Joya de Cerén archaeological site near San Salvador.
Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993,
Joya de Cerén offers a glimpse into the Mayan agricultural based village that once lived here.
Map of several archaeological sites in Central America and Mexico
A lava bomb found at Joya de Cerén
A house under layers of ash and rock.
Buried twice by volcanic eruptions,
it is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Americas.
A bowl found at the site
A vase found at the site
Mini jars
Inside the museum.
The large bowl in the middle is a large, clay cántaro (used to carry water)
Part of an adobe structure
Mayan plate
Mold of corn found at the site
Bones of a rat
Teeth that had been lost or pulled prior to the eruption.
No bodies have been found at this site leading researchers to believe
that everyone made it out alive.
Duck bones
Ta da!
Structures that have been excavated
You can see the several layers of ash and rock
This is a small house
A temezcal - sauna bath
A thorny tree nearby.
The trunk is supposedly of the underworld.
The branches are supposed to represent heaven.
A large guanacaste tree
Cacao pods - where chocolate comes from!
Lots of chocolate! Wish I could take some home
Our tour group.
The guide was fantastic!
Rio Sucio (Dirty River)
It used to run clean during the time of the Mayans,
but factories in the area now pollute the river
Joya de Cerén is one of El Salvador’s most popular and protected ancient sites because of its superb level of preservation which is said to be comparable only to that of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
One of the communal kitchens
In this picture you can see the lattice window
that was used to let in air and light
Beautiful flowers near the entrance
They look like wax
Replications of pottery and masks found at the site
that were for sale at the little market
A map of important archaeological sites found in El Salvador
3-D map of El Salvador.
The two black dots in the middle are approximately where Berlín is located.
The two yellow stripes at the left are where Joya de Cerén and San Andrés are located.
Walking through San Andrés archaeological park
Layout of San Andrés
This is an impressive group of ceremonial centers and pyramids that date back to the late Classic period where the important Mayan dignitaries would live.
These archaeological ruins were first discovered in the 19th century
but excavations did not start until the 1940’s.
Findings on this ancient site prove that San Andrés had business dealings with the Mayans in Copán (Honduras), Teotihuacán (Mexico) as well as with other Mayan villages in Belize and Guatemala; making it an important and influential Mayan center in the region.
Grand Plaza area
There are some ancient Mayans!
Kathy teaching Alisha something very important
A guard on top of the hill by the ruins
Two guys mowing the grass near the ruins with an actual lawnmover
(not the typical machete that would be used to cut grass).
This felt out of place, in El Salvador and at an archaeological site
An indigo workshop in the area
Now a mosquito breeding area (not really, but a definite possibility)
Checking out jewelry sold by a really cool guy
"No hecho en China" (Not made in China), he told me
Sipping my cebada drink at a Mr. Donut in San Salvador.
I originally thought it was made of fruit,
but now I'm pretty sure it's a barley drink
My chicken crepe at the Mr. Donut: Paris
We bought a dozen donuts for the ladies at the Casa Pastoral
and a dozen donuts for Alfredo and his family
Lynn and our awesome driver, Alfredo
Sign in the bathroom about what to do in case of an earthquake or fire
Lots of cars and pieces of cars in San Salvador
Yay! FMLN!!
Taking a nap on the way to Berlín
Crossing the Rio Lempa
A new mascota at the Pastoral House!
This cute little guy doesn't have a name yet
I love turtles!!
Putting the acetaminophen in bags for the gift packages for San Francisco
Idalia putting beans into one pound bags
I took this photo of Blanca telling her I needed a picture of her working hard
She really does work very hard and helped us a lot on our trip
Lots of prep work
I told Kathy we needed some music
The coveted Tootsie Rolls that Lynn always brings
We spent several hours working that first night at the Casa Pastoral
Starting to sort out the band-aids
Making 80 piles of band-aids
Getting close to finishing the band-aids
Piles of supplies for gift packages
1 comment:
What a day. You guys don't mess around, you really accomplish a lot. The Mayan artifacts and ruins are really interesting. The turtle is pretty cute!
Post a Comment