EL TRAPICHE

Declared National Monument, the archaeological site El Trapiche is one of the first Maya sites to be inhabited in the region of Chalchuapa in 1 200 before Jesus Christ. It is the eruption of the Ilopango Volcano in 250 BC that will force it to completely empty its population. Within its ceremonial centre, a cemetery was found with approximately thirty people in a grave. It was long thought that it was a place of sacrifice, but subsequent discoveries of offerings showed that the remains found were those of noble buried here. Excavations did not allow a lot of objects to be found. The only one of great importance is a fragment with Maya inscriptions and could correspond to one month of the Mayan calendar, the only one in El Salvador.