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INTRODUCTION
Recognition of interaction between Copan and Late Classic western El Salvador goes back decades (Longyear 1944:4-5). One of the most-studied ceramic types of the Late Classic in this region is Copador polychrome (a portmanteau from Copan and El Salvador), also found in southeastern Guatemala (Moisa 2013:24-26). Copador was used by the general populace in western and central El Salvador and Copan, judging from both its ubiquity in the archaeological record (Bill 1997:400; Hirth 1988:Figure 10), and its use by villagers at the non-elite site of Joya de Ceren (Beaudry-Corbett 2002; Bill 1997:400; Hirth 1988:Figure 10; Moisa 2013; Sheets 2006). The production locations of cream ware ceramics, including Copador, are still uncertain (Bishop et al. 1986). A number of examples were certainly made in the Copan Valley and eventually made their way to the south (Bishop 1994:425-426).
Archaeologists generally tend to treat Copador as a borderland anomaly. From the perspective of archaeology in El Salvador, Copador vessels have been interpreted as symbols of identification or affiliation with Copan and the Maya (Beaudry-Corbett 2002:124-126; Bruhns 1996:290-291). Across the modern border in Honduras, Copador is viewed as evidence of ties to El Salvador (Bill 1997:303, 411-413). This is not an unsurprising phenomenon. "Hybrid" or "blended" material culture that defies cultural boundaries causes problems for archaeological typologies designed for creating homogenous spatial and temporal units of analysis (Card 2013:4-5; Deagan 2013:260-262). In the case of Copan and El Salvador, this issue highlights a larger discussion over defining the southern boundaries of Mesoamerica. Different approaches to and definitions of Mesoamerica and areas to the south use different criteria, generally with an increased focus on the archaeological in contrast to Kirchhoff's (1943) emphasis on language and ethnographic practices (Creamer 1987; Sheets 2000:408-411). These various approaches, nonetheless, generally present El Salvador as a frontier (Sheets 2000). This is especially the case during the Classic period, when western and central El Salvador have often been seen as being particularly influenced, and likely inhabited, by speakers of Mayan languages (Bruhns 1996:290-292; Fowler and Earnest 1985:24-25; Sheets 2000:423-434, Map 9.4).
Monumental architectural and sculptural styles at the two largest Late Classic sites in central and western El Salvador--Chalchuapa and Campana San Andrés--also suggest ties to Copan. It has previously been argued that Tazumal Monument...