Chajoma
The Chajoma (Mayan pronunciation: [/tʃäχoˈmä/]) were a Kaqchikel-speaking Maya people of the Late Postclassic period, with a large kingdom in the highlands of Guatemala.
[6] In colonial times this was rendered into Nahuatl as sacatepēc "Grass mountain" which led to its current Hispanicized name Sacatepéquez.
The latter is a challenging area for agriculture, with the poor soil of the steep-sided lowland river valleys consisting of semi-weathered metamorphic schistose.
The best land for agriculture lies in the southern highland portion of the Chajoma territory, with settlement concentrating there from the Classic Period onwards.
Other sites, such as Pistun, La Canoa and Cerrito de las Minas, appear to have been remote outposts in strategically important locations or lookout points monitoring access routes.
This would give a total of 13–16 clans, which is roughly equivalent to the number comprising the other two major highland kingdoms, the K'iche' and the Kaqchikel.
Indigenous documents describe how the ancestors of the Chajoma, Kaqchikel and K'iche' arrived at a mythical place called Tulan, and then left after a time and wandered until they eventually settled in the Guatemalan highlands.
[20] Recent archaeological research suggests that the ancestors of the Chajoma and other K'iche'an peoples, including also the K'iche', the Kaqchikel and the Tz'utujil, were already occupying the Guatemalan highlands in the Classic Period.
This same document has been used to prove that the Mixco Viejo archaeological site was actually the Chajoma capital and not that of the Poqomam, as previously believed.
[22] The Chajoma claimed not to have been settled long in the lands where the Conquistadors found them in 1524, rather they had originated in the area around Zacualpa and Joyabaj, north of the Motagua River.
[24] The Chajoma migration appears to have been well organised and rapid, and they quickly established sites to defend the borders of their new territory, being placed in defensible locations that had previously been identified after extensive scouting over a large area.
[34] After these battles and prior to the Spanish Conquest the Chajoma probably made tribute payments to the Kaqchiquel of Iximche but were not completely subject to them.
[37] The only description of the conquest of the Chajoma is a secondary account appearing in the work of Francisco Antonio de Fuentes y Guzmán in the 17th century, long after the event.
The rest of the population of Mixco Viejo, together with the inhabitants of the western part of the kingdom, were moved to San Martín Jilotepeque.
[40] After their relocation to the new towns, some of the Chajoma drifted back to their pre-Conquest centres, creating informal settlements and provoking hostilities with the Poqomam of Mixco and Chinautla along the former border between the pre-Columbian kingdoms.
[41] Cerrito de las Minas was a small outpost situated in the northeastern extremity of the Chajoma kingdom, apparently to control the route to and from Baja Verapaz to the north.
A dozen house platforms are situated on a promontory immediately to the north but the group has not been investigated and it is likely that it is the remains of a post-Conquest settlement due to its open layout and absence of pyramids or a ballcourt.
The group is dominated by two badly damaged and looted pyramids built of flagstone and also possesses a number of house platforms.
Ceramic fragments recovered from Group III are of a type typical of the Late Postclassic and especially common at the Mixco Viejo archaeological site.
[46] Pistun is a small site that has in the past been considered larger than is actually the case due to natural hillocks being mistaken for the remains of artificial structures.
The site is situated defensively on a hill on the east side of Cerro El Apazote overlooking the Aguacate River.
Projectile points were found scattered near the eastern entrance to the site and suggest that a battle took place there, which may have resulted in its abandonment.
A violent end to occupation at the site is suggested by the presence of large quantities of burnt mud daub, and may be linked to the Spanish Conquest.
