Economy, Exchange, and Power at Lomas Entierros, Central Pacific Costa Rica

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances and New Perspectives in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Lomas Entierros is a primary center in Central Pacific Costa Rica, characterized by the presence of monumental architecture on top of a defensible hill, and the circulation of important amounts of imported ceramics. The architectural system combined elevated half-moon terraces with cobblestone walls, foundations, slopes with retaining walls, and more humble structures at the periphery partially built with cobblestones and clay floors and walls. In this presentation, I analyze domestic assemblages, in combination with location within the site, and house architecture to characterize manifestations of wealth, power, and material culture usage. The results inform about social and political complexity, domestic and community economy, and occupational differentiation. I argue that elite power was fueled by a combination of factors, including deep and long occupations, control over the entry and internal movement of imported objects, surplus lithic production, and the use and display of locally valuable objects and symbols of power. Valuable local and imported ceramics were not restricted to elites, which demonstrates the complexity of economic and social relationships at the site. The results indicate that intermediate and low status members of the community were relatively independent crafters and gained access to exchanged objects through means that differed from top-down control.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Advances and New Perspectives in the Isthmo-Colombian Area

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33303