Following in El Maestro’s Footsteps: Historical Ecology and Panamanian Capacity Building in Darién

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Unraveling the Mysteries of the Isthmo-Colombian Area’s Past: A Symposium in Honor of Archaeologist Richard Cooke and His Contributions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 2012, Richard Cooke described the study of so-called Gran Darién as one of the most urgent concerns in Panamanian archaeology. Years later, that mandate resonated with us, and in 2019 we joined efforts beginning to fill in one of the greatest gaps in the archaeology of Latin America. Cooke’s mentorship not only delineated our geographical path, but also marked our theoretical, methodological, and ethical approaches to archaeological practice in Panama. The Darién Profundo project aims to carry on Cooke’s legacy by applying a historical ecological approach to the Gulf of San Miguel, building on his work in the Las Perlas archipelago, and carrying out research entirely in Spanish, facilitating both local community collaboration and the education of younger generations of Panamanian archaeologists. In this paper, we summarize the results of the project since its foundation in 2019, including the first chronology of Darién based on radiocarbon dates. We then feature a selection of Darién’s archaeological sites, including monumental stone sculpture and architecture. Finally, we share the project’s future directions featuring Richard’s perspectives, which were discussed in our last conversations with him from the field in 2023.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Unraveling the Mysteries of the Isthmo-Colombian Area’s Past: A Symposium in Honor of Archaeologist Richard Cooke and His Contributions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38522.0