Contributions of Richard G. Cooke, PhD, MBE, to the Study of Isthmo-Colombian Iconography

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.

Richard Cooke's pioneering studies in zooarchaeology of the Neotropics have redefined the way that archaeologists, art historians, ethnohistorians, and ethnographers utilize data from faunal remains, not only in the reconstruction of past environments, subsistence strategies, and diet, but also in the interpretation of non-human animal species in the art and iconography of the Isthmo-Colombian Area. His meticulous and perennially critical work produced detailed evaluations of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, and insects in media ranging from pottery to goldwork, emphasizing Indigenous peoples' powers of empirical observations of the natural world, in so doing contributing to our understanding and valuation of detailed observations of the fauna of pre-Hispanic Panama. With his exhaustive multidisciplinary approach, Cooke consistently raised the bar for archaeology with respect to responsible reporting and documentation of Indigenous zoology in the context of modern ecology and the testing of iconographic interpretations using hard, empirical evidence based on careful scientific excavations.

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): 41631.0