Joya de Cerén, the 'Pompeii of the Americas'
Ash preserved not palaces but the daily life of Maya farmers
Around 600 (estimates vary by a few decades) the eruption of the Loma Caldera vent buried a Maya village under several metres of ash. The inhabitants seem to have escaped, as no human remains have been found, but adobe houses, kitchens, pots of food and fields of manioc and maize survived. Found by chance in 1976 and a UNESCO site since 1993, the village shows how ordinary Maya lived.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 6th century
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Middle East
- 622 Hijra: Muhammad's migration to Medina — 22 years later
Asia
- 589 Sui dynasty reunifies China — 11 years earlier
- 605–610 Grand Canal of China — 5 years later
- 618 Founding of the Tang dynasty — 18 years later
Alive at the time
- Muhammad (aged 30)
- Ali ibn Abi Talib (aged 0)
- Prince Shōtoku (aged 26)
- Emperor Taizong of Tang (aged 2)