Archaeologists discover new structure in El Salvador's Joya de Cerén

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on May 23, 2019 / comment : 0 Archaeology, Central America, El Salvador

A new structure, six ceramic pots with charred seeds, three corn cobs, a pot, abundant obsidian remains and animal bones are the result of the excavations carried out during the last months in Joya de Cerén, within the framework of the project "Construction of Works for Protection and Improvement" of the site, at a cost of $1,340,000, which began at the end of 2018.

Salvadoran archaeologist work at the Joya de Ceren archaeological site in San Juan Opico, 35 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador [Credit: Oscar Rivera/AFP]

El Salvador's only World Heritage Site continues to reveal more details of the domestic life of a pre-Hispanic village that was buried by the ashes of the Loma Caldera volcano in approximately 650 AD.

According to archaeologist Michelle Toledo, who heads the investigations, last December the suspected new structure was confirmed in the southern zone of Complex 1, which has been named Structure 19.

Vessels with charred seeds were also found in the complex [Credit: Menly Cortez/EDH]

The building has features similar to those of a storeroom and is located in the area where the footings of the columns that will support the new roof that will protect the area will be placed. In the same area, the vessels with carbonized seeds, the obsidian blade, and a deposit of ceramic and organic waste were discovered, among which are fragments of bones of deer, raccoon and canids, which could be coyote or dog.

"The bones show calcifications that indicate that the animal (canid) suffered from arthritis, so it is certain that it was a domestic animal, because it would not have survived in the wild with this disease," explained Toledo, who was accompanied by the director of Archaeology of Micultura, Hugo Díaz.

A clay pot is pictured at the Joya de Ceren archaeological site, in San Juan Opico, 35 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador [Credit: Oscar Rivera/AFP]

This finding also revealed that the land where Joya de Cerén is located was inhabited for an extended period of time, since the removal of soils for levelling has been identified.

"It has always been thought that Joya de Cerén was situated in the hills, but this is not the case, they levelled the land to build the village and irrigate the crops," said the archaeologist.

Selection of artefacts found at the Joya de Ceren, in San Juan Opico, 35 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador [Credit: Oscar Rivera/AFP]

Beneath the group of structures - that is, where the inhabitants of Joya de Cerén last walked - a previous occupation has been identified, which suggests that the village remained in that place after the eruption of the Caldera de Ilopango, in approximately 535 AD.

Under the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ), as the ash expelled by the Ilopango is called, the multidisciplinary team in charge of the excavations found fragments of Usulután type pottery, which corresponds to the late Preclassic period, between 400 BC and 300 AD.

View of a canine bone at the Joya de Ceren, in San Juan Opico, 35 km west of San Salvador, El Salvador [Credit: Oscar Rivera/AFP]

Likewise, Toledo mentioned that in Complex 2 a complete reddish pot was discovered, which would correspond to the occupation of the Post-Classic period, from 900 to 1524 AD.

The project that is still being carried out at the archaeological site aims to protect the structures and envisages the construction of three metal roofs for Complexes 1, 2 and 3, stabilization of ash slopes, refurbishment of the museum, updating of the signage and the interpretative trail, which will be in Spanish, French and English.

View of a pre-hispanic ear piece found at the Joya de Ceren archaeological site in San Juan Opico, 35 kms west of San Salvador, El Salvador [Credit: Oscar Rivera/AFP]

This project is financed with the support of the French government, through the Comtié Bilateral de Canje de Deuda Franco-Salvadoreño, which granted a contribution of $900,000. The government of El Salvador added another $440,000.

Source: El Salvador News [May 23, 2019]

First human remains found in El Salvador's Joya de Ceren

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on November 23, 2018 / comment : 0 Americas, Archaeology, Central America, El Salvador

The Directorate General of Cultural and Natural Heritage of El Salvador's Ministry of Culture reported on November 22, 2018, that the investigation will be expanded in Complex 1 of Joya de Cerén after the discovery of a skeleton, human footprints and cultivation furrows in the excavations carried out as part of the project Construction of Protection Works and Improvement of the archaeological park.

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

The discoveries "have led us to take the decision to extend the excavations in the southern zone of Complex 1, where we will make a larger trench by joining three of the exploratory pits," explained archaeologist Michelle Toledo, who directs the research at the site.

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

Toledo added that the expansion will serve to "achieve a better interpretation of the Complex 1 and make the decision of where to put the columns that will support the new roof." The excavation works will last until the end of November or the beginning of December.

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

Regarding the skeleton, the archaeologist commented: "A few days ago a pit was identified that contained organic and skeletal remains; the cleaning was carried out and it was determined that it was a burial of a person who probably inhabited the village, but who did not die because of the eruption. There are long bones and we believe that this burial is from the Late Classic period (600-900 AD), because inside the pit there is fine white tephra, known as "Tierra Blanca Joven" (young white earth), a product of the eruption of the Ilopango volcano in 535 A.D.); if so, this individual would be from a burial possibly from the moment when the people of Joya de Cerén lived here."

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

This is the first time in more than forty years of research that human remains have been discovered in Joya de Cerén. Unfortunately, the skeleton - discovered next to an obsidian knife - is in a poor state of conservation. "Maybe this burial was beneath some structure that was removed by a tractor," when workers from the now defunct Instituto Regulador de Abastecimientos (IRA), who were building silos, discovered the site in 1976, said Toledo of the Archaeology Directorate.

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

The project being carried out at the site seeks to protect the structures and contemplates the construction of three metal roofs for Complexes 1, 2 and 3, stabilization of ash slopes, renovation of the museum, as well as updating the signage and the interpretive trail, which will be in Spanish, French and English.

Credit: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador

Joya de Cerén was buried in the ashes of the Loma Caldera volcano around 650 AD. The ashes preserved the site and this has allowed us to appreciate the way of life of the Mayan village: rituals, agriculture, commerce, space management, citizen organization, food habits, etc.

Source: Ministerio de Cultura El Salvador [November 23, 2018]

New structures found in El Salvador's San Andrés archaeological complex

By: Thomas Schmitt Attorney on June 16, 2018 / comment : 0 Americas, Archaeology, Central America, El Salvador

El Salvador's cultural authorities on Tuesday presented new structures and artefacts discovered in the San Andrés archaeological complex, which was inhabited by the Maya in the west of the country.

Aerial photograph of the area where the discoveries were made [Credit: Marvin Romero]

The staircase has 15 steps and is about six metres high. The research work is part of the San Andrés and Cara Sucia Archaeological Project [Credit: Marvin Romero]

"Fourteen steps of a staircase approximately 1.5 metres wide and 6 metres high were discovered" in a pyramidal structure called La Campana, in San Andrés, 32 km west of San Salvador, the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

The project is funded by the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science and the Mitsubishi Foundation [Credit: Marvin Romero]

La Campana is the largest structure of the site, with a platform of 80 by 90 meters [Credit: Marvin Romero]

In addition to the staircase, at the foot of La Campana, a glass and a bowl decorated with drawings of animals were unearthed in the middle of seven pieces of slate or smooth rocks placed vertically and forming a circle, in a kind of altar.

It is estimated that the site may have been built after the eruption of Lake Ilopango in 535 AD [Credit: Marvin Romero]

The a pyramid 13 metres high and 40 metres in diameter [Credit: Marvin Romero]

Inside the glass were found two very polished pieces of jade, and one of them was decorated with "two snake heads in opposite directions with their jaws open and their tongues forked", the ministry explained.

Spondylus shells [Credit: Ricardo Flores]

A large number of objects were found and are still being sorted [Credit: Ricardo Flores]

The excavations that led to the discovery of the staircase and the place of offerings were led by Japanese archaeologist Akira Ichikawa, a professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of Nagoya, in coordination with Salvadoran archaeologists.

Bowl of the group copador [Credit: Ricardo Flores]

Some pieces of carved jade found on the site [Credit: Ricardo Flores]

The San Andrés complex, one of El Salvador's main archaeological sites, covers an area of 38 hectares and includes a monumental area of a Mayan center dating from the Late Classic period (600-900 AD) with an acropolis, several pyramids and other structures.

Source: La Prensa [June 16, 2018]