T tl or ON)ON I Tan

595 Pages·2008·28.18 MB·English

CHAPTER 71 Analysis of the kitchen refuse at A0-3,1A..8 and 11-I3 311
AG-3 312
RAme 324
RA•15 325
Anatomical description of identified bones
from archaeological deposits 326
CHAPTER 81 The archaeological chronology of the western Coole
Province of Panama
A3 Chronologies of the excavated sites 347
AG1Cerro Itangote) 347
AG-2 Cerro Giron) 353
Ao-3 Siti• Sierra) 357
366
iti-7
114.8 367
NAF.9 369
14-13 371
IAm.5I 372
IAms20 373
Espinosa Burial Round
379
The "Amon" site 381
Banks of the Rio Grande 382
Lieson (Limon) Grave 382
Rio Grande Tillage Bite 382
Barrancos Grave
383
P1.5 Sitio Conte) 383
111.6 Loma de lea Ihertos) 390
PI-7 Sitio Rector Cont.) 392
P1-n La Rerradura) 393
11617 1 Randho Sandho de is Isla) 396
Is Chronologies of the unexcavated sites 403
CHAPTER 91 The pattern of human settlemeat in the western Cools
Province of Panama
Contemporary environment 406
Climate and physiography 404
Geology and surface configuration 409
Boils 417
Vegetation 412
Fauna
413
The nature of the prehistorie oocupation of
western Coole 41.6
Phase I 41i
Phase II 4r2
Phase III 4If
Phase IT 42C
Phase T 421
Phase TI 44c
Phase VII 443
CHAPTER IO, A survey of the relationships between the wester* Coale
Province and other regions both within and outside the

Isthmus
461
CHAPTER II1 Site Survey of western Cools and gaseteer of known
archaeological sites 48f
Distrito de Aguadulee
492
Distrito is Nate 50]
Distrito is Penonome
54!
Distrito de La Pintada 561
Ti

Literature cited 575
TOOKE 2
Figs. I • 29 Mendoza Polyvhrome
rig. I Reconstructed panels: Varieties A &3
Fig. 2 Variety Cs whole vessel
Pig. 3 Variety De whole vessel
7142. 4 • 10 Variety A
Pies. II • 15 Variety 3
Figs. 14- 17 Variety C
Fig. 18 Variety C and nisoellaneou,s design motifs
Figs. 19 & 20, a•c Miscellaneous interiors
Figs. 20, d & 21 Variety Z
Figs. 22 • 24 Variety D
Pig. .25 Bowl or plate interiors
Figs. 26 • 28 Miscellaneous exteriors
Pig. 29 Miscellaneous pedestals
Fig. 30 Pedestals: Mendoza and_ Maoaraoas Polychromes
Fig. 31 Macaracas Polychrome
Fig. 32 Conte Polychrome
Pigs. 33 - 37 Aristide Polychrome • C000bo Interior Banded
Figs. 38 - 57 Aristide Polychrome - Escota
Figs. 59 - 50 Black-on-Buff Variety
Pigs. 50- 55 Black-on-Bed Variety
Figs. 56 & 57 Crosshatched Variety
Pigs. 58 - 73 Aristide Polychrome Giron Banded Li/
Pigs. 59 & 60, awl Cirounbanded and Chevron Lip Varieties
Pigs. 601 jse- 60, aid Crosshatched Variety
Figs. 63, e-m • 67 Radial Banded Variety
Figs. 68 & 69 Scalloped Variety
Figs. 70 • 73 Miscellaneous designs
4311. 74 & 75 Becerra Painted Lip
Figs. 76 & 77 Tomei Polychrome
Fig. 76 ihite-and-Black-on-Red Tare
714. 79 Talingo Interior Banded
Fig. 80 Pottery Disks
Fig. 81 Mendoza Polychrome
Partial vessel buried with skeleton C•I(10-3)
Pigs. 82 & 83 Mendoza. Red
Pigs. 84 • 94 Corteso Red-Buff
Figs. 95 - 103 Olivo Bed-Buff
Fig. 104 Red-on-Crean
105 - 109
Pigs. Guacino Red-on-White-Slip
Figs. no & Applique Red-Buff
Fig. 112, a-e Olive Red-Buff
Figs. 112, f-j & 113 Applique Red-Buff
Figs. 114 • 116, a-1 Conte Red
Pig. 116, a-t Miscellaneous rims
•
Pigs. 117 131 Esoota Red-Buff
Pigs. 132 • 135 Smoked Tare
Fig. 136 &mots Red-Buff (rims with deep incised dectn.)
Pig. 137 Rims of Esoota Red-Buff and other categories
Fig. 138, &..e !soots, Red-Buff
Fig. 138, f-i Cortez° Red-Buff
Pig. 15e, J.. Olive Red-Buff
Pigs. 139 & 140 Pedestals
Pig. 141 Ring-base A
Pigs. 142 & 143, alb Bing.base 3
Wigs. 143, e-e & 144 Ring-bass
Pig, 145 Ola Ware
Pig. 146 Sketchmsp of Terrillss Temple Site
Pig. Sketch-asp of Verrill's sites in Cools
147
Pig* 148 Spindle whorls
nit• 149 Ground stone
Plats I licavation of pit 3-D-C at P1-II
Plate 2 Looking north of pit A at A0-3
Plate 3 Trench A at I1-8
Plate 4 Pit D at 14.13
Plats 5 Skeletons A-I and 1-2, pit Al 1.2-3
Plate 6 Skeleton 1.2 after the removal of 1-I
Plate 7 Skeleton Ao-3, pit Al AG-3
Plats 8 Skeleton 1-4 during excavation
Plate 9 Skeleton C-1, AG-3
Plate 1.0 Smoked. Ware zoomorphio effigy vessel, 1.0-3
Plate II Vessels found in association with skeleton
164 at A0-3
Plate 12 Vessels found in association with skeletons
A-3 and C-2 at A0-3
Plate 13 Teasels found in association with skeletons
C-I and C-2 at AG.,
Plate 14 Iiniature Polychrome jar, /endow, Polychrome
Variety C
Plates 15 & 16 Barrel-shaped vessel (Kendoza Polydhrome)
Plates 17 & 18 Spouted vessel from PI-17 (Coretu Polychrome
Plates 19 & 20 Two vessels from PI-17 (Corotu Polychrome)
Plate 21 Contemporary pottery from Barran's° Colorado,
Ola, made by latalia Perez.
Plates 22 - 29 Corota Polychromes sherds from Yarrillis
unpublished collections
Plate 30 Miscellaneous incised sherds from Terrines
unpublished collections
Plate 31 Possible Sarigaa Complex sherds from C0-24
Plates 32 - 34 CorotaPolyohrome sherds from A0-3 and PI-II
(Plate 33,3 1110.
Plate 35 Miscellaneous artifacts in clay
Plata 36 Bone artifacts
Plates 37 & 38 Polinhed stone colts
Plate 39 Flake and blade tools of amorphous silica
Plate 40 Blades and flakes of fine-grained andesits
from AG.3
Plate 41 Flake and blade tools of amorphous silioa
Plate 42 Ground stone tools and utilised pebble
polisher
Plates 43 - 45 Conte Polychrome sherds
Plate 46 Tall painted pedestal sherds
Plates 47 & 48 Isearacas Polychrome sherds
Plats 49 Ola Ware sherds
Plates 50 & 51 Cortez° Bad-Buff, decorated sherds
Plate 52 Smoked Ware and Cortez° led-Buff, decorated
Sherds
vii
Plate 53 Miscellaneous model's Olive Bed-Duff, Mendoza
Polychrome and Cortese) ledsauff
Plate 54 Miscellaneous plastically decorated handles
Plate 55 Plastically decorated pedestal fragments and
Escota Red-Buff strap handles
Plata 56 Miscellaneous soomorphic appendages
Plate 57 Snake Effigy Vara sherds; other miscellaneous
appendage modes
Plate 58 Canana-plus•relief modelling sherd; "Venado
Beach Incised" sherds; EscotaRed-Ruff and
Smoked Tare sherds from 10-3
Plate 59 ?Ascots. Bed-Buffs rims with deep incised
decoration
Plate 60 Sherds decorated with shell edge impression
from. A0•3
Plate 61 Sherds decorated with fine parallel line
incision,"canam" punotation, shell edge
impression, deep incision and pinching
Plate 62 Escota Bed-Buff: miscellaneous plastic modes
Plate 63 EscotaBed-Daffs sherds decorated with fillet
applique + shell edge stamping, ;inching
and ether modes
Plate 64 Smoked Ware Gourd Effigy /teasel from MA-13
Map I Distribution of archaeological sites in
western Cools
Map 2 Shoving location of 14.8, with position of
squares utilised for surface collection
and Trench
Map 3 MAF.I3i showing relationship with other sites
in the vicinity antlocation of excavations
Up 4 AG-3 (Sitio Sierra)
Map showing location of excavations
Nap 6 Panama • Showing political geography, main
roads and principal population centres
mentioned in the text
Map 7 Archaeological sites of Panama
Table I Distribution of polychromes, EN-II
Table 2 Distribution of polychromes, A.G.3
Table 3 Showing distribution of the different types
and varieties of the Aristide Polychrome in
corresponding pits at 10-3 and P1-II
Table 4 Distribution of polychromes, I1-8
Table 5 Showing frequency of polychromes in surface
collections from sites in western Cools
Table 6 Distribution of non-polychrome pottery (rim
sherds only) at PE-II
Table 7 Showing distribution of appendage and plastic
decorative modes and miscellaneous ceramic
artifacts at 11-II
Table 8 Showing distribution of ion-polychrome pottery
(rim sherds only) at 10-3
Table 9 Showing distribution of appendage and plastic
decorative modes at 10-3
Table IO Showing distribution of appendage and plastic
Table ICI (cotd.) decorative modes and non-polychrome pottery
(rim Sherds only) in surface collections
from western Cools and excavated samples
fromIA4, 11..15 and
Table II Showing association of the various design
varieties and vessel shapes of Mendoza
Polychrome
Table 12 Chronologies of archaeological sites in west-
ern Coale according to available evidence
Table 13 Faunal and macro-botanical remains from AG-5,
n41 and MA•15
9
Table 14 Section of south face of Trench 16D4 PN-II
Table 15 Section of south face of Trenahl, !Ape
Table 16 Distribution of lithic assemblage from
western Coale by excavated unit or surface
collection
psattrestisgical
Table 17 distributioi
telltagrgi
In the illustrations of the sherds, red is indicatedbyborizontal
dailies and purple by oblique hatching
CHAPTER I
COCLE IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF PANAMA
For the romantically minded, Panamanian archaeology was born in
1858, when the notorious cemetery of Bugaba, in the Province of Chiriqui,
was opened and found to contain a plethora of gold objects. The poss-
ibilities of a California half-way to San Francisco engendered a veritable
gold-rush, and soon other Pre-Columbian cemeteries from Bugabita and
Boquete were looted (Otis, 1859 and Bateman, 1860). Bollaert summarises
the instant enthusiasm for the finds:
"Much excitement was lately occasioned at Panami....by the
accidental opening of Indian graves, in the Chiriqui district,
150 miles distant, and the discovery therein of large quant-
ities of golden images. As there are supposed to be many
thousands of these graves, hundreds of persons have gone
thither and thousands of dollars worth has been taken out
and sent to Panamk" (1860: 31).
Chiriquian artifacts, both metal and ceramic, soon inundated museums
and institutions all over Europe and the Malted States. I, rudimentary
attempt to make a scientific classification of tombs and objects VAS
undertaken by de Zeltner, then French consul in Panami (de Zeltner, 1866
and 1967), and the two classic museum studies of the Province's archae-
ological wealth, by Holmes (1888) and MacCurdy (19II), were based
primarily on the collections of the French diplomat.
It was in these pioneer works that the first illustrations of the
elaborate polychrome ceramics, now recognised as originating in the
Provinces to the east of Chiriqui, were published. The pieces were
mostly without proveniences or excavation notes and the authors logically
considered that they were the products of exceptionally able local potters
(Holmes, 1888: figs. 185 & 207 - 215; MacCurdy, 1911: Front., Plates
XLIV and XLV and figs. 246 & 255 - 258; Lothrop, 1942: figs. 225, 480,
482 & 485).
2
The wealth of Chiriqui soon attracted Max Uhle, who made a
brief visit to Panami and published five new examples of the "exotic
polychromes" housed in the Museo Nacional: an unprovenienced pedestal
plate; two bird-effigy jars from Parita; and two other painted jars
(Uhle, 1924: 194-5 and fig. 1.) Uhle correctly envisaged a wider
distribution throughout the Republic of these polychromes:
"Hay que suponer que el tipo estaba desde antes radicado en
el pals, porque no hay duda que el niimero de sus representantes va a
aumentar mgs, cuando las sepultures panameBas menos se abren con el
solo inters en el oro quo contienen, y quo por el cargcter de
civilizacign tuvo que falter en sepultures de esta clase" (op.cit.: 196.)
But his interest was merely transitory, and the article seems to have
been written with the express purpose of proving that the dominant
influences in Panamg were Mayoid. The arguments are hammered home
with dialectic manipulations of great verve. As Diffusionism, in its
essentially unmodified form, was the dominant creed of the time, Uhle
can hardly be criticised for his exotic extrapolations.
Some years before Uhle's visit to Panamg, the archaeological
emphasis on Chiriqui was mitigated by an exhibition of local Panamanian
products for the inauguration of the Panama Canal in 1915. It contained
a collection of Pre-Columbian pottery from the Province of Cocl g, and
attracted the attention of the owl-eyed Karl Curtis who subsequently
visited the locality whence the pottery was supposed to have come.
Curtis' investigations led directly to the campaigns in Coale of
A. Hyatt Verrill, in 1925-6, and Harvard University, between 1931 and
1934, which first established the Province firmly on the archaeological
mapo(See Lothrop, 1937: 30-31, for a brief summary of Curtis' work in
the Province.)
The British Museum bibliography lists no fewer than seventy-
three publications under the name of Alpheus Hyatt Verrill, with titles
as diverse as "The A.B.C. of Automobile Driving," "Harper's Wireless
Book," and "Deep Sea Hunters of the Frozen Seas." His eccentricities
3
seem to have won him few friends in the academic world and his relations
with Lothrop were certainly not cordial. Unfortunately, the sites
discovered and worked by Verrill have only been published in a
preliminary or popular fora (see Verrill 1927a, 1927b, 1928 and Verrill
& Verrill, 1953;) his exegeses are often extremely bizarre; and some
of his sites are impossible to relocate. To judge from his field
notes, and the large collections of pottery housed in the American
Museum of Natural History and the Heye Foundation, he traversed every
centimetre of Coc14 and ezcavqted at least four interesting sites,
among them the "Temple Site," near El Cao, whose recent destruction
and loss is an unfortunate disaster. With the authorisation of
Dr. Junius Bird of the American Museum of Natural History, illustrations
of Verrill's finds and quotations from his unpublished field notes
will be incorporated within this study.
In 1928, a Panamanian by the name of Agustin Ferrari undertook
an archaeological survey and excavations in Coc14, and recorded his
findings in two short articles. Small-scale digs were made at
Las Barrancas, Potrero Riquelme, La Herradura and at other localities
in the Province, and a detailed description of the artifacts was made,
(See Ferrari, 1928 and 19310*
The first organised scientific expedition to visit Pan*
excavated in Coc16 between 1931 and 1934, under the general direction
of S. K. Lothrop. Work concentrated on a site of immense wealth
which had been unearthed from the banks of the Rio Grande by erratic
flood waters. The amazing discoveries of the Sitio Conte, as the
site is now known, need no introduction for the results were published
in two sumptuously illustrated volume (Lothrop, 1937 and 1942.)
* aIm indebted to Dr. Roberto de la Guardia for having brought to
my attention these obscure documents.
4
The site was later visited by a University of Pennsylvania team under
Alden Mason, in 1939, but the results of these excavations were limited
to two short articles, and most of the material remains unpublished
(Mason, 1940 81;1942.)
The impact of the Sitio Conte upon the archaeology of
Panami is perhaps best summarised in these words by Stirling:
"Seldom has a single archaeological site received the
detailed study that has been accorded the Sitio Conte in the Province
of Coc14, Panama:A; it is the first site to receive scientific
field study in PanamA despite the fact that many Museums are loaded
with Panamanian pottery, the byproduct of a century of systematic
grave loéting in search of gold. The basic background work for
Panamanian archaeology has been done" (1949b: 514-515.)
It has become fashionable at the present time to "knock
Lothropt The primary criticism of the work at the Sitio Conte
has always been that Lathrop failed to make full use of the stratigraphy
that was obviously present at the site; and that consequently, as his
sequence of graves cannot be guaranteed, his stylistic breakdown of
the funerary pottery is erroneous. It is true that Lathrop largely
ignored the stratigraphic accumulations of refuse and concentrated on
the excavations of graves. No doubt, a contemporaneous exploitation
of both types of deposit would have facilitated chronological inter-
pretations. Nevertheless, a glance at the detailed record of
excavations, would, I am sure, make most excavators cringes the
superimposition of graves and the looting of earlier graves by subsequent
generations created a hotch—potch deposit which cannot have been easy
to decipher. Lothrop's absollite life—span for the burials of only
190 years, although several centuries too late, might not be far from
the truth. It is true, too, that some of the excavator's OWA081.01111
and conclusions are puzzling, but there was a dearth of comparative
material available at the time of the publication of the project, and
his Diffusionistic emphasis was merely, like Uhle's, a sign of the times.
After 1942, Lothrop was always ready to modify his ideas in the light
of new evidence. It is not easy to incorporate the Sitio Conte into
subsequent studies, but this is primarily due to the relative massiveness
of the site over others in the areas its interpretative influence is
bound to be disproportionate. Some of the problems of the chronology
and ceramic sequence of the Sitio Conte will be discussed in this study
and some of Lothropfs initial ideas reconsidered. But the fact remains
that we are indebted to him for the discovery of an important part of
Panama's prehistory and for the exquisitely detailed publication of
what amounts to a fantastically rich site. The Sitio Conte is treated
herein as "just another site" and is relegated to a numerical PB-5: but
this is done to place the site in a broader archaeological context and
not to minimize its intrinsic splendour.
Lothrop divided the Sitio Conte into two major phases, "Early," and
"Late," according to a stylistic breakdown of the polychrome pottery
recovered in the graves. A third phase - the Period of Decline - was
added to include the final years of the site when the quality of the grave
furniture seemed to diminish drastically (1942: I/ & 183-198). In addition
to the "local" polychromes ("Sitio Conte Polychromes"), which were divided
into two categories, based on vessel shape and elements of the design,
within the two major phases - "Early Polychrome Carafes," "late Polydhrome
Bounded Bowls" - seven polychrome "foreign styles" and nine "exotic black-
line styles" were differentiated on the basis of anomalies in design, line
and quality, and considered to have originated in unspecified "foreign"
localities. Monochrome and other plain wares were also described and an
appendix added illustrating examples of polychrome and plain pottery of
similar styles from regions outside Coale - Parita, Mecaracas etc. -
whose temporal and spatial significance was not appreciated at that time.
"The system utilised in this atudy for the nomenclature
of sites is discussed on pp. 488-492.