Tazumal

The Tazumal in El Salvador; It is located in the heart of Chalchuapa, Department of Santa Ana to eighty kilometers west of the capital.

Tazumal was one of the first major Salvadoran sites to be scientifically excavated, by Stanley H. Boggs, who started the first of several field seasons in 1943 (Boggs also excavated at San Andrés and Cihuatán). The site is surrounded by the modern city of Chalchuapa and, unfortunately, not much of the site was purchased for the archaeological park. What you see today is the large pyramid, with its many remodelings and additions, and the ball court, badly damaged by its many years as part of the city cemetery. The Tazumal park also contains the large Olmec rock carving from finca Las Victorias.