Between Fishing and Rites of Passage at Death: Recent Developments from Excavations at Jicarita Island, Coiba, Panama

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.

A recent focus on insular areas has expanded our knowledge on the abundance and diversity of insular, coastal, and pelagic habitats harvested from ca. 6200 BP. Inspired by Richard Cooke’s vision to explore the Coiba Archipelago, in 2023 the authors returned to Jicarita Island to investigate the techniques for processing Pisces and the fishing traditions among the ancestors of Quevi Cabo at a precolumbian fishery dating between cal 1290 and 1060 BP. The excavations of a domestic structure with its fireplace, presumably used for the preparation and drying of fish, included species that frequent clear water columns such as mackerel (Decapterus macarellus), black skipjack (Euthynnus lineatus), red snapper (Lutjanus viridis), and hogfish (Balistes polylepis), among others. The fishery site also exposed the presence of two semiotic traditions at the height of its occupation and surficial burial features of non-elite individuals with scarce offerings, but ones that linked them to a maritime way of life. During the presentation the authors will address the relevance of this unique site in the context of emerging complex societies and focus on the current state of zooarchaeological and material analyses.

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): 39683.0