Continuity and Change in Chiriquí Period Village Organization

Summary

Chiriquí Period (700-1500 CE) archaeological sites have been the subject of systematic scientific research for more than 50 years. However, archaeologists are only recently beginning to define and understand regional and temporal variations in artistic styles, settlement patterns, and village organization.  In this paper, I summarize emerging patterns in village placement, cemetery organization, and the construction of public space. Continuities in the elements of constructed spaces, such as the use of conical house forms, cobble pavements, and public plazas, endure for the duration of Chiriquí, but the ways that these architectural features were interpreted and arranged changed dramatically, particularly during the tenth and fourteenth centuries, likely signaling the key changes in ideology and social dynamics that occurred across the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22589