Chajomá
Encyclopedia
The Chajoma were a Kaqchikel-speaking
Maya
people of the Late Postclassic
period, with a large kingdom in the highlands
of Guatemala
. According to the indigenous chronicles of the K'iche' and the Kaqchikel, there were three principal Postclassic highland kingdoms; the K'iche', the Kaqchikel and the Chajoma. In the Annals of the Cakchiquels
the Chajoma of Jilotepeque were always referred to as the akajal vinak, in the Popul Vuh these can probably be identified with the akul vinak. Both akajal vinak and akul vinak mean "the bee people" or "the hive people".
Chajoma means "people of ocote
" (a type of pine
). In colonial times this was rendered into Nahuatl
as Sacatepéquez. Early records, for example, record the placename San Juan Sacatepéquez
as San Juan Chajoma. The Chajoma separated into six divisions, equivalent to the various colonial villages bearing Sacatepéquez in the name.
, on the east with the Las Vacas River
, by San Pedro Ayampuc
in the southeast, the River Chalcayá on the southwest and the River Quisayá to the west. Their neighbour to the south was the Poqomam kingdom, with its capital at Chinautla Viejo (Old Chinautla, identified as the Mixco Viejo of Colonial period records). To the west they were bordered by the Kaqchikel kingdom based at Iximche
. This territory includes the northern third of the department of Guatemala and includes both the cooler highland area to the south and the hotter lowlands of the Motagua Valley to the north. The latter is a challenging area for agriculture, with the poor soil of the steep-sided lowland river valleys consisting of semi-weathered metamorphic
schistose. The best land for agriculture lies in the southern highland portion of the Chajoma territory, with settlement concentrating there from the Classic Period onwards.
The Chajoma had their capital at the archaeological site currently known as Mixco Viejo
(Old Mixco), apparently known to the Chajoma by a variety of names, including Chuapec Kekacajol Nima Abaj, Zakicajol and Nimcakajpec. Apart from Mixco Viejo, the principal archaeological sites associated with the Late Postclassic Chajoma kingdom are El Horno, Las Vegas, El Ciprés, Pueblo Viejo Jilotepeque, Chuisac, La Merced, Chuabaj, Chiboló and possibly Sacul. Of these, only El Horno, El Ciprés, Las Vegas and Sacul can be considered major settlements. Other sites, such as Pistun, La Canoa and Cerrito de las Minas, appear to have been remote outposts in strategically important locations or lookout points monitoring access routes.
Population estimates based on the number of archaeological sites put the Postclassic population of the Chajoma kingdom at 15-20,000 people divided between 15-20 clans. Evidence from Colonial documents suggest that 14 clans (or chinamit in Kaqchikel) survived into post-Conquest times, with 10 divided between San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Juan Sacatepéquez and 4 in San Martín Jilotepeque. However, these were probably the most important chinamit clans, with survivors of smaller subservient chinamit groups being absorbed into the larger clans. An estimate based on archaeological sites with monumental architecture place 1 chinamit each at El Ciprés and Sacul, 4 at Las Vegas, 2–3 at El Horno and 5 at the archaeological site of Mixco Viejo; plus a possible 2 at Cucul and 1 at Pachalum on the north back of the Motagua, if these were Chajoma sites. This would give a total of 13–16 clans, which is roughly equivalent to the number comprising the other two major highland kingdoms, the K'iche' and the Kaqchikel.
.
Recent archaeological research suggests that the ancestors of the Chajoma and other K'iche'an peoples, including also the K'iche', the Kaqchikel and the Tz'utujil, were already occupying the Guatemalan highlands in the Classic Period
.
A brief history of Chajoma movements and their rulers is contained in an early Colonial document entitled the Título de los de San Martín Jilotepeque, written in 1555. This same document has been used to prove that the Mixco Viejo
archaeological site was actually the Chajoma capital and not that of the Poqomam, as previously believed.
and Joyabaj
, north of the Motagua River. From Zacualpa they began a movement towards the south, southeast and southwest around AD 1400. Investigations at the Zacualpa archaeological site have shown that it was occupied from the Classic through to the Early Postclassic but was abandoned by the Late Postclassic. The Chajoma migration appears to have been well organised and rapid, and they quickly established sites to defend the borders of their new territory, being placed in defensible locations that had previously been identified after extensive scouting over a large area.
The Chajoma apparently intermarried with the Xpantzay clan of the main branch of the Kaqchikel when these occupied the site of Ochal, identified with the archaeological site of Chuisac, located 2 km west of San Martín Jilotepeque
. According to the Testamento de los Xpantzay, the Chajoma supplied the Xpantzay with wives from their aristocratic class, an arrangement that appears to have been established as far back as the Early Postclassic.
By around 1410, according to the Anales de los Cakchiqueles, Ochal had become a Chajoma town. It appears that, provoked by the aggressive expansion of the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
, the Chajoma abandoned their old capital of Zacualpa when Ochal was vacated by the Xpantzay, who claimed to have left Ochal in order to serve the K'iche' king Q'uq'umatz together with other Kaqchikel groups. In the 15th century Ochal (known to the Chajoma as Och'al Kab'awil Siwan) became the new Chajoma capital. Around 1425, the K'iche' of Q'umarkaj seized the largely abandoned former Chajoma capital at Zacualpa.
The Chajoma were involved in wars with their neighbours the K'iche', the Kaqchiquel and the Poqomam. In the late 15th century when Lajuj No'j was the Chajoma king, the Kaqchikel conquered several Chajoma villages on behalf of their K'iche' overlords, pushing the border between the two kingdoms eastwards. Lajuj No'j was murdered with much of his entourage at Iximche, the Kaqchikel capital, around 1480. In the Annals of the Cakchiquels, the Kaqchikel record that they attacked the Akajal (Chajoma) settlements of Panah and Chiholom, conquering the former. After these battles and prior to the Spanish Conquest the Chajoma probably made tribute payments to the Kaqchiquel of Iximche but were not completely subject to them. Even after the Conquest, the western boundary between the Chajoma and the Kaqchikel of Iximché remained a source of dispute, even down to modern times.
In 1493 the lords of Iximche judged in favour of the Chajoma in a land dispute between these and the Tukuche clan of the Kaqchikels, this caused the Tukuche to rebel against their rulers and resulted in their expulsion from Iximche.
Shortly before the Spanish Conquest, the Chajoma under their lord Achi Q'alel rebelled against the Kaqchikels of Iximche. Just before the Conquest, the Chajoma occupied the area of the modern municipalities
of San Martín Jilotepeque, Santo Domingo Xenacoj
, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo
, Chuarrancho
, San Pedro Ayampuc
and the northern portion of Chinautla
, an area that coincides with the Eastern Kaqchikel dialect area.
of the Chajoma by the Spanish but it appears to have been a drawn-out campaign rather than a rapid victory. The only description of the conquest of the Chajoma is a secondary account appearing in the work of Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán
in the 17th century, long after the event. After the Conquest, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the kingdom were relocated by the conquerors to San Pedro Sacatepéquez
, including some of the inhabitants of the site now known as Mixco Viejo. The rest of the population of Mixco Viejo, together with the inhabitants of the western part of the kingdom, were moved to San Martín Jilotepeque.
The Chajoma rebelled against the Spanish in 1526, fighting a battle at Ukub'il, an unidentified site somewhere near the modern towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez and San Pedro Sacatepéquez
.
In the colonial period, most of the surviving Chajoma were forcibly settled in the towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Martín Jilotepeque as a result of the Spanish policy of congregaciones
, with the people being moved to whichever of these three towns was closest to their pre-Conquest land holdings. Some Iximche Kaqchikels seem also to have been relocated to the same towns with them. After their relocation to the new towns, some of the Chajoma drifted back to their pre-Conquest centres, creating informal settlements and provoking hostilities with the Poqomam of Mixco and Chinautla along the former border between the pre-Columbian kingdoms. Some of these settlements eventually received official recognition, such as San Raimundo near Sacul.
to the north. A modern road follows the course of a colonial road that was probably also an important route in the Late Preclassic. The site consists of a single small pyramid measuring 3 by sat on top of a steep sided cone of volcanic ash
, with some small house terraces extending some of the way down the side. A dozen house platforms are situated on a promontory immediately to the north but the group has not been investigated and it is likely that it is the remains of a post-Conquest settlement due to its open layout and absence of pyramids or a ballcourt.
, who named it Cimientos. The location of the site was lost by the 1970s and rediscovered in 1991. The site possesses a well-preserved I-shaped ballcourt. In common with other Postclassic sites, it is defensively situated on a plateau surrounded by deep ravines. Most of the structures of the site are small but possess fine flagstone masonry. The two larger structures are the ballcourt and a long structure on the east side of the site.
. The structures of the site are divided into three easily defended groups, although they lie below the ridgelines of the surrounding hills, on promontories half way up a ravine near the village of Petaca, 100 metres (328.1 ft) above the bottom of the ravine.
Group I is the largest group at the site. It contains an unfinished and heavily looted I-shaped ballcourt.
Group II is linked to Group I by a narrow neck of land. The group is dominated by two badly damaged and looted pyramids built of flagstone and also possesses a number of house platforms.
Group III is situated on a separate promontory to Groups I and II, some 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) to the west. Like Group II it possesses two pyramids with flagstone masonry, and has 5 or more house platforms. Ceramic fragments recovered from Group III are of a type typical of the Late Postclassic and especially common at the Mixco Viejo archaeological site.
and a number of house platforms. All the structures are poorly preserved although Hill reported that only one had been looted in 1996. Surviving masonry consists of cut blocks of tuff
or pumice
, and of flagstone
. A violent end to occupation at the site is suggested by the presence of large quantities of burnt mud daub, and may be linked to the Spanish Conquest. Las Vegas was located only a few kilometers north of the Poqomam capital at Chinautla Viejo.
Group I Evidence of violence was found in this group in the form of burnt mud daub, although not to the same extent as in Group III.
Group II has an unusual structure to the north, which is probably all that survives of the badly eroded remains of a ballcourt
. As with Group I, evidence of violence was found in Group II in the form of burnt mud daub, again to a lesser extent than in Group III.
Group III Large amounts of burnt mud daub were found among the most eastern structures of this group and may be linked to the Spanish Conquest.
Group IV Earle reported a wide variety of Late Postclassic ceramic sherds from Group IV. The westernmost structure in this group has been looted.
Kaqchikel language
The Kaqchikel, or Kaqchiquel, language is an indigenous Mesoamerican language and a member of the Quichean–Mamean branch of the Mayan languages family. It is spoken by the indigenous Kaqchikel people in central Guatemala...
Maya
Maya civilization
The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...
people of the Late Postclassic
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
period, with a large kingdom in the highlands
Guatemalan Highlands
The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala, lying between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north....
of Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. According to the indigenous chronicles of the K'iche' and the Kaqchikel, there were three principal Postclassic highland kingdoms; the K'iche', the Kaqchikel and the Chajoma. In the Annals of the Cakchiquels
Annals of the Cakchiquels
The Annals of the Cakchiquels , is a manuscript written in Kaqchikel, by Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá in 1571, and completed by his grand son, Francisco Rojas in 1604...
the Chajoma of Jilotepeque were always referred to as the akajal vinak, in the Popul Vuh these can probably be identified with the akul vinak. Both akajal vinak and akul vinak mean "the bee people" or "the hive people".
Chajoma means "people of ocote
Ocote
Ocote may refer to:*Pinus apulcensis*Pinus ayacahuite*Pinus cooperi*Pinus devoniana*Pinus durangensis*Pinus gordoniana*Pinus greggii*Pinus hartwegii*Pinus herrerae*Pinus jaliscana*Pinus leiophylla...
" (a type of pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
). In colonial times this was rendered into Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
as Sacatepéquez. Early records, for example, record the placename San Juan Sacatepéquez
San Juan Sacatepéquez
San Juan Sacatepéquez is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala, northwest of Guatemala City. According to the 2002 census, it had a population of 81,584. The city is known for flower-growing and wooden furniture.-See also:*Chajoma...
as San Juan Chajoma. The Chajoma separated into six divisions, equivalent to the various colonial villages bearing Sacatepéquez in the name.
Extent and population
The political geography of the Chajoma is described in some detail in a small group of early colonial documents composed by the Chajoma leadership. At its greatest extent, the Chajoma kingdom covered an area of 900–1000 km². It was bounded on the north by the Motagua RiverMotagua River
The Motagua River is a long river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the Guatemala/Honduras border...
, on the east with the Las Vacas River
Las Vacas River
The Las Vacas River is a river in Guatemala. It begins in the mountains in the eastern outskirts of Guatemala City and runs in a north-easterly direction to join the Motagua River where the departmental borders of El Progreso, Baja Verapaz and Guatemala converge...
, by San Pedro Ayampuc
San Pedro Ayampuc
San Pedro Ayampuc is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. The current mayor is Eduardo Avalos Figueroa....
in the southeast, the River Chalcayá on the southwest and the River Quisayá to the west. Their neighbour to the south was the Poqomam kingdom, with its capital at Chinautla Viejo (Old Chinautla, identified as the Mixco Viejo of Colonial period records). To the west they were bordered by the Kaqchikel kingdom based at Iximche
Iximche
Iximche is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandonment in 1524. The architecture of the site included a number of pyramid-temples, palaces and two...
. This territory includes the northern third of the department of Guatemala and includes both the cooler highland area to the south and the hotter lowlands of the Motagua Valley to the north. The latter is a challenging area for agriculture, with the poor soil of the steep-sided lowland river valleys consisting of semi-weathered metamorphic
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
schistose. The best land for agriculture lies in the southern highland portion of the Chajoma territory, with settlement concentrating there from the Classic Period onwards.
The Chajoma had their capital at the archaeological site currently known as Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo is an archaeological site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some 50 km to the north of Guatemala City and 4km from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Motagua...
(Old Mixco), apparently known to the Chajoma by a variety of names, including Chuapec Kekacajol Nima Abaj, Zakicajol and Nimcakajpec. Apart from Mixco Viejo, the principal archaeological sites associated with the Late Postclassic Chajoma kingdom are El Horno, Las Vegas, El Ciprés, Pueblo Viejo Jilotepeque, Chuisac, La Merced, Chuabaj, Chiboló and possibly Sacul. Of these, only El Horno, El Ciprés, Las Vegas and Sacul can be considered major settlements. Other sites, such as Pistun, La Canoa and Cerrito de las Minas, appear to have been remote outposts in strategically important locations or lookout points monitoring access routes.
Population estimates based on the number of archaeological sites put the Postclassic population of the Chajoma kingdom at 15-20,000 people divided between 15-20 clans. Evidence from Colonial documents suggest that 14 clans (or chinamit in Kaqchikel) survived into post-Conquest times, with 10 divided between San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Juan Sacatepéquez and 4 in San Martín Jilotepeque. However, these were probably the most important chinamit clans, with survivors of smaller subservient chinamit groups being absorbed into the larger clans. An estimate based on archaeological sites with monumental architecture place 1 chinamit each at El Ciprés and Sacul, 4 at Las Vegas, 2–3 at El Horno and 5 at the archaeological site of Mixco Viejo; plus a possible 2 at Cucul and 1 at Pachalum on the north back of the Motagua, if these were Chajoma sites. This would give a total of 13–16 clans, which is roughly equivalent to the number comprising the other two major highland kingdoms, the K'iche' and the Kaqchikel.
Known rulers
All dates are approximate.| Name | Ruled | Alternative names |
|---|---|---|
| Lajuj No'j | c.1450–c.1480 | Ichalkan Chi Kumkwat, Ychal Amollac Chicumcuat |
| Achi Q'alel | early 16th century | - |
Origins
Indigenous documents describe how the ancestors of the Chajoma, Kaqchikel and K'iche' arrived at a mythical place called Tulan, and then left after a time and wandered until they eventually settled in the Guatemalan highlandsGuatemalan Highlands
The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala, lying between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north....
.
Recent archaeological research suggests that the ancestors of the Chajoma and other K'iche'an peoples, including also the K'iche', the Kaqchikel and the Tz'utujil, were already occupying the Guatemalan highlands in the Classic Period
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian , the Archaic , the Preclassic , the Classic , and the Postclassic...
.
A brief history of Chajoma movements and their rulers is contained in an early Colonial document entitled the Título de los de San Martín Jilotepeque, written in 1555. This same document has been used to prove that the Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo
Mixco Viejo is an archaeological site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some 50 km to the north of Guatemala City and 4km from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Motagua...
archaeological site was actually the Chajoma capital and not that of the Poqomam, as previously believed.
The Postclassic Period
The Chajoma claimed not to have been settled long in the lands where the Conquistadors found them in 1524, rather they had originated in the area around ZacualpaZacualpa
Zacualpa is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché.*...
and Joyabaj
Joyabaj
Joyabaj is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. It is located about 50 kilometers from Santa Cruz del Quiché, in the Sierra de Chuacús mountains....
, north of the Motagua River. From Zacualpa they began a movement towards the south, southeast and southwest around AD 1400. Investigations at the Zacualpa archaeological site have shown that it was occupied from the Classic through to the Early Postclassic but was abandoned by the Late Postclassic. The Chajoma migration appears to have been well organised and rapid, and they quickly established sites to defend the borders of their new territory, being placed in defensible locations that had previously been identified after extensive scouting over a large area.
The Chajoma apparently intermarried with the Xpantzay clan of the main branch of the Kaqchikel when these occupied the site of Ochal, identified with the archaeological site of Chuisac, located 2 km west of San Martín Jilotepeque
San Martín Jilotepeque
San Martín Jilotepeque is a municipality in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala.-See also:Chajoma...
. According to the Testamento de los Xpantzay, the Chajoma supplied the Xpantzay with wives from their aristocratic class, an arrangement that appears to have been established as far back as the Early Postclassic.
By around 1410, according to the Anales de los Cakchiqueles, Ochal had become a Chajoma town. It appears that, provoked by the aggressive expansion of the K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj
The K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj was a state in the highlands of modern day Guatemala which was founded by the K'iche' Maya in the thirteenth century, and which expanded through the fifteenth century until it was conquered by Spanish and Nahua forces led by Pedro de Alvarado in 1524.The K'iche'...
, the Chajoma abandoned their old capital of Zacualpa when Ochal was vacated by the Xpantzay, who claimed to have left Ochal in order to serve the K'iche' king Q'uq'umatz together with other Kaqchikel groups. In the 15th century Ochal (known to the Chajoma as Och'al Kab'awil Siwan) became the new Chajoma capital. Around 1425, the K'iche' of Q'umarkaj seized the largely abandoned former Chajoma capital at Zacualpa.
Rule of Lajuj No'j
A powerful 15th century Chajoma lord was known by the name Ichalkan Chi Kumkwat in Nahuatl and Lajuj No'j in Kaqchikel. Around 1450, with Kaqchikel help, he put down a rebellion by vassals along the Motagua river. As a result of the rebellion, this lord left his capital at Och'al Kab'awil Siwan (Pan Och'al in San Martín Jilotepeque) and moved it to Saqik'ajol Kaqapek (Jilotepeque Viejo, the archaeological site known as Mixco Viejo). The Chajoma alliance with the Kaqchikel became more powerful until the Kaqchikels turned on Lajuj No'j and his Chajoma and completely defeated them.The Chajoma were involved in wars with their neighbours the K'iche', the Kaqchiquel and the Poqomam. In the late 15th century when Lajuj No'j was the Chajoma king, the Kaqchikel conquered several Chajoma villages on behalf of their K'iche' overlords, pushing the border between the two kingdoms eastwards. Lajuj No'j was murdered with much of his entourage at Iximche, the Kaqchikel capital, around 1480. In the Annals of the Cakchiquels, the Kaqchikel record that they attacked the Akajal (Chajoma) settlements of Panah and Chiholom, conquering the former. After these battles and prior to the Spanish Conquest the Chajoma probably made tribute payments to the Kaqchiquel of Iximche but were not completely subject to them. Even after the Conquest, the western boundary between the Chajoma and the Kaqchikel of Iximché remained a source of dispute, even down to modern times.
In 1493 the lords of Iximche judged in favour of the Chajoma in a land dispute between these and the Tukuche clan of the Kaqchikels, this caused the Tukuche to rebel against their rulers and resulted in their expulsion from Iximche.
Shortly before the Spanish Conquest, the Chajoma under their lord Achi Q'alel rebelled against the Kaqchikels of Iximche. Just before the Conquest, the Chajoma occupied the area of the modern municipalities
Municipalities of Guatemala
The departments of Guatemala are divided into 332 municipalities or municipios. The municipalities are listed below, by department:-Alta Verapaz Department:*Cahabón*Chahal*Chisec*Cobán*Fray Bartolomé de las Casas*Lanquín*Panzós*Raxruha...
of San Martín Jilotepeque, Santo Domingo Xenacoj
Santo Domingo Xenacoj
Santo Domingo Xenacoj is a municipality in the Guatemalan department of Sacatepéquez....
, San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Raimundo
San Raimundo
San Raymundo is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. Its estimated population in 2007 was approximately 26,800 people and consists of 10 outlying villages and several smaller urbanized areas.San Raymundo is highly populated by both Ladino and Indigenous people....
, Chuarrancho
Chuarrancho
Chuarrancho is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala....
, San Pedro Ayampuc
San Pedro Ayampuc
San Pedro Ayampuc is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. The current mayor is Eduardo Avalos Figueroa....
and the northern portion of Chinautla
Chinautla
Chinautla is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. According to the 2002 census, it had a population of 77,071, making it the ninth-largest city in the country and the seventh largest in the Guatemala Department....
, an area that coincides with the Eastern Kaqchikel dialect area.
Spanish Conquest
There are no direct sources describing the conquestSpanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
of the Chajoma by the Spanish but it appears to have been a drawn-out campaign rather than a rapid victory. The only description of the conquest of the Chajoma is a secondary account appearing in the work of Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán
Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán
Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán was a Guatemalan historian and poet. His only surviving work is La Recordación Florida.-Biography:...
in the 17th century, long after the event. After the Conquest, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the kingdom were relocated by the conquerors to San Pedro Sacatepéquez
San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Guatemala
San Pedro Sacatepéquez is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. According to the 1998 edition of the The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, its elevation is 6,890 ft and it is a market center. Its economy is based on manufacturing, including tile making and textiles, and...
, including some of the inhabitants of the site now known as Mixco Viejo. The rest of the population of Mixco Viejo, together with the inhabitants of the western part of the kingdom, were moved to San Martín Jilotepeque.
The Chajoma rebelled against the Spanish in 1526, fighting a battle at Ukub'il, an unidentified site somewhere near the modern towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez and San Pedro Sacatepéquez
San Pedro Sacatepéquez, Guatemala
San Pedro Sacatepéquez is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala. According to the 1998 edition of the The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, its elevation is 6,890 ft and it is a market center. Its economy is based on manufacturing, including tile making and textiles, and...
.
In the colonial period, most of the surviving Chajoma were forcibly settled in the towns of San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Sacatepéquez and San Martín Jilotepeque as a result of the Spanish policy of congregaciones
Indian Reductions
Reductions were settlements founded by the Spanish colonizers of the New World with the purpose of assimilating indigenous populations into European culture and religion.Already since the beginning of the Spanish presence in the Americas, the Crown had been concerned...
, with the people being moved to whichever of these three towns was closest to their pre-Conquest land holdings. Some Iximche Kaqchikels seem also to have been relocated to the same towns with them. After their relocation to the new towns, some of the Chajoma drifted back to their pre-Conquest centres, creating informal settlements and provoking hostilities with the Poqomam of Mixco and Chinautla along the former border between the pre-Columbian kingdoms. Some of these settlements eventually received official recognition, such as San Raimundo near Sacul.
La Canoa
La Canoa lies to the east of San Pedro Ayampuc, a short distance from the road to Petaca. It consists of a small hill that has been artificially flattened and that once probably supported a small number of houses built from perishable materials. The site has been severely damaged.Cerrito de las Minas
Cerrito de las Minas was a small outpost situated in the northeastern extremity of the Chajoma kingdom, apparently to control the route to and from Baja VerapazBaja Verapaz
Baja Verapaz is a department in Guatemala. The capital is Salamá.Baja Verapaz houses the Mario Dary Biotope Preserve, preserving the native flora and fauna of the region, especially the endangered national bird of Guatemala, the Resplendent Quetzal....
to the north. A modern road follows the course of a colonial road that was probably also an important route in the Late Preclassic. The site consists of a single small pyramid measuring 3 by sat on top of a steep sided cone of volcanic ash
Volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcanic eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact...
, with some small house terraces extending some of the way down the side. A dozen house platforms are situated on a promontory immediately to the north but the group has not been investigated and it is likely that it is the remains of a post-Conquest settlement due to its open layout and absence of pyramids or a ballcourt.
Chuabaj
Chuabaj is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of San Martín Jilotepeque. It was a large site although the architecture has been destroyed.Chuisac (Ochal)
Group D at Chuisac appears to have had a Late Postclassic occupation, which probably corresponds to the temporary occupation of the site by the Chajoma before they moved their capital to the archaeological site of Mixco Viejo.El Ciprés
El Ciprés was first reported in 1941 by Edwin M. ShookEdwin M. Shook
Edward M. Shook was an American archaeologist and Mayanist scholar, best known for his extensive field work and publications on pre-Columbian Maya civilization sites.Ed Shook was born in Newton, North Carolina...
, who named it Cimientos. The location of the site was lost by the 1970s and rediscovered in 1991. The site possesses a well-preserved I-shaped ballcourt. In common with other Postclassic sites, it is defensively situated on a plateau surrounded by deep ravines. Most of the structures of the site are small but possess fine flagstone masonry. The two larger structures are the ballcourt and a long structure on the east side of the site.
El Horno
El Horno is a major site in the eastern Chajoma region. It is situated near the eastern border of San Pedro Ayampuc with San José del GolfoSan José del Golfo
San José del Golfo is a municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala.The Municipality of San José del Golfo is located 28 kilometers from the Capital City to the north-east of Guatemala. Its territory is broken, it belongs to the mountainous region of the Central Highlands of the Republic...
. The structures of the site are divided into three easily defended groups, although they lie below the ridgelines of the surrounding hills, on promontories half way up a ravine near the village of Petaca, 100 metres (328.1 ft) above the bottom of the ravine.
Group I is the largest group at the site. It contains an unfinished and heavily looted I-shaped ballcourt.
Group II is linked to Group I by a narrow neck of land. The group is dominated by two badly damaged and looted pyramids built of flagstone and also possesses a number of house platforms.
Group III is situated on a separate promontory to Groups I and II, some 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) to the west. Like Group II it possesses two pyramids with flagstone masonry, and has 5 or more house platforms. Ceramic fragments recovered from Group III are of a type typical of the Late Postclassic and especially common at the Mixco Viejo archaeological site.
Pistun
Pistun is a small site that has in the past been considered larger than is actually the case due to natural hillocks being mistaken for the remains of artificial structures. Only two structures have been confirmed; a small altar platform with flagstone masonry and a long narrow structure. The site is situated defensively on a hill on the east side of Cerro El Apazote overlooking the Aguacate River. Projectile points were found scattered near the eastern entrance to the site and suggest that a battle took place there, which may have resulted in its abandonment.Pueblo Viejo
Pueblo Viejo is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of San Martín Jilotepeque. Only one structure is currently known at the site, located defensively on a promontory surrounded by deep ravines and may have served as an outpost.Sacul
This site was discovered by Earle who reported Classic Period surface ceramic finds. However, it is defensively situated on an 80 metres (262.5 ft) plateau bordered by stream, typical of Postclassic sites. By the mid-1990s, Sacul had neither been investigated archaeologically nor looted. On the other side of the ravine to the northwest of Sacul are the sites of El Tesoro and Chirioj, both dating to the Late Classic.Las Vegas
This site was first reported in 1988 by Duncan M Earle and named Chillani after a nearby modern settlement. It lies within the municipality of Chinautla, near the village of San Antonio de las Flores. The site has since been renamed to Las Vegas, after the name of the estate on which it lies. Archaeologist Robert M. Hill II carried out a preliminary exploration of the site in 1991. The site consists of 26 structures divided into four groups, labelled groups I through to IV, built on top of an easily-defensible 80 metres (262.5 ft) high ridge between the ravines Quebrada Quezada and Quebrada San Pedro. Each of the four groups contains at least one pyramidMesoamerican pyramids
Mesoamerican pyramids, pyramid-shaped structures, are an important part of ancient Mesoamerican architecture. These structures were usually step pyramids with temples on top – more akin to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia than to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt...
and a number of house platforms. All the structures are poorly preserved although Hill reported that only one had been looted in 1996. Surviving masonry consists of cut blocks of tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
or pumice
Pumice
Pumice is a textural term for a volcanic rock that is a solidified frothy lava typically created when super-heated, highly pressurized rock is violently ejected from a volcano. It can be formed when lava and water are mixed. This unusual formation is due to the simultaneous actions of rapid...
, and of flagstone
Flagstone
Flagstone, is a generic flat stone, usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other constructions. The name derives from Middle English flagge meaning turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga meaning slab.Flagstone is a...
. A violent end to occupation at the site is suggested by the presence of large quantities of burnt mud daub, and may be linked to the Spanish Conquest. Las Vegas was located only a few kilometers north of the Poqomam capital at Chinautla Viejo.
Group I Evidence of violence was found in this group in the form of burnt mud daub, although not to the same extent as in Group III.
Group II has an unusual structure to the north, which is probably all that survives of the badly eroded remains of a ballcourt
Mesoamerican ballcourt
A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. Over 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone...
. As with Group I, evidence of violence was found in Group II in the form of burnt mud daub, again to a lesser extent than in Group III.
Group III Large amounts of burnt mud daub were found among the most eastern structures of this group and may be linked to the Spanish Conquest.
Group IV Earle reported a wide variety of Late Postclassic ceramic sherds from Group IV. The westernmost structure in this group has been looted.