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The “New World Pompeii”: 10 Fascinating Facts about the Maya Village of Joya de Ceren
About 1400 years ago, a volcanic eruption buried the Maya village of Joya de Ceren (a.k.a. Ceren) under thick layers of ash. The site, in what is now El Salvador, offers two unique insights into the lives of Maya common folk (that is, people without high social status). First, it shows how the ancient Maya lived, from how they built their houses, carried out rituals, and grew their crops. Second, it shows how Maya commoners related to their rulers: We assume that Maya kings and nobles controlled every aspect of peoples’ lives, but the evidence at Ceren shows the upper classes had very little influence at the local level.
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