Lithic era File:Pinturas Rupestres Corinto Morazan 06.JPG|Humanoid petroglyph in
Holy Spirit Grotto (corinto cave), Morazan, El Salvador. File:Pinturas Rupestres Corinto Morazan.JPG|Petroglyphs in
Holy Spirit Grotto (corinto cave), Morazan, El Salvador. El Salvador was inhabited by
Paleo-Indians, the
first peoples who subsequently inhabited, the
Americas during the
glacial episodes of the
late Pleistocene period. Their intriguing paintings (the earliest of which date from 8000 BC) can still be seen and marveled at in caves outside the towns of Corinto and
Cacaopera, both in Morazán. Originating in the
Paleolithic period, these cave paintings exhibit the earliest traces of human life in El Salvador; these early Native Americans people used the cave as a refuge, Paleoindian artists created cave and rock paintings that are located in present-day El Salvador. The
Lencas later occupied the cave and utilised it as a spiritual place. Other ancient petroglyphs called piedras pintadas (rock paintings) include la Piedra Pintada in San Jose Villanueva, La Libertad and the piedra pintada in San Isidro, Cabañas. The rock petroglyphs in San Jose Villanueva near a cave in (Walter Thilo Deininger National Park) are similar to other ancient rock petroglyph around the country. Regarding the style of the engravings it has been compared by with the petroglyphs of La Peña Herrada (Cuscatlán), el Letrero del Diablo (La Libertad) and la Peña de los Fierros (San Salvador). We can add to the list the sites in Titihuapa, the Cave of Los Fierros and La Cuevona both in ( Cuscatlán ).
Archaic Period Native Americans appeared in the
Pleistocene era and became the dominant people in the
Lithic stage, developing in the
Archaic period in North America to the
Formative stage, occupying this position for thousands of years until their demise at the end of the 15th and 16th century, spanning the time of the original arrival in the
Upper Paleolithic to
European colonization of the Americas during the early modern period. About 40,000 years ago the ancestors of the
indigenous people of the Americas split from the rest of the world following the
Pleistocene megafauna and then they flourish mightily, evolving in the Americas, from the
Lithic stage to the
Post-Classic stage, which was brought into an abrupt end about 525 years ago with the infamous mass genocide and cultural extinction caused by Europeans intrusion into the Americas, bringing diseases and colonizing the Americas with warfare, terrorism, extremists radical Christianity and mass massacres. Only some Native American indigenous groups survived that catastrophe, most of them in
Mexico,
Central America and
South America, with Salvadoran indigenous being one of many who have given rise to all modern Native Americans still alive today.
Mesoamerican- cultures File:Temazcal en Joya de Cerén.jpg|
Joya de Cerén File:Tazumal 10.jpg|
Tazumal File:Casa Blanca 1.JPG|
Casa Blanca File:ES SanAndres 06 2011 Panorama Estructura 1 y 2 La Acropolis 2194.jpg|
San Andres File:Piramide Cihuatan.jpg|
Cihuatán File:Maya cup, Museo de América 9.jpg|Late Classic Maya cup from El Salvador. 600–900 AD. File:ES Joya Ceren Museum 05 2012 1521.JPG|Mayan artifact found at the
Joya de Cerén archaeological site File:ES Joya Ceren Museum 05 2012 1520.JPG|Mayan artifact found at the
Joya de Cerén archaeological site File:Maya bowl, Museo de América, Madrid.jpg|Late Classic Maya bowl, El Copador style, El Salvador. File:Postclassic vessel from El Salvador.jpg|Late Postclassic ceramic vessel from El Salvador, with face decoration. 1200–1520 AD. File:Maya vessel, Museo de América 2.jpg|Late Classic Maya vessel from El Salvador, 600–900 AD File:Maya plate, Museo de América 3.jpg|Late Classic Maya plate, El Salvador. File:Maya bowl, Museo de América.jpg|Late Classic Maya bowl from El Salvador. File:ES Tazumal 06 2011 Xipe Totec 2292.jpg|
Tazumal's Xipe Totec. File:Indigenous houses in El Salvador.png|Typical traditional indigenous houses,
Ahuachapan File:Las Palmas estampa.JPG|Indigenous Salvadoran woman from
Panchimalco. at the time the Native Americans roamed the lush and fertile
isthmus. The arrival of the Europeans changed these cultures with colonization, hitting the local population with warfare, oppression and diseases. The indigenous population was powerless to recuperate for centuries. : 1.
Pipil people, 2.
Lenca people, 3.
Kakawira o Cacaopera, 4.
Xinca, 5.
Maya Ch'orti' people, 6.
Maya Poqomam people, 7.
Mangue o Chorotega. Historically El Salvador has had diverse Native American cultures, coming from the north and south of the continent along with local populations mixed together. El Salvador belongs to the
Mesoamerican region, where a myriad of indigenous societies have lived side by side for centuries with their unique cultures and speaking different
indigenous languages of the Americas in the beginning of the
Classic stage. Evidence of
Olmec civilization presence in western El Salvador can be found in the ruin sites of
Chalchuapa in the
Ahuachapan Department on boulders in Chalchuapa portraying Omlec warriors with helmets identical to those found on the
Olmec colossal heads. This suggest that the area was once an Olmec enclave, before fading away for unknown reasons. The Olmecs are believed to have lived in present-day El Salvador as early as 2000 BC in the beginning of preclassic period. The 'Olmec Boulder, ' is a sculpture of a giant head found near
Casa Blanca, El Salvador site in Las Victorias near Chalchuapa. "Olmecoid" figurines, such as the
Potbelly sculpture, have been found through this area, in fact most are described as looking primeval proto-Olmeca. In the end of middle preclassic, by 650 BC, this culture would be replaced by the Maya. The
Lenca people are an indigenous people of eastern El Salvador where population today is estimated at 37,000. The Lenca was a matriarchal society and was one of the
first civilizations to develop in El Salvador and were the first major civilization in the country. The pre-Conquest
Salvadoran Lenca had frequent contact with various Maya groups as well as other indigenous peoples of Central America. The origin of Lenca populations has been a source of ongoing debate amongst anthropologists and historians. Throughout the regions of Lenca occupation, Lenca pottery is a very distinguishable form of
Pre-Columbian art. Handcrafted by Lenca women, Lenca pottery is considered an ethnic marking of their culture. Some scholars have suggested that the Lenca migrated to the Central American region from South America around 3,000 years ago, making it the oldest civilization in El Salvador. Guancasco is the annual ceremony by which Lenca communities, usually two, gather to establish reciprocal obligations in order to confirm peace and friendship.
Quelepa is a major site in eastern El Salvador. Its pottery shows strong similarities to ceramics found in central western El Salvador and the Maya highlands. The Lenca sites of Yarumela, Los Naranjos in Honduras, and Quelepa in El Salvador, all contain evidence of the
Usulután-style ceramics. The
Cacaopera people are an indigenous people in El Salvador who are also known as the Matagalpa or Ulua. Cacaopera people spoke the
Cacaopera language, a
Misumalpan language. Cacaopera is an extinct language belonging to the Misumalpan family, formerly spoken in the department of Morazán in El Salvador. It was closely related to Matagalpa, and slightly more distantly to Sumo, but was geographically separated from other
Misumalpan languages. The
Xinca people, also known as the Xinka, are a non-Mayan indigenous people of Mesoamerica, with communities in the western part of El Salvador near its border. The Xinka may have been among the earliest inhabitants of western El Salvador, predating the arrival of the Maya and the Pipil. The Xinca ethnic group became extinct in the Mestizo process. El Salvador has two
Maya groups, the
Poqomam people and the
Ch'orti' people. The Poqomam are a Maya people in western El Salvador near its border. Their indigenous language is also called Poqomam. The Ch'orti' people (alternatively, Ch'orti' Maya or Chorti) are one of the indigenous Maya peoples, who primarily reside in communities and towns of northern El Salvador. The Maya once dominated the entire western portion of El Salvador, up until the eruption of the
lake ilopango super volcano. Mayan ruins are the most widely conserved in El Salvador and artifacts such as
Maya ceramics Mesoamerican writing systems Mesoamerican calendars and
Mesoamerican ballgame can be found in all Maya ruins in El Salvador which include
Tazumal,
San Andrés, El Salvador,
Casa Blanca, El Salvador,
Cihuatan, and
Joya de Cerén. El Salvador has two
Nahua peoples, The
Mangue language people and the
Pipil people. The Mangue people, also known as Chorotega, are an extinct
Oto-Manguean language people, indigenous to eastern El Salvador border, near the gulf. The Pipils are an indigenous people who live in western El Salvador. Their language is called Nahuat or Pipil, related to the Toltec people of the Nahuatl Nation and were speakers of early Nahuatl languages. However, in general, their mythology is more closely related to the
Maya mythology, who are their near neighbors and by oral tradition said to have been adopted by Ch'orti' and Poqomam Mayan people during the Pipil exodus in the 9th century CE. The culture lasted until the Spanish conquest, at which time they still maintained their Nawat language, despite being surrounded by the Maya in western El Salvador. By the time the Spanish arrived, Pipil and Poqomam Maya settlements were interspersed throughout western El Salvador. The Pipil are known as the last indigenous civilization to arrive in El Salvador, being the least oldest and were a determined people who stoutly resisted Spanish efforts to extend their dominion southward. The Pipil are direct descendants of the Toltecs, but not of the Aztecs.
Modern Native American people According to the Salvadoran Government, about 0.23% of the population are of full indigenous origin. The largest most dominant Native American groups in El Salvador are the
Lenca people,
Cacaopera people,
Maya peoples: (
Poqomam people/
Chorti people) and
Pipil people. The number of indigenous people in El Salvador have been criticized by indigenous organizations and academics as too small and accuse the government of denying the existence of indigenous Salvadorans in the country. According to the National Salvadoran Indigenous Coordination Council (CCNIS) and CONCULTURA (National Council for Art and Culture at the Ministry of Education), approximately 600,000 or 10 per cent of Salvadorian peoples are indigenous. Nonetheless, very few natives have retained their customs and traditions, having over time assimilated into the dominant Mestizo/Spanish culture. The low numbers of indigenous people may be partly explained by historically high rates of old-world diseases, absorption into the mestizo population, as well as mass murder during the
1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising (or
La Matanza) which saw (estimates of) up to 30,000
peasants killed in a short period of time. The
1932 Salvadoran peasant massacre occurred on January 22 of that year, in the western
departments of El Salvador when a brief
peasant-led
rebellion was suppressed by the
government, then led by
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. The Salvadoran army, being vastly superior in terms of weapons and soldiers, executed those who stood against it. The rebellion was a mixture of protest and
insurrection and ended in
ethnocide, claiming the lives of anywhere between 10,000 and 40,000 peasants and other civilians, many of them
indigenous people. Many authors note that since
La Matanza the indigenous in El Salvador have been very reluctant to describe themselves as such (in census declarations for example) or to wear indigenous dress or be seen to be taking part in any cultural activities or customs that might be understood as indigenous. Departments and cities in the country with notable indigenous populations include
Sonsonate (especially
Izalco,
Nahuizalco, and
Santo Domingo),
Cacaopera, and
Panchimalco, in the department of
San Salvador ==Arab Heritage==