Sucia, and surrounding areas, as well as the present-day area of San Salvador. It is likely that during the time period that Chalchuapa was a bilingual Pocoman-Chorti city. By 400 AD, there was likely significant divergence between these two Mayan languages. It is also likely that some local Chorti elites settled in Matamaras in northern Chalatenango and the Lago Güija in northwestern Santa Ana at this time. Both Chalchuapa and Lago Güija would have given the Chortis access to the obsidian at nearby Ixtepeque, to the northwest.

While Tehuacán along the eastern slope of Chichontepeque volcano in San Vicente may have been a Chorti Maya site prior to 210 AD, or, more likely, a bilingual Chorti-Lenca ceremonial and trade center, it is likely that the Chorti elites left with the other Chortis to the north post-Ilopango. In the early classic period of 210 to 600 AD, Tehuacán was clearly a Lenca site and related most closely to Quelepa to the east, with similar jaguar rock sculptures as Quelepa.

E. Wyllys Andrews, one of the first archeologists to study the Quelepa site, noted that there was no evidence of contact between Quelepa and western El Salvador between 200 and 600 AD. On the other hand, prior to the departure of the Chortis in 210 AD, there had been significant trade and cultural contact between the Chortis in western El Salvador and the Potón Lenca in eastern El Salvador. In the interceding 190 years, the knowledge of each other's languages must have disappeared, as well as Chorti memory of Quelepa as a source of obsidian. Ironically, Andrews found that the Lenca continued to trade with the Olmec/ Totonac people of the Veracruz Coast. There is little evidence of the Lenca having contact with peoples on the overland route to Veracruz so it seems that they traveled by ocean canoes or rafts north and then crossed the Tehuantepec isthmus to Veracruz.

The history of the Salvadoran region would take another major twist in 590 AD, when for the second time in 400 years, a volcano would erupt and interrupt the development of civilization in the region. The history of immigration and disaster recovery would continue for Salvadorans.

Indigenous Peoples of El Salvador

Many Salvadorans think that Pipil is the main indigenous root of the Salvadoran people. Pipiles may have been the largest group at the time of the Spanish conquest and might be the only group that maintained an explicitly indigenous identity beyond the matanza of the 1930s, but El Salvador has many different groups of indigenous within its history. In fact, the Pipiles did not even arrive on the scene from central Mexico until about 850 A.D.

Prior to the Pipiles, the primary people of El Salvador were the Chorti, the Cuscatlan, the Ulua, and the Lenca, with a small group of Masahuat. The Chorti extended in much of modern-day Ahuachapan and Santa Ana, as well as the western half of Chalatenango - especially from La Palma north. Of course they were also in eastern Guatemala. The Lenca were in much of eastern El Salvador, with villages up against the Ulua, with whom they had good relations. The Cuscatlan were the most influential culture for much of pre-history and should be considered Maya. Great sailors, they lived along the Lempa River and much of Usulutan, San Vicente, La Paz, San Salvador, Cuscatlan, and Cabanas. They probably had centers at Tehuacan and Cojutepeque. They were related to the Zapoteca and very closely to the Ulua. The Ulua lived in the eastern half of Chalatenango, northern Cabanas and Cuscatlan, northern Morazan, and parts of San Miguel. Also, throughout much of Honduras. The Masahuat are best described as renegade Kiche. Most of them became the Mam in Guatemala but a few remained in Nueva Concepcion and southern Chalatenango.

The Pipil arrived from central Mexico in about 850 A.D., driven out by the dominant and violent Toltec. The Pipiles are Nahuat-speaking people and some settled in coastal Guatemala and Nicaragua, as well as El Salvador. Some also settled in Honduras. The name Pipil means "companions of the waterways," which indicate that most were Purepecha (related to the Cuscatlan and the Lenca). Historically the Purepecha controlled the Balsas and Lerma Rivers. They were the arch-enemy of the Toltec. Some of the Pipil might also have been renegade Kiche from Mexico (Masawa), similar to the Masahuat. These communities are identified by Masahuat in the name (except for the one in Nueva Concepcion). In about 860 A.D. the Toltec (Totonac, Otomi, Cakchiquel) arrived to El Salvador at Cihuatan. They killed many of the Pipil (Purepecha) leaders but the Cuscatlan helped to conceal the Pipil by also becoming Pipil so that the Toltec could not distinguish. Many of the Chorti left then and the Pocomam entered in the far west, allies of the Toltec. The Otomi flipped, rejecting their place in the Toltec and becoming part of the opposition. At that time they became the Nonualco, living from Panchimalco to the villages named Nonualco. Eventually the Toltec were defeated. The Totonac were allowed to stay - they moved to the Izalco area. At the time of the Spanish they were called Pipil but technically they weren't. The Cakchiquel, the most repressive of the Toltec, were forced to leave en masse becoming the Nicarao in Nicaragua. Their repressive behavior there caused a group of Matagalpa (Miskito) to flee, migrating to Morazan becoming the Cacaopera, not long before the arrival of the Spanish, next to the Ulua, their lineage-mates.

 

Originally posted Nov. 28, 2009 on BlogBox

Edited April 7, 2014, January 27, 2016, and August 4, 2016