**1. Introduction**

El Salvador experiences considerable volcanic activity. The catastrophic Ilopango eruption in the mid-sixth century depopulated what is now that country, and ecological recovery may have necessitated about a century [1]. A small group of Maya migrated into the area, and established a hamlet on the left bank of a major river, now called the Rio Sucio. Although they lived there only for a few generations, they had time to establish a thriving community. Their agriculture was based on many different species, with each household largely self-sufficient. Each household built their homes with wattle-and-daub walls and thatch roofs, a seismically resilient form of architecture. In addition to their household buildings, families built and maintained special-purpose religious and civic structures. Each household had a different part-time occupational specialization; thus, the system of economic exchanges built a social network integrating the community. Surplus agricultural and craft production was taken to markets in the large towns, to obtain long-distance traded commodities. Had the ancient community, which I

named Joya de Cerén, been abandoned in the usual fashion, we would never have been able to learn such details about the high quality of lives lived there. The usual abandonment of wattle-and-daub structures has people taking their most valued artifacts to their new location. Other people remaining in the area take items that are useful to them. And, when the thatch roof fails, the rains, sun, and wind reduce the buildings to low mounds. The greatly impoverished record available to archeologists limits the knowledge that can be gained from excavation and analysis.

An overview of volcanism in central El Salvador was provided by Lexa et al. [2]. What makes Joya de Cerén unique is the nature of the Loma Caldera eruption that buried it in the mid-seventh century [1]. That volcanic vent opened up less than a kilometer away, and buried the village under some 5 m of tephra [1]. An earthquake preceded the tephra emplacement, and presumably the loud noise of the eruption beginning, gave warning to the residents. They literally "headed south" as evidenced by human footprints. The alterations of phreatomagmatic and magmatic phases of the eruption preserved the buildings, foods stored, crops in gardens and fields, and the landscape to an extraordinary degree. The site provides the first clear window into the vitality of Maya commoner life.

Our publications in Spanish (e.g. [3]) were accessed by high school students and their teachers in the area, and they regularly make public presentations depicting village life before the eruption, recognizing the danger signals, and fleeing the village. These performances provide effective training to families living along this active fault, as the next eruption is coming at an unknown time.
