The five puppets that put the archeology of El Salvador

For a long time, El Salvador has been a curious case within the Pre -Columbian archeology In Latin America. We considered that I was less Connected with Mesoamerica that its neighbors and we assume that it was not so integrated in commercial networks in the region. All that has just been put upside down due to a discovery of the most curious:

Five ceramic figurines with interchangeable heads of about 2,400 years ago.

Complications. The archaeological photo of El Salvador is curious if we take into account the pre -Columbian remains found in the surrounding countries because, really, we have found little compared. Not because there are no remains or because researchers do not want to perform the task, but for a series of Complications historical

Lack of human and economic resources, a lack of awareness of the importance of these remains, institutional instability when facing measures, looting of archaeological sites, civil war and their degradation due to the passage of time are elements that have supposed a challenge for this research of the country’s archaeological vestiges. Amen of Other priorities.

The dolls. There were simply other priorities before archaeological research. It is something that has changed these last decades and, fruit From this, new approaches and investigations have emerged to rebuild the country’s past. The most recent is the one that has ended with the finding of the aforementioned ceramic figurines. A group of archaeologists from the University of Warsaw gave With them at the top of the largest pyramid in San Isidro in 2022, but it is now when they have finished analyzing them.

In a study Published in Antiquity, they estimate that they date between 300 and 400 BC and researchers believe that the place of discovery was used as a funeral deposit. Interestingly, they did not find human remains, but taking into account the characteristics of the dolls, between 10 and 30 centimeters high, the human remains would have been in the background.

Disturbing heads. The reason is that three of the figurines have articulated heads, similar to the most current dolls. Not only can they be exchanged, but they have that torso structure with a kind of application that would make neck to place the head. Four represent women of different ages, one would represent a man and the most peculiar, however, it is the expression of their faces.

“One of the most striking characteristics is its dramatic facial expression,” says Jan Szymański, one of the researchers. “Change according to the angle at which it is observed. Views from above, show anger or disdain. From below, they seem scared, ”continues the archaeologist.

Message. Szymański and his team are clear that those faces were carved with that changing expression conscientiously. “It is a conscious design, perhaps destined to enrich the range of ritual interpretations in which they could have been used,” he continues. Because yes, they consider that these puppets were used in important rituals, possibly public, in that upper area of ​​the pyramid.

Personalization. And something that reinforces the theory is that the figures have protuberances and gaps in which strings could have secured to move them at a distance, as if they were puppets. In addition, they have specifically designed areas – the lobes of the ears, for example – in which to place accessories such as jade ornaments.

Some of the figures are more “neutral” and could have been customizable to assume different identities through interchangeable garments

Theater or something deeper? Researchers handle a hypothesis beyond the public ritual. It is not clear, but it is possible that these puppets were “portraits” of real individuals due to the position in which they were found. The masculine and two female were mouth and could represent a ruler and their current wives. Another female figure was found face down and could have represented a deceased first wife and the smallest figure a daughter, also upside down.

But well, to theorize, researchers also claim that they could simply comply with divine or idealized figures.

Connection. Unfortunately, there are pieces of the puzzle that are still missing and that correspond to that void or delay in knowledge of the Salvadoran pre -Columbian society compared to others that we know much more (Or we believe). That of the Maya, for example. What researchers are also clear is that “this discovery contradicts the prevailing notion on the cultural backwardness or isolation of El Salvador in ancient times,” says Szymański.

The reason is that, apart from the puppets, other artifacts were found such as Jade pendants that have similarities with other objects from Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. This would demonstrate that there were commercial and cultural connections between societies, revealing the “existence of dynamic and long -range communities capable of exchanging ideas with very distant places,” says the researcher.

Thus, findings such as these ceramic dolls may further encourage the archaeological research of El Salvador, since it is a key to the preservation of the country’s history and cultural identification.

Images | Antiquity

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