Quelepa is an important archaeological site located in eastern El Salvador. Generally considered to have been settled by the Lenca people, the site was founded around 400 BC in the Late Preclassic period (500 BC - AD 250).Sheets 2000, pp.420, 422. The inhabitants constructed a platform from plaster and pumice and rebuilt it a number of times. Artifacts recovered during the excavations of the site indicate that the local population depended upon subsistence agriculture, these artifacts included metates (a kind of mortar) and comales (a type of griddle). The site belonged to the Mesoamerican cultural region.Sheets 2000, p.420. Quelepa means "stone jaguar" in the Lenca language, probably in reference to the large Jaguar Altar found at the site.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23.
Throughout its occupational history, the inhabitants crafted stone tools from obsidian.Sheets 2000, p.420. The site appears to have been linked to trade routes extending to western El Salvador and the Guatemalan Highlands and also to the north in Honduras.Sheets 2000, pp.421-422.
Although sites in western El Salvador were severely affected by the eruption of the Ilopango Volcano during the Early Classic, its only effect on Quelepa was the severance of trade routes into Mesoamerica. This cutting off did not result in stagnation at the site, but rather resulted in the florescence of a local culture.Cobos 1994, 1998, p.62. Sheets 2000, p.442.
Geography Location
The Quelepa archaeological site is located outside the small village of the same name.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23. The ruins are situated along the north bank of the San Esteban River, a tributary of the Río Grande de San Miguel which flows into the Pacific Ocean. The site is located west-northwest of the town of San Miguel.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.20, 23. Kelly 1996, p.310. Quelepa is north of the neighbouring site of Los Llanitos.Kelly 1996, p.310. The archaeological site divided into East and West groups by a small stream called the Quebrada Agua Zarca, which has high, steep banks.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.23, 33. The ruins have an altitude of between above mean sea level.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.28.
The archaeological remains of Quelepa are on privately owned land under cultivation, the entire East Group together with a part of the west group are on the land of the Hacienda El Obrajuelo farm.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.27. The area to the west of the Quebrada Agua Zarca is planted with maize and cotton, as is the area south of the river.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.27.
The general area around Quelapa is part of the flood plain of the Río Grande de San Miguel, lying between the hills to the north and the San Miguel volcano some from the Pacific Ocean.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.28. The volcano is the most prominent local landmark, with its peak at above mean sea level. Although the volcano has erupted 6 times since 1699, most recently in 1924, and continues in a low state of activity it has never dropped sufficient volcanic ash on Quelepa to be detectable archaeologically.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.28.
The climate of Quelepa is classified under the Köppen system as tropical wet and dry. The majority of rainfall occurs between the months of September and October with a long dry season from November to May. Monthly rainfall averages between in September and less than in March. Native fauna has been practically extinguished by the heavy use of pesticides on the local cotton crops.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.28-29. Andrews reported many iguanas near the watercourses and the occasional snake.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.29.
History Quelepa was founded around 400 BC, in the Late Preclassic period (500 BC - AD 250).Sheets 2000, p.420. The first inhabitants of the site constructed a platform from plaster and pumice and rebuilt it a number of timesSheets 2000, p.420. Quelepa is generally considered to have been settled by the Lenca people.Sheets 2000, p.422.
Around AD 539 the Ilopango volcano erupted and devastated western El Salvador, breaking Quelepa's link with Mesoamerica. Between AD 150 and AD 625 Quelepa turned instead to the Intermediate Area beyond the frontiers of Mesoamerica, with artifacts arriving from the north and the east.Sheets 2000, p.442. The major ceremonial architecture of the East Group was built in the Early Classic.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.76.
In the Late Classic to Early Postclassic periods (from approximately AD 625–1000), the ceremonial centre of the settlement was abandoned and smaller structures were built around a small plaza. This has been interpreted as a Mesoamerican influence with its origins on the Gulf coast of Mexico, or perhaps from Seibal, a Maya city in the Petén Basin of northern Guatemala.Sheets 2000, p.434. The stone facing from this period is cruder than that of earlier times and stairways replaced the earlier use of access ramps.Sheets 2000, p.434. The ballcourt also dates to this time.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.76.
Quelepa as a whole was abandoned around AD 1000, at the beginning of the Early Postclassic period.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.59. The abandonment of the site has been linked to the arrival of the Pipil people in the El Salvador region, although there is no evidence that they ever occupied the site.Cobos 1994, 1998, p.81.
Modern history The first mention of Quelepa in print was a brief description written by Atilio Peccorini and published in 1913. Herbert Spinden mentioned Quelepa in 1915 and Peccorini published another, even less detailed account in 1926. Peccorini reported that the site had many structures faced with stone, a paved "road", artificial terraces and various sculptured monuments, one of which was probably the Jaguar Altar.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.22. Also in 1926, Samuel K. Lothrop mentioned that he made a brief visit to the ruins to buy ceramics for the Museum of the American Indian in New York City, he listed Quelepa in his list of archaeological sites in El Salvador under the alternative name of Mayacaquin.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.22. The site was visited by Antonio Sol, the Director of the Departamento Nacional de Historia, in 1929.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.22.
The first excavation of the site took place in 1949, directed by Pedro Armillas. The investigations focused on Structure 3 in the East Group and were never completed and the results were unpublished, although the fieldnotes he made were forwarded to E. Wyllys Andrews V.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.22.
The principal excavations of the site were carried out under the direction of E. Wyllys Andrews from 1967–1969, funded by the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University and by the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.9.
Although the site is officially listed as a National Archaeological Monument, as recently as 2005 it was effectively unprotected.El Diario de Hoy 29 April 2005.
Site description
Quelepa has approximately 40 structures occupying an area of approximately .Kelly 1996, p.310. They are spread out over a distance of along the bank of the San Esteban River, never at a distance greater the from the river itself.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23. Ceramic remains and isolated mounds extend as far as from the site core.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23. The site is divided into East and West Groups by a small stream.Kelly 1996, p.310. Structure size at the site varies greatly from high pyramids to small, badly eroded mounds. These smaller mounds probably served as platform bases for perishable structures.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23. The site also possesses a Mesoamerican ballcourt.Parsons 1991, p.202. Agricultural land use of the site continues to constantly erode the archaeological remains.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.27.
The site, unusually for Mesoamerica, features ramps in place of stairways for some structures. Ramps have also been reported from Los Naranjos in Honduras and from Bilbao on the Pacific coast of Guatemala, although the latter differed in form and function from those at Quelepa. In all cases, the ramps have been dated to the Classic period.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.72.
The two groups are fairly distinct in their architectural styles, probably due to being built in different periods. The West Group is probably the later of the two groups and is similar to a miniature Maya-style acropolis.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.26.
The area south of the San Esteban River lacks structures but contains a great number of tombs.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.27.
A cache was uncovered at the site that contained a collection of artifacts associated with the Mesoamerican ballgame, including finely sculpted yokes, palmas and a hacha. They were all placed under a stone slab. These, together with other artifacts such as flutes and wheeled toys indicate a link with the Gulf coast of Mexico.Sheets 2000, p.434.
West Group The structures of the West Group are located upon artificial terraces that are generally aligned north–south.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.23. To the south of the group the terrain descends steeply to the river.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.26. The group consists of a number of mounds, 15 of which are arranged around a rectangular plaza in the southeastern area of the group, most of them upon an artificial terrace.Kelly 1996, p.310. Andrews 1976, 1986, p.26. The northeast of this terrace supports a narrow platform upon which was built a long, low structure.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.26. A similar structure is on the east side of the plaza.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.26. The mounds in the West Group date to the Late Classic.Kelly 1996, p.310.
The I-shaped Ballcourt (denominated Structure 19) is situated north of the plaza, it has not been excavated. It consists of a mound measuring long and high that forms one side of the playing area, with the west side formed by the face of a terrace. The ballcourt is oriented north–south. The north and sound end zones are close by low, narrow walls running east–west. In the rain season, runoff water flows through the ballcourt and has buried it under more than of soil. The original height of the sides of the ballcourt was probably around . Two large stone slabs were laid in the centre of the playing area, upon them was a broken sandstone disc that measured and was probably a ballcourt marker.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.26, 76.
Structure 23 is a small platform dating to the Late Classic. It is located near the edge of a high terrace and closes the west side of a small plaza. It is a single-level platform with vertical sides and measures by high. It was accessed by a wide stairway that extends westwards from the platform. The use of a stairway indicates a major change in architectural style, moving away from the earlier use of ramps and involving the use of poorly reworked stone blocks for the facing of the building.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.48-50. The platform and the stairway both contained a mix of earth, mud and rock infill. Burnt remains of wattle and daub were found scattered around the base, together with fragments of mortar and red-painted stucco. The wattle and daub suggests a perishable superstructure once stood upon the platform but it is not certain if the stucco came from this or from the platform itself.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.50. Offering 23 was excavated from the structure and contained three ceramic vessels, including a red effigy vessel. This offering was buried at the time the structure was built and was likely to have been a dedicatory offering.Andrews 1976, 1986, pp.50-51. A rough altar had been built in the angle formed by the southern wall of the stairway and the western wall of the platform itself.Andrews 1976, 1986, p.51.