A recent study found that the Mayan pyramid in what is now El Salvador was built in the wake of a giant volcanic eruption that cooled the climate “to protect against future eruptions.”

The eruption of Tierra Blanca Joven in 539 AD, which is today a crater lake, was the largest in Central America in the last 10,000 years.

It is believed to have released about 20 cubic miles of volcanic material, or tephra, into the air, covering the surrounding area in sediments about 1.6 feet thick.

Archaeologist Akira Ichikawa of the University of Colorado Boulder studied the Campana pyramid in San Andres, in the Zapotetan Valley, 25 miles from Ilobango.

His analysis revealed that the structure was built of volcanic material (tephra) only 5 to 30 years after the destructive event, and was completed within 80 years.

The timing indicates that the pyramid was built in response to a volcano, which, like mountains, as Dr. Ishikawa pointed out, was sacred to Mesoamericans.

“Given the catastrophic scale of the Tierra Blanca Goffin eruption, scientists have considered that many sites were abandoned and it took a long time to reoccupy the affected areas,” Dr. Ichikawa explained.

However, he explained, the timing and sheer scale of the Campana pyramid’s contraction indicated that the people quickly returned to occupy the site of San Andrés, turning it into an occupation center in the surrounding valley.

The Campana structure has a pyramidal shape, approximately 43 feet (13 metres) high and 23 feet (7 metres) high.

The total volume of the structure was about 1,165384 cubic feet (33,000 cubic metres), making it the largest structure in the valley at the time of its construction.

Besides its potential religious function, Dr. Ichikawa believes that the construction of the Campana pyramid may have also served a social function, as the great building efforts may have helped bring people, both volcano survivors and newcomers to the area, together.

Besides, the monumental effort helped the Maya rulers who ordered the building to consolidate their prestige and power, which might have been challenged by the earlier volcanic catastrophe.

This hypothesis may also explain why a similar wave of construction occurred around AD 620, following a second volcanic eruption from Loma Caldera, just 3.7 miles (6 km) north of San Andrés.

According to Dr. Ichikawa, the smaller but more elaborate Acropolis structure in San Andres was likely built after the Loma Caldera eruption.

Dr. Ishikawa commented, “Sudden environmental change is one of the problems facing modern society. Sites like San Andreas can teach us about human creativity, innovation, adaptability, resilience and vulnerability in the face of such events.”

Source: Daily Mail