Quelepa is an important archaeological site located in eastern El Salvador. Generally considered to have been settled by the Lenca people, the site was founded around 400 BC in the Late Preclassic period (500 BC - AD 250). The inhabitants constructed a platform from plaster and pumice and rebuilt it a number of times. Artefacts recovered during the excavations of the site indicate that the local population depended upon subsistence agriculture, these artefacts included metates (a kind of mortar) and comales (a type of griddle). The site belonged to the Mesoamerican cultural region. Quelepa means "stone jaguar" in the Lenca language, probably in reference to the large Jaguar Altar found at the site.
Throughout its occupational history, the inhabitants crafted stone tools from obsidian. The site appears to have been linked to trade routes extending to western El Salvador and the Guatemalan Highlands and also to the north in Honduras.
Although sites in western El Salvador were severely affected by the eruption of the Ilopango Volcano during the Early Classic, its only effect on Quelepa was the severance of trade routes into Mesoamerica. This cutting off did not result in stagnation at the site, but rather resulted in the florescence of a local culture.
Geography
Location
The Quelepa archaeological site is located outside the small village of the same name. The ruins are situated along the north bank of the San Esteban River, a tributary of the Río Grande de San Miguel which flows into the Pacific Ocean. The site is located west-northwest of the town of San Miguel. Quelepa is north of the neighbouring site of Los Llanitos. The archaeological site divided into East and West groups by a small stream called the Quebrada Agua Zarca, which has high, steep banks. The ruins have an altitude of between above mean sea level.
The archaeological remains of Quelepa are on privately owned land under cultivation, the entire East Group together with a part of the west group are on the land of the Hacienda El Obrajuelo farm. The area to the west of the Quebrada Agua Zarca is planted with maize and cotton, as is the area south of the river.
The general area around Quelapa is part of the flood plain of the Río Grande de San Miguel, lying between the hills to the north and the San Miguel volcano some from the Pacific Ocean. The volcano is the most prominent local landmark, with its peak at above mean sea level. Although the volcano has erupted 6 times since 1699, most recently in 1924, and continues in a low state of activity it has never dropped sufficient volcanic ash on Quelepa to be detectable archaeologically.
The climate of Quelepa is classified under the Köppen system as tropical wet and dry. The majority of rainfall occurs between the months of September and October with a long dry season from November to May. Monthly rainfall averages between in September and less than in March. Native fauna has been practically extinguished by the heavy use of pesticides on the local cotton crops. Andrews reported many iguanas near the watercourses and the occasional snake.
History
Quelepa was founded around 400 BC, in the Late Preclassic period (500 BC - AD 250). The first inhabitants of the site constructed a platform from plaster and pumice and rebuilt it a number of times Quelepa is generally considered to have been settled by the Lenca people.
Around AD 200 the Ilopango volcano erupted and devastated western El Salvador, breaking Quelepa's link with Mesoamerica. Between AD 150 and AD 625 Quelepa turned instead to the Intermediate Area beyond the frontiers of Mesoamerica, with artefacts arriving from the north and the east. The major ceremonial architecture of the East Group was built in the Early Classic.
In the Late Classic to Early Postclassic periods (from approximately AD 625–1000), the ceremonial centre of the settlement was abandoned and smaller structures were built around a small plaza. This has been interpreted as a Mesoamerican influence with its origins on the Gulf coast of Mexico, or perhaps from Seibal, a Maya city in the Petén Basin of northern Guatemala. The stone facing from this period is cruder than that of earlier times and stairways replaced the earlier use of access ramps. The ballcourt also dates to this time.
Quelepa as a whole was abandoned around AD 1000, at the beginning of the Early Postclassic period. The abandonment of the site has been linked to the arrival of the Pipil people in the El Salvador region, although there is no evidence that they ever occupied the site.