Costa Rica (Other Keyword)
1-9 (9 Records)
Recent work at the mid to late Formative site of El Cholo reveals that from at least the 3rd century AD, occupants of this mound complex interacted with Costa Rican Caribbean watershed social groups as well as western Panamanian Chiriquí societies. Evidence also demonstrates contact from as far north as the Guanacaste Nicoya region in place by the 10th or 11th centuries AD. Further analysis of the site suggests that interaction was likely initially predicated on trans-cordilleran ethnic and...
"El Lanchon": Investigation of an Industrial Relic at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica (2016)
Known to the people of Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica as El Lanchon (the barge) this intertidal structure was one subject for study at the Program in Maritime Studies’ 2015 summer field school. What began as an opportunity to experiment with photogrammetric techniques soon turned into a more detailed examination of the site’s various functions and multi-layered history. This presentation will outline the present day use of "El Lanchon" as well as its connection to successful and failed industries...
Expedition Costa Rica: Cahuita’s Brick and Cannon Shipwreck Sites (2016)
East Carolina University’s Program in Maritime Studies studied two shipwreck sites in Cahuita National Park, Costa Rica. These sites presented unique challenges to the group because of their location, distribution, similarities, unique formation processes, and role as part of a dynamic and protected ecosystem. One site has a brick pile and few scattered artifacts, including cannon, concretions, a grinding stone, and two bottles. The other has 13 pieces of concreted cannon, two anchors, and a few...
Fleets of Cahuita: Recording and Interpreting the Costa Rica Fishing Boats (2016)
Today Cahuitan fishermen often build and design their own fishing boats used for snorkel tours, lobster diving and artisanal fishing. These watercraft come in a variety of sizes, design and hull decorations. The builders have detailed knowledge about functions and features. Up until the early 1980s all these watercraft were log boat designs, evolving rapidly into modern fiberglass or dugouts covered in fiberglass. Distinctively designed oars are handmade with machetes and used to propel boats...
Imitating from Memory: Hybrid Vessels and Attempted Replications of Stylistic Elements from Central Panama in the Pre-Hispanic Ceramics of Costa Rica (2015)
The ceramics of Central America are replete with examples of stylistic influence that represent attempts by local potters to reproduce foreign styles from distant lands. Examples include attempts to reproduce elements of Late Classic Maya styles in ceramics of the "southern periphery" of Mesoamerica. This paper presents evidence for attempted but imperfect and even inept reproduction of elements from the opposite direction—territories far to the south and east—by identifying elements of...
Navigating global and local attitudes toward heritage initiatives in Southern Costa Rica. (2017)
This paper explores the dynamic between local and foreign perceptions towards cultural and environmental exploitation and stewardship, presenting recent reactions to medium to long term initiatives that have been started by national and international institutions in southern Costa Rica. It reviews how researchers are attempting to better integrate themselves with local communities and national organizations in a more sustainable and responsible manner, presenting the current challenges...
Pueblos, Palenques, and Dual Organization in Sixteenth Century Costa Rica (2015)
Contact era Spanish descriptions from central Costa Rica through western Panama offer compelling evidence that many indigenous settlements throughout the region were arranged as two spatially discrete parts, implying that these societies were similarly organized as two social groups. Documentary sources further indicate that there were at least three regionally distinct spatial arrangements of villages. Spatial patterns of settlements recorded in these documents closely resemble those identified...
Slave Ships and Mutiny, The Cahuita National Park Shipwreck Survey in Costa Rica (2013)
Tourism brochures advertise two shipwrecks in the Cahuita National Park in Costa Rica. The sites are restricted to snorkeling only and the use of SCUBA equipment is not permitted. Local guides, whose families have specialized in free diving for generations, are employed to offer snorkeling tours and are required to be used in the confines of the park. Little is currently known about the identity of these shipwrecks. Historical and archaeological investigations suggest several possible candidates...
Traveling and trading in Ancient Costa Rica (2015)
Evidence of trading between Greater Nicoya and the Central region of Costa Rica increases in the later Pre-Columbian periods (AD 800-1550), likely tied to the expansion of commercial networks from more complex chiefdoms. Different trading routes have been proposed, including the Central Pacific as one the possible gateways to the Central Valley. The feasibility of trade routes in that region is explored and evaluated here taking into account the known archaeological sites and routes followed by...