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FAMSI © 2007: William R. Fowler |
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The End of Pre-Columbian Pipil Civilization, Ciudad Vieja, El Salvador
Research Year: 2003 Table of Contents
Abstract The villa of San Salvador, founded in 1525 and refounded in 1528 as a Spanish conquest city, had a resident indigenous (mostly Pipil as well as Tlaxcaltec and other central Mexican Nahua) population that was perhaps twenty times greater in number than its Spanish population. Abandoned in 1545, its 17-year occupation spans the crucial years of the Conquest period in Central America. The well-preserved ruins of this town, known today as the site of Ciudad Vieja, afford a rare opportunity for archaeological study of the dynamics of early Spanish-Indian culture contact. Archaeological research at the site emphasizes spatial study of the town, viewing it as a cultural landscape, emphasizing the mutual interaction of the different cultural groups that shared the terrain. Approximately two dozen Spanish cities were founded in Central America during the Conquest period. Very few of them have been investigated archaeologically, and Ciudad Vieja is unique among them for its exposure, preservation, and ease of access. Research in 2003 and 2004 included detailed analyses of the material culture of Ciudad Vieja. These analyses, conducted January 2003–August 2004, include formal, functional, and contextual analyses of ceramics and all artifact industries. Included here are detailed summaries of the results of the ceramic and obsidian investigations. Support from FAMSI enabled the project to complete these tasks, and the results represent an advance in our knowledge of late pre-Columbian and contact-period Pipil culture.
Submitted 09/11/2006 by:
Jeb J. Card |
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