Takalik Abaj - Ethnicity

Ethnicity

The changing styles of architecture and iconography at Takalik Abaj suggest that the site has been occupied by changing ethnic groups. The archaeological finds of the Middle Preclassic period suggest that the population of Takalik Abaj may have been affiliated with the Olmec culture of the Gulf Coast lowlands region who are thought to have been speakers of a Mixe–Zoquean language. In the Late Preclassic period Olmec art styles were exchanged for Maya styles and presumably this shift was accompanied by an influx of ethnic Maya, speaking a Mayan language. There are some hints from the indigenous chronicles that the inhabitants of the site may have been the Yoc Cancheb, a branch of the Mam Maya. The Kooja lineage of the Mam, an ancient noble line, may have had a Classic Period origin in Takalik Abaj.