ABSTRACT
The Zapotitan valley of El Salvador provides an excellent basis for a comparative examination because it has been affected by numerous explosive and effusive volcanic eruptions during the past two millennia, although the natural and cultural records of the interplays among volcanic eruptions and societies are far from complete. Variation in a wide range of physical, social, and cultural aspects should be considered when exploring the impact and repercussions of explosive volcanic eruptions on Precolumbian societies because they can affect the resistance and the vulnerability of a society attempting to cope with sudden massive stress. Natural phenomena such as the magnitude of the eruption, speed of onset, geochemical and physical characteristics of the ejecta, the flora and fauna, climate, and soils in the area of impact are relevant. The ethnicity of the Ceren immigrants, and thus their home territory, is probably best explored by examining two categories of material culture: architecture and artefacts.
