Pre-Columbian ‘Puppets’ indicate ritual connections across Central America

• Five expressive ceramic figurines have been discovered atop a large pyramidal structure at Preclassic San Isidro, El Salvador. 

• Their movable heads and positioning suggest they were a kind of puppet, used in ritual scenes or ‘tableaus’.

• Similarities with examples from other Central American countries imply interaction and shared ritual traditions across this vast region.

• This contradicts the commonly-held belief that El Salvador was culturally isolated from the rest of Central America.

   

  

Archaeologists have discovered five ceramic figurines atop the largest pyramidal structure at San Isidro, El Salvador. The style of the figurines suggests that ritual puppetry may have connected Central American societies during the Preclassic (2000 BC – AD 200) and Classic (AD 200 – 900) periods.

The archaeology of pre-Columbian El Salvador is poorly understood in comparison to neighbouring countries. Its high population density makes excavation difficult, and volcanic eruptions have obscured archaeological sites.

“Very 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”, states Dr Jan Szymański from the University of Warsaw. “This gets worse the further back in time we look.”

To fill this gap in our knowledge, Dr Szymański and his colleague Gabriela Prejs excavated at the large, hitherto unexcavated site of San Isidro in the Department of Sonsonate, western El Salvador.

At the top of the largest pyramidal structure at the site, the researchers made an unexpected discovery: a rich offering resembling a funeral deposit, but without any human remains. There they found five ceramic figurines, dating to c. 400 BC.

“This finding is only the second such a group found in situ, and the first to feature a male figure”, adds Dr Szymański.

Three of the figurines have articulated heads, causing them to resemble modern toy dolls. The authors suggest they were a kind of ancient puppet, positioned into a scene, or ‘tableau’, undoubtedly meant to convey a message that is now lost.

The puppets’ position atop the largest pyramid at the site suggests they were involved in important, possibly public, rituals.

“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”, says Dr Szymański. “Seen from above they appear almost grinning, but when looked at from the level angle they turn angry or disdainful, to become scared when seen from below. This is a conscious design, perhaps meant to enhance the gamut of ritual performances the puppets could have been used in.”

This style of figurine is found in both western El Salvador and southern Guatemala. Other artefacts discovered in the deposit, such as jade pendants, are also known from the Isthmo-Colombian area of modern Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.  These material similarities could have expressed the local elite’s connections to other elites in far flung locations.

This all suggests San Isidro took part in long-distance interaction networks and shared ritual traditions and customs across Central America, challenging archaeologists’ traditional thinking that El Salvador was an isolated part of the region.

“This discovery contradicts the prevailing notion about El Salvador’s cultural backwardness or isolation in the ancient times,” concludes Dr Szymański. “It reveals the existence of vibrant and far-reaching communities capable of exchanging ideas with remarkably distant places.”

Antiquity Press release

J. Szymański „Of Puppets and Puppeteers: Preclassic Clay Figurines from San Isidro, El Salvador”,  Antiquity, Volume 99 Nr 405 June 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2025.37

ABOUT ANTIQUITY 

Antiquity is an international peer-reviewed journal of world archaeology, published six times a year and edited by Professor Robin Skeates. The journal was founded by O.G.S. Crawford in 1927 and is currently edited in the Department of Archaeology at Durham University. The journal is published in partnership with Cambridge University Press (CUP).