Continuity or abandonment? : the ceremonial center of Tazumal, El Salvador C.A. after the eruption of the Ilopango Volcano between the 5th and 6th centuries AD

Abstract

The eruption of the Ilopango Volcano, which occurred between the beginnings of the 5th and 6th centuries AD, was a catastrophic event which caused the abandonment of the extensive area of Southeastern Mesoamerica in accordance with geological studies, however, according to volcanological studies and the stratigraphic data of the archaeological excavations at the Tazumal archaeological site, this pre-Hispanic center had not been abandoned for centuries, yet, the population would have recovered in a short term after the eruption.