PIPIL, a dialect of the Nahuatl or Aztec language. In south ern Mexico, Guatemala and western Salvador there are four groups of Indians who speak a Nahua dialect, related to but more primitive than Aztec. These four groups are: (I) Pipil of Soco nusco, (2) Pipil of the upper Motagua valley, (3) Pipil of Es cuintla, and (4) Pipil of Salvador. At the time of the Spanish con quest several explanations of the presence of these Mexican In dians in Central America were given by the natives. It was said that the Aztec emperor, Ahuitzotl (1486-15o2) , sent colonists to spy out the land and prepare for a never accomplished conquest. This tale fails to account for the large and well-built cities occu pied by the Pipil. More generally it is thought that they were Toltec (q.v.) who either migrated from Mexico with one of the early priest-kings named Quetzalcoatl, or, more probably, fled after the downfall of the Toltec empire in the 1 I th century. The Spanish historian Juan de Torquemada in support of the last hypothesis has preserved a significant migration legend. Nu
merous ruined cities are attributed to the Pipil by archaeologists. Of these the most important• are Santa Lucia Cazumalhualpa and Baul in Guatemala and Chalchuapa, Cihuatan and Tehuacan in Salvador. These sites yield characteristic stone carvings and pot tery types. The present culture of the Pipil varies from village to village. In general it reflects that of their neighbours such as the Quiche (q.v.).