Household Archaeology at Cerén, El Salvador

Abstract

AbstractIn the summer of 1989, major discoveries were made at the site of Joya de Cerén, El Salvador, where sudden depositions of volcanic ash ina.d. 600 resulted in unusually favorable conditions of preservation. The theoretical framework for the research is household archaeology, the study of prehistoric household groups. Household archaeology, as applied to Cerén can take advantage of the extraordinary preservation to study households in terms of their key activities of (a)production, including food, implements, vessels, and structures; (b) “pooling,” including storage, distribution, maintenance, and curation activities; (c)transmissionof knowledge and material goods including access to resources; (d)reproductionin both the biological and sociocultural senses; and (e)co-residence/membershipin the functioning residential group. One of the major finds was a possible codex or Precolumbian manuscript.