“Unearthed Mystery: El Salvador’s Ancient Pyramid Reveals Eerie Clay Puppets with Disturbing Expressions!”
Archaeologists Discover Puppets On Top Of A Pyramid
M. Sokołowski/PASIThe puppets were found atop the tallest pyramid at the San Isidro site.
In 2022, archaeologists from the University of Warsaw discovered five clay figurines on top of a pyramid structure in San Isidro, El Salvador. The discovery was led by Dr. Jan Szymański and his colleague Gabriela Prejs, who wanted to excavate pre-Columbian sites in El Salvador, an area that has been historically neglected by archaeologists.
“Little is known about the identities and ethnolinguistic affiliations of the creators of ancient settlements that predate the arrival of Europeans in the early 16th century. This gets worse the further back in time we look,” Dr. Szymański stated in a Threads post from the journal Antiquity, in which the archaeologists’ study about the artifacts is now published.
At first, Szymański and Prejs believed the clay figures — four female and one male — were burial offerings. However, the team did not discover any human remains at the site, pointing to a possible ritualistic purpose instead.
They then realized that the artifacts had removable heads and small holes in their necks through which strings could be threaded. This led them to deduce that the figures were puppets.
“One of the most striking features of the puppets is their dramatic facial expression, which changes depending on the angle that we look at them from,” Szymański explained.
At eye level, the puppets look angry and aggressive. From above, they appear happy, but from below, they seem scared. “This is a conscious design, perhaps meant to enhance the gamut of ritual performances the puppets could have been used in,” noted Szymański.
