Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area
Part of: Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)
This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
Archaeological research in Central America has traditionally focused on the material culture of its precolonial inhabitants. While objects have long been used to infer cultural identities, filiation, and migration patterns from cultural-historical approaches, the last decades have seen more nuanced practices. Discussions around authenticity have redirected attention to integration processes within local traditions, further benefiting the interpretation of foreign versus local. Moreover, new foci on materiality beyond artifacts have contributed to new understandings of mobility. In providing a regional overview of recent research on trajectories and biographies of circulating materials and their role in local lifeways across the Isthmo-Colombian Area, this symposium seeks to explore the material culture, exchange mechanisms, and cultural interconnections within the region. Contributions will provide insights into the movement of artifacts, (raw) materials, and resources within and across the Central Americas. In doing so, we aim to further understand the local reception, integration, or exclusion of foreign materials.
Other Keywords
Intermediate Area •
Materiality •
Material Culture and Technology •
Ceramics •
Mobility •
Trade and exchange •
Ceramic Analysis •
Craft Production •
ancient DNA •
Communities of Practice
Geographic Keywords
Department of Martinique (Country) •
Republic of El Salvador (Country) •
Department of Guadeloupe (Country) •
Antigua and Barbuda (Country) •
Belize (Country) •
Anguilla (Country) •
Republic of Guatemala (Country) •
Republic of Honduras (Country) •
St. Lucia (Country) •
Montserrat (Country)
Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-8 of 8)
- Documents (8)
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Changing and Exchanging Social Values of Metals: The Integration of Tumbaga and Iron Objects in Indigenous Graves in the Colombia’s Caribbean Region (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Although the colonial order between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries transformed the use and trading of metal objects employed in indigenous funerary practices in Colombia’s Caribbean region, it also enabled local goldwork traditions to continue. Particularly, in the lower-Magdalena River region, the “Malibú” buried their dead...
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Characterization of Mendoza and Cortezo Pigments: Communities of Practice and Ceramic Production in Precolumbian Panama (AD 1300–1500) (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We present the results of an exploratory pigment characterization of the Mendoza and Cortezo Red-Buff ceramics. These ceramic styles produced from CE 1300 until the first part of the Spanish colonization tend to appear in association (Mendoza-Cortezo complex). Mendoza, distinguished for the ceramic plates decorated with polychrome...
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Evidence of Exchange in Precolumbian Ceramics from Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Isla Colon, the largest island in the Bocas del Toro archipelago on Panama’s northwest coast, has a unique density of archaeological features in the region. Sitio Drago, the largest site yet found on the island, includes ceremonial and settlement mounds and a diverse and sizable assemblage of subsistence remains and cultural materials....
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Internal Networks and the Materiality of Imported Gold in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (AD 600–1600) (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Muisca of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia are known for making extensive use of imported gold to manufacture both votive metalwork and body ornamentation over a millennium. To better understand the materiality of this imported raw material, we present new computational models of the compositional datasets pertaining to Muisca...
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Materialización de las nuevas interacciones en la zona fronteriza entre Mesoamérica y el Área Istmo-colombiana durante el Postclásico Temprano: Un acercamiento desde Los Naranjos, noroeste de Honduras (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. En los territorios considerados como los márgenes fronterizos entre Mesoamérica y el Área Istmo-colombiana, la transición entre el Clásico y Postclásico (siglos IX-XII dC) corresponde a un periodo de reorganización de sus sociedades. Particularmente en el noroeste de Honduras se caracterizaron notables evoluciones en los centros...
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Poultry in Motion: The Translocation of Turkeys (Meleagris spp.) in Ancient Greater Nicoya, Costa Rica (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The trade and movement of animals and animal-derived artifacts was widespread and varied significantly throughout the ancient Americas, often requiring substantial efforts comparable to that employed in acquiring other material resources or prestige items. Originally native to parts of modern-day Mexico and the United States, turkeys...
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Tracing Tides of Change: Perspectives on Mobility and Materiality in Precolonial Central America (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Matters of materiality and mobility across Central America have long been the subject of archaeological investigation concerning its precolonial past. In outlining the spectrum of material movements and their broader sociocultural implications beyond traditional archaeological narratives, this introductory paper seeks to explore the...
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The Usulután Ceramics of Central America: Using Izalco-Usulutám Wares to Understand Interregional Relationships and Local Social Complexity (2024)
DOCUMENT Citation Only
This is an abstract from the "Materials in Movement in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Usulután wares are ubiquitous throughout Central America during the Late Preclassic period. These ceramics likely originated in eastern El Salvador and quickly spread to neighboring regions of western Honduras, forming the so-called Uapala Ceramic Sphere. Recent Investigations suggest that this Sphere covered a larger area than...