Intraregional Interaction in the Zapotitan Valley, El Salvador: The San Andres Regional Center and Joya de Ceren Village

Summary

This paper provides new insights to better understand the intraregional interaction, especially San Andres and Joya de Ceren in the Zapotitan Valley of El Salvador. Joya de Ceren is a village of commoners that was buried by the Loma Caldera eruption, which occurred around AD 650; it is one of the most studied ancient villages in Mesoamerica. Moreover, the previous study indicate that this village might have been closely connected to San Andres, which is the religious, political, and economic center in the region. However, due to limited research, the extent of control of the elite of San Andres over the commoners of Joya de Ceren remains unclear. Therefore, the author recently conducted an archaeological investigation at San Andres. The results revealed that in San Andreas, the major occupation and construction of public architecture developed after the Loma Caldera eruption. In other words, San Andres might not have been a regional center at the time of Joya de Ceren. In addition, based on these findings, the interpretation of the Joya de Ceren commoners and the nature of interaction between regional centers of the elite and villages of commoners can be reconsidered.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20596