Southeastern Mesoamerica, also referred to by some scholars as the Southeast Maya periphery, is an archaeological border zone that falls between Mesoamerica and the cultures that developed in Lower Central America.
Southeastern Mesoamerica includes the areas of Western Honduras and El Salvador east of the Maya region, where sites feature inscriptions with Maya writing system or iconography.
Among the linguistic groups that inhabited this portion of Central America, we can include the Lencas, whose language was spoken in El Salvador and parts of Honduras; Pipil, a Nahuatl language, spoken in El Salvador; and the Payan language, a Chibchan group widespread along the Atlantic Coast.
Prehistory of Southeastern Mesoamerica
Formative Period
Human occupation of this area during the Paleoindian and Archaic period is till poorly documented. Among the Early (1500-900 BC) and Middle (900-200 BC) Formative period sites we can include: Puerto Escondido, Yarumela, Los Naranjos, Naco (Honduras) and Chalchuapa (El Salvador).
Early and Middle Formative sites share some components such as large earthen platforms, low-relief sculptures and hand-modeled figurines, whereas the ceramic is quite different among sites. Burials include precious items such as jade pendants and shell ornaments. There is also evidence of trade with the Olmec and the Maya.
Classic Period
By the end of the Late Formative and the Early Classic (200 BC-500 AD) many sites start to develop and become more prosperous. Among these: Los Naranjos, Chalchuapa, an important site on the trade route with Maya centers in Guatemala, Yarumela, Quelepa, and Naco.
A type of pottery, called Usulutan, was widely traded all over the region and with other areas of Mesoamerica during the Classic Period.
During the Late Classic (AD 500-850), there was a tendency to regional differentiation in pottery styles with a distinction between the polychrome style and more geometric forms. At Quelepa, archaeologists found evidence of contacts with the Mexican Gulf coast, such as Veracruz, revealed in artifacts like stone axes, stone yokes, and figurines on wheels.
Important sites of this period that show elaborate architecture and ball courts are: Quelepa, Tazumal, in the Chalchuapa zone, Los llanitos, Los Naranjos, Gualjoito, Naco, La Sierra, Tenampua.
Two other sites are worth mentioning, if not for their monuments, for the important information they offered about economy and social life of Southern Mesoamerica: Joya del Cerén, a small village covered and sealed by volcanic ashes in antiquity and Travesia, an important craftwork center specialized in marble vessels.
Terminal Classic – Early Postclassic (AD 850-1250)
A hallmark of the Terminal Classic--early Postclassic period is the introduction of copper alloy objects such as bells, and the typical Mesoamerican early Postclassic pottery, called Tohil Plumbate. These elements were found in sites like Los Naranjos, Cerro Palenque, where new stylistic elements from Central Mexico were also imported.
In some sites like Chalchuapa, these new elements are believed to reflect the arrival of new population, the Pipil, in this region of El Salvador.
Late Postclassic (1250-1550 AD)
During the Late Postclassic new groups entered El Salvador, whereas population dropped in important sites like Los Naranjos in Honduras. There is also evidence of new, fortified sites. By the 16th century, at the time of the Spanish arrival, many centers were abandoned, and the Europeans entered in contact with a numerous group of Nahua speakers, the Pipil.
Sources
This article is a part of the About.com guide to the Guide to Ancient Mesoamerica, and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Joyce Rosemary A., 2001, Southern Mesoamerica, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures, edited by Davíd Carrasco, Oxford University Press
Joyce, Rosemary A. and John S. Henderson 2001 Beginnings of Village Life in Eastern Mesoamerica. Latin American Antiquity, vol. 12 (1):5-23.