Joya de Cerén
Joya de Cerén (Jewel of Cerén in the Spanish language) is an archaeological site in La Libertad Department, El Salvador featuring a pre-Columbian Maya farming village preserved remarkably intact under layers of volcanic ash. It is often referred to as the "Pompeii of the Americas" in comparison to the famous Ancient Roman ruins.
A small farming community inhabited as early as 900 BC, Cerén was on the
southeast edge of the Maya cultural area. Cerén was evacuated in AD 250 due to
the eruption of the Ilopango volcano but was repopulated no earlier than the
year 400 and was, at the time of its final evacuation, a tributary to nearby San
Andrés.
World Heritage site
Around the year 590, Loma Caldera, another nearby volcano, erupted and buried
the village under 14 layers of ash. The villagers were apparently able to flee
in time – no bodies have been found – although they left behind utensils,
ceramics, furniture, and even half-eaten food in their haste to escape. The site
was discovered in 1976 by Payson Sheets, a professor of anthropology at the
University of Colorado at Boulder. Since then the excavation process has
continued. About 70 buildings have been uncovered.
Even more important than the buildings, however, are the paleoethnobotanical
remains. The low temperature of the wet ash from Loma Caldera, as well as its
rapid fall, ensured the preservation of much of the plant material. Of great
importance is the discovery of manioc fields, the first time manioc cultivation
had been found at a New World archaeological site. Although the manioc had long
since decomposed, researchers created plaster casts by filling the resulting
hollows in the ash. The farmers had planted the manioc "just hours" before the
eruption.
Cerén was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
Text from Wikipedia
Photo of where the remains were located under the ash
single dwelling
The Sauna Bath
Mayan sites across Central America
