A recent discovery at the top of a pyramid in El Salvador challenges the notion that pre-Columbian Salvadorans were isolated from more advanced civilizations.
A pair of archaeologists has unearthed five 2,400-year-old ceramic figurines at the top of the largest pyramid of the San Isidro archaeological site. As detailed in a study published today in the journal Antiquity, the artifacts suggest that the pre-Columbian people of El Salvador were indeed connected to other civilizations, challenging the notion that they were less developed than their neighbors.
At the top of the pyramidal structure, University of Warsaw’s Jan Szymański and Gabriela Prejs unearthed what may have been a funerary deposit. Instead of human remains, however, they found five ceramic figurines, three of which have articulated heads akin to modern dolls.
“This finding is only the second such a group found in situ [on site in original position], and the first to feature a male figure,” Szymański explained in an Antiquity statement. Szymański and Prejs theorize that the figurines were a form of puppets intentionally arranged at the site to represent a long-lost message. Given their striking location, they may have played a role in public rituals, according to the researchers.
“One of the most striking features of the puppets is their dramatic facial expression, which changes depending on the angle that we look at them from,” Szymański said. “Seen from above they appear almost grinning, but when looked at from the level angle they turn angry or disdainful, to become scared when seen from below. This is a conscious design, perhaps meant to enhance the gamut of ritual performances the puppets could have been used in.”
The figurines, along with other artifacts found in the funerary deposit—such as jade pendants—suggest connections to other regions. The figurines’ style, for example, has also been noted in western El Salvador and southern Guatemala. Similar jade pendants have been documented in parts of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The people who frequented San Isidro 2,400 years ago seem to have shared customs with other Central American cultures, implying at least some level of contact.
“This discovery contradicts the prevailing notion about El Salvador’s cultural backwardness or isolation in ancient times,” Szymański concludes. “It reveals the existence of vibrant and far-reaching communities capable of exchanging ideas with remarkably distant places.”
It also provides new insights into an ancient culture whose archaeological sites are difficult to investigate due to the region’s volcanic activity and population density.
“Very little is known about the identities and ethnolinguistic affiliations of the creators of [these] ancient settlements that predate the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th century,” said Szymański. “This gets worse the further back in time we look.”
Unlike some modern dolls, these ancient puppets can’t talk—but they have a lot to say.
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