Joya de Cerén (Jewel of Cerén in Spanish) is an archaeological site in La Libertad Department, El Salvador, containing the remains of a pre-Columbian Maya farming village. The site is located in the Zapotitán Valley, approximately northwest of San Salvador.Castellanos, p. 94. It is often called the "Pompeii of the Americas", for its similar preservation beneath volcanic ash.
This site is notable for the exceptional preservation of a Classic period settlement, which was rapidly buried by ash from an eruption of the Loma Caldera around AD 600.Conyers, pp. 377-378. The abundance of paleoethnobotanical remains has provided important insights into the daily life of ancient Maya agricultural communities. Among the most significant discoveries is a manioc field, the earliest known evidence of manioc cultivation at an archeological site in the New World.CU team discovers Mayan crop system. University of Colorado at Boulder, June 16, 2009 The site is thought to have been occupied between AD 200 and AD 600. Joya de Cerén was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1993 in recognition of its archeological significance and is a major tourist attraction in El Salvador.
Abandonment of Joya de Cerén The population of the village, around the time of its abandonment 1400 years ago, has been estimated to be 200 people.Sheets 2013, p. 23 The eruption of the Loma Caldera volcano caused 10 meters of pyroclastic debris to settle over the site.Conyers, p. 377.Lentz et al. The site was remarkably well preserved due to the low temperature of ash and very fast ashfall, a 4 - 8 meter thick layer having blanketed the town in the space of a few hours. The use of plaster casting by archaeologists similar to the one used in Pompeii assisted in their identification of fruiting plants, abundance of beans in storage, and mature maize to predict the eruption happened in August or September.Conyers, p. 377; Brown and Sheets, p. 11; Farahani, p. 982
Guava, agave, cacao, and manioc were some of the major crops to the community.Conyers, p. 383; Farahani, p. 994 Based on crack patterns observed from the relatively earthquake-resistant wattle-and-daub walls and adobe columns at Joya de Cerén, scholars suggest that an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale preceded the eruption, giving residents time to flee the site.Brown and Sheets, p. 11; Sheets 2013; p. 23 Further, possible steamy emissions from the volcano may have alerted residents of the impending danger, but only inferences can be made about what exactly warned them.Brown and Sheets, p. 11 It is unclear to scholars if the duration of the eruptions lasted a few days or a few weeks.Miller 1989 The position of artifacts at the site have led scholars to suggest that the evacuation of Joya de Cerén happened in the early evening: shovels and other agricultural work equipment were found stored near the domestic structures, and fires had been lit in hearths.Sheets 1992; Conyers, p. 388 Also, sleeping mats had not yet been rolled out on the domicile floor.Conyers, p. 389 No human remains have been discovered at the ancient Maya site.Sheets 1992
The Plaza Joya de Cerén can be divided into a northeastern area, a southeastern area, and northwestern area.Sheets 2013, p. 22 The northwestern area holds Household 1 alongside Structure 1, 5–6, 10–12, 17 containing milpas and a kitchen garden. The southeastern area holds Household 2 alongside Structure 2, 7, 9, 13, 18 containing a temascal, milpas and a basurero (trash pit). The northwestern area holds Household 3-4 alongside Structure 3–4, 8, 14-16 containing milpas, fruit trees, and another basurero. 18 structures have been identified in archaeological survey. Of these, ten have been excavated by archaeologists.Castellanos, p. 95 Scholars distinguish ceremonial buildings from non-ceremonial buildings with the following considerations: orientation of building, platform heights, floor plans, assemblages, construction technique, altars, caches, burials, etc.Brown and Sheets, p. 16
Structure 10 Structure 10 is a multi-roomed structure with many corridors.Brown and Sheets 2000; Parnell et al. 2002 Archaeologists interpret Structure 10 as being used for community festivals in the Classic Maya period, based on features associated with ceremonial activities.Brown and Sheets, pp. 13-14 Inside Structure 10 was a north corridor for food preparation, while the east corridor stored several vessels.Brown and Sheets, p. 14 For instance, decorated vessels and a red painted deer and twine headdress was recovered in Structure 10, which has been interpreted by archaeologists as connected with fertility and harvest rituals.Parnell et al. 339 Vessels filled with achiote seeds, found in associated with ceremonial objects suggest that the eruption may have interrupted a ceremony. Additionally, archaeologists propose that a north corridor was used for food preparation, while the east corridor may have been used for storage.
Structure 12 Structure 12 is located 5 meters away from Structure 10 and was defined by a doorway and two lattice windows that directed and restricted traffic inside the structure.Brown and Sheets, p. 14 Similarly to Structure 10, archaeologists believe Structure 12 was also associated with the performance of religious activities. The storage of miscellaneous female-associated artifacts discovered in the niche of an earthen bench may have been a part of a woman's supernatural tool kit. The tool kit of ceramic figurines, shell fragments, beans, and antlers has led scholars to infer the building was for the diviner to hold divinatory activities in the back rooms and through a window of the west room.Brown and Sheets, p. 14-15
Structure 1 Structure 1 is also known as Household 1 in archaeological literature, and has been fully excavated.Sheets 2000, p. 219 Archaeologists propose a service relationship between 1 and Structure 10 and Structure 12 because the kitchen of 1 presumably was used for masa production with their supply of metates for ceremonies inside Structures 10 and 12.Brown and Sheets, p. 13 The difference in hearths based on amount of wear was an indicator to scholars to identify if the building was for ritualistic activities or not. The combination of phosphorus detection and heavy metal extraction within the site have allowed archaeologists to discover that each household stored about 70 vessels for cooking, plus serving food and drinks conducted in kitchen and midden areas in comparison to other areas.Parnell, pp.331-332; Brown and Sheets, p. 13; Sheets 2013, p. 25
Economy The community of Cerén locally produced agave fibers, manos, and metates, and pottery vessels, while acquiring imports such as cutting tools made from obsidian and chert, jade from the north (Sierra de las Minas), or fancy pottery from Copán presumably from elite-managed markets outside.Sharer and Traxler, p. 637; Sheets, pp.220-222 Once households owned these commodities, they often participated in horizontal exchanges with other households in the village or places nearby in the case of a surplus.Sheets, p. 227 The orientation of the households in the village and the assemblages found in each one helped scholars determine that the building was used for non-ceremonial purposes, rather than ceremonial purposes.Brown and Sheets 16; Parnell et al. 333
Discovery The site was discovered in 1976 by a bulldozer driver leveling ground for a government agricultural project. The first structures dug up were Structure 10 and 12 that were part of the northeastern area of the village. It was explored in depth by Payson Sheets, a professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, in 1978 and 1980. Excavation resumed in 1988, and has been continuous since then. Approximately 70 buildings have been uncovered so far, including storehouses, kitchens, living quarters, workshops, a religious structure, and a communal sauna.
Gallery
Notes
References Conyers, Lawrence B. (1996) "Archaeological evidence for dating the Loma Caldera eruption, Ceren, El Salvador", in Geoarchaeology Vol. 11, Iss. 5, pp. 377–391. "Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site." United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. UNESCO, n.d. Web. 15 Apr 2012. <https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/675>. Lentz, David L.; Beaudry-Corbett, Marilyn; de Aguilar, Maria Luisa Reyna; Kaplan, Lawrence (1996) "Foodstuffs, Forests, Fields, and Shelter: A Paleoethnobotanical Analysis of Vessel Contents from the Ceren Site, El Salvador" in Latin American Antiquity Vol. 7, No. 3 (Sep., 1996), pp. 247–262. Castellanos, Carolina, and Descamps, Francoise 2004 Joya de Cerén, El Salvador: site interpretation in participatory management planning. Blackwell Publishing. 56(3), 94–103. Brown, Linda, and Payson Sheets 2000 Distinguishing Domestic from Ceremonial Structures in Southern Mesoamerica: suggestions from Cerén, El Salvador. Mayab 13, 11–21. Farahani, Alan, et al. 2017 Identifying ‘plantscapes’ at the Classic Maya village of Joya de Cerén, El Salvador. Antiquity Publications, Ltd. 980–997. Miller, D.C. 1989 Stratigraphy of Volcanic Deposits at El Cerén. In P.D. Sheets and B.R. McKee, Eds., 1989 Archaeological Investigations at the Cerén Site, El Salvador: A Preliminary Report. Boulder: Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado. 8–19. Parnell, J., Terry, R., and Sheets, P. 2002 Soil Chemical Analysis of Ancient Activities in Cerén, El Salvador: A Case Study of a Rapidly Abandoned Site. Latin American Antiquity, 13(3), 331–342. Sharer, Robert, and Loa Traxler 2005 The Ancient Maya, 6th edition. Stanford University Press, Redwood City. 1–984. Sheets, Payson 1992 The Cerén Site: A Prehistoric Village Buried by Volcanic Ash in Central America. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Sheets, Payson 2000 PROVISIONING THE CERÉN HOUSEHOLD: The Vertical Economy, Village Economy, and Household Economy in the Southeastern Maya Periphery. Ancient Mesoamerica, 11(2), 217–230. Sheets, Payson 2013 Revealing Ancestral Central America: Dwelling on the Ancestral Joya de Cerén Village. The Smithsonian Latino Center and the National Museum of the American Indian Smithsonian Institution. 22–31. CU team discovers Mayan crop system. University of Colorado at Boulder, June 16, 2009
Bibliography Before the Volcano Erupted: The Ancient Cerén Village in Central America. Texas University Press, 2002.
External links
Very comprehensive Ceren website, from University of Colorado at Boulder. UNESCO entry on Joya de Ceren Photos and short history (Spanish)