The Pipil/Nicarao Migration from the Perspective of Pacific Nicaragua: An Archaeological Critique of Mythstorical Mobility

Summary

Ethnoshitorical sources describe migrations from central Mexico of Nahuat and Mangue speakers, known as the Pipil/Nicarao and the Chorotega, who settled along the Pacific Coast of Central America in the centuries prior to European contact. According to these accounts the new groups introduced cultural and religious traits into settlements in El Salvador, the Pacific coast of Nicaragua, and northwestern Costa Rica. Beginning in 2000, archaeologists from the University of Calgary have investigated various sites along the shore of Lake Cocibolca, searching for evidence of migration and colonization of the region. Based on these intensive excavations we have NOT identified evidence of the Pipil/Nicarao, and characteristics of the Chorotega are enigmatic at best. Although innovative features do appear beginning about AD 700, particularly in terms of polychrome ceramics and mortuary patterns, the evidence supports only limited Mexican contact but with more interaction with greater Central America. This paper will present excavated data to critique the historical sources, with the conclusion that the historical myths are not reliable chronicles for interpreting pre-Columbian migrations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20576