Cobble Circles and Standing Stones: Archaeology at the Rivas Site, Costa Rica

233 Pages·2004·5.16 MB·English

by  Jeffrey Quilter

cobble circles and standing stones
c o b b l e c i r c l e s
a n d s t a n d i n g s t o n e s
Archaeology at the Rivas Site, Costa Rica
by JeFrey Quilter
university of iowa press iowa city
University of Iowa Press,Iowa City 52242
Copyright ©2004 by the University of Iowa Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Design by April Leidig-Higgins
http://www.uiowa.edu/uiowapress
No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any
form or by any means without permission in writing from
the publisher.All reasonable steps have been taken to con-
tact copyright holders of material used in this book.The
publisher would be pleased to make suitable arrangements
with any whom it has not been possible to reach.
The publication of this book was generously supported by
the University of Iowa Foundation.
Printed on acid-free paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Quilter,Jeffrey,1949– .
Cobble circles and standing stones:archaeology at the
Rivas Site,Costa Rica/by Jeffrey Quilter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
0-87745-876-6 (cloth),0-87745-893-6 (paper)
1.Rivas Site (Costa Rica). 2.Panteón de La Reina Site
(Costa Rica). 3.Indians of Central America—Costa
Rica—San Isidro de El General Region—Antiquities.
4.Excavations (Archaeology)—Costa Rica—San Isidro
de El General Region. 5.San Isidro de El General
Region (Costa Rica)—Antiquities. I.Title.
.. 2004
972.86'3—dc22 2003061116
04 05 06 07 08  5 4 3 2 1
04 05 06 07 08  5 4 3 2 1
For my father,
Thomas Quilter,
1905–1992

contents
Preface ix
1 Getting There 1
2 The 1992 Field Season 27
3 Fieldwork in Operation E,1993 57
4 Expanding Our Understanding of the Site,1994 79
5 Refining Our Knowledge of Rivas,1995–1997 101
6 The Panteón de La Reina and Beyond 131
7 The Artifacts 155
8 The Physical and Social Worlds of Ancient Rivas 183
Epilogue 201
Appendix 203
References Cited 207
Index 215

preface
Today, Costa Rica is well known as a peaceful little The museum tours and souvenir shops display curiosi-
country,an island of stability in troubled Latin Amer- ties of a past long dead and peoples now vanished.
ica,with a former president,Oscar Arias,a Nobel Peace There is a disjunction between the prehistoric past as
Prize recipient.It is a popular destination for tourists recognized in gold and jade artifacts and a vague aware-
seeking pristine beaches, unspoiled tropical forests, ness of the people who made them.Tourists,guides,
and friendly,accommodating people.While the reality and even Costa Rican nationals,or Ticos,as they are
of contemporary Costa Rica is more complex than what called,often treat the prehistoric era as one of mystery
a sun-seeking tourist on a two-week vacation may see and of relatively little importance for the goals and
or experience, in many ways this small country does values of a dynamic,modern nation.
live up to its reputation as a prosperous,peaceful na- This state of affairs is not due to an absence of ar-
tion.But if modern and “natural”Costa Rica is well chaeological research in Costa Rica.The country sus-
known,its native peoples,both past and present,are tains an active group of hardworking professional ar-
almost invisible. In the capital of San José, the Na- chaeologists who often conduct investigations under
tional Museum,the Gold Museum,and the Jade Mu- great difficulties and privations. The reasons for this
seum all have excellent exhibitions and receive sub- national prehistorical amnesia are complex,but include
stantial numbers of visitors to see prehistoric artifacts. the ways in which national identity has been built as
Tourist shops are filled with replicas of ancient ceram- well as the vague sense of inferiority when comparing
ics, gold jewelry, and jade pendants that fill the suit- the local antiquities with the pyramids of Mesoamer-
cases of returning visitors.But only one archaeologi- ica to the north or the great constructions of the Andes
cal site,Guayabo de Turrialba,is developed for tourism, to the south.
although many similar sites exist.While some tourists This book does not attempt to provide a compre-
may be interested in Costa Rica’s prehistory,no easily hensive survey of the peoples and cultures of ancient
accessible book,in English or in Spanish,is available Costa Rica.But while it concentrates,for the most part,
for them to gain basic knowledge of the distant past. on only two sites,I hope that it will demonstrate that