Tazumal

Location: In the urban area of Chalchuapa (department of Santa Ana). It is at the end of the 11th Avenue South, near the Calle El Cuje.

History: Tazumal was the first archaeological park in El Salvador, and is among the oldest in Central America.

The site takes its name from the Tazumal farm that existed before in this place. Although it is generally accepted that "Tazumal" is an indigenous word, its meaning is not clear, and there is not even a consensus about which language it belongs. On the eve of the Spanish conquest (started in 1524), Chalchuapa was a poqomam community, a widespread Mayan group from the Valley of Guatemala to the border with El Salvador. In very recent years (especially since 1980) has begun to refer to the site as "El Tazumal" probably derived from "El Tazumal Park". This is however a clear aberration affecting the native name of the archaeological site.

The first news of Tazumal are from 1892 when the Guatemalan-Salvadoran scholar Santiago Barberena was transported to the National Museum three sculptures of the site. The best known is the wake of Tazumal, now on display at the National Museum of Anthropology "Dr. David J. Guzman.

The highlight: At that time, the base of the stele was involved in a cement base. The wake suffered further damage that affected some of the details that are seen in this photograph. Interestingly headdress figure portrayed in the form of Tlaloc.