GRAN COCLÉ GRAN CHIRIQUÍ Lana S. Martin, Department of

CULTIVATION AND CONSUMPTION IN ANCIENT PANAMÁ:
CARIBBEAN SEA
BOCAS DEL TORO
TESTING HYPOTHESES OF PLANT FOOD USE AT SITIO DRAGO
(brown circles indicate milling stones)
Lana S. Martin, Department of Anthropology at University of California, Los Angeles
ISLA COLÓN
Oil palm
Elaeis oleifera
25.62%
Sitio Black Creek
Maya
CARIBBEAN SEA
Gulf of
Mosquitos
GRAN COCLÉ
Gatun Basin
Cerro Brujo
GRAN DARIÉN
Lasquita
Moléjon
Laguna Cerro Punta
Volcan
Calavares Monte Oscuro
Casita de Piedra
Laguna
Rio Cobre
Hornito
Lake La Ladrones
Zoncho Barriles
Yeguada
Vaca de Monte
Gulf of
Trapiche
El Valle
Rio Bermejíto
Panamá
Corona
Los Santanas
El Caño Sitio Conte
Carabalí
Cerro Mangote
Aguadulce
La Pitahaya
Vampiros
Sitio Sierra
Zapotal
Cerro
Juan
Díaz
Gulf of
Monagrillo
Chiriquí
Greater Nicoya
Gran Chiriquí
Gran Darién
N

N
PACIFIC OCEAN

Gran Coclé
300 km
80 km
By AD 200 three major cultural regions developed in the
isthmian region: the Gran Chiriquí of western Caribbean
Panamá, the Gran Coclé of central Pacific Panamá, and the
Gran Darién of eastern Panamá4. Archaeological
reconstructions of Ceramic period settlements in Panamá
have revealed a society characterized by extreme social
inequality and competition amongst elites for power and
luxury goods4. The extent to which Ceramic period farmers
relied on surplus food production is unclear.
Establishing an empirical baseline for subsistence economy is
essential to understanding the political and economic system in
ancient LCA. First, this project will analyze existing macrobotanical
data in Central Panamá to identify regional patterns in subsistence.
Second, this project will identify, rank, and compare relative
abundance of plant food resources used by villagers at Sitio Drago
during the Late Ceramic (AD 700-1500) period, at the height of
political complexity. Results from both regions will contribute to a
regional reconstruction of subsistence economy.
agricultural villages
ceramic technology
cultigens
forest clearing
human occupation
References Cited
Several major sites by AD 200
Monagrillo style pottery ca. 3300 BC
Rockshelters at Parita Bay ca. 9000 BC
Lake La Yeguada watershed ca. 11,000 BC
Paleoindian settlements ca. 9500 BC
46.67
38.51
30.56
27.69
15.38
10.13
2.78 2.78
Polychrome style from Coclé
CM
GRAN CHIRIQUÍ
Villages in Bocas del Toro by AD 500
Aguas Buenas style pottery ca. AD 0
Present in rockshelters ca. 3700 BC
Laguna Volcan watershed ca. 4000 BC
Preceramic rockshelters ca. 6000 BC
Aguas Buenas style from Chiriquí
CM
Sitio Drago
9.33 8.00
9.23
1 km
Cave 2 Cave 3
Sitio Teka
N

Cave 1
ISLA COLÓN
Ceramic Site
ALMIRANTE BAY
SITIO DRAGO
Recently discovered 17-ha.
Ceramic period village site located
on Isla Colón, the largest island in
the Bocas del Toro Archipelago.
Radicarbon dates place
occupation at AD 700 to beyond
Spanish contact (ca. 1500).
Sitio Drago is larger and contains a greater diversity of artifact types in comparison to previously
recorded sites in Gran Chiriquí6. Fifteen shell mounds and a cemetery contain a variety of ceramics,
lithics, shell beads, metal artifacts, and shell trumpets in both routine and feasting contexts. The
ceramic assemblage includes local wares and vessels imported from Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and the
Pacific Gran Coclé. Nearby forest locales contain additional activity areas, including smaller sites,
rockshelters, and 65 milling stones imported from off-island sources. Recent discovery of sites
nearby on the mainland suggests Sitio Drago was not an isolated settlement in the region.
Nicoyan polychrome
Chocolate incised style
from Pacific Costa Rica
Irazu yellow-on-red style
from montane Costa Rica
1.35
Late Preceramic
(6000-3300 BC)
Palm
Early Ceramic
(3300-400 BC)
Fruit Tree
Middle to Late Ceramic
(400 BC - AD 1500)
Maize
CM
Abundance of primary plant food resource types,
ranked by ubiquity value (% samples present/total
number of samples), demonstrates increased
importance of maize through time.
Types of Data Available
Macrobotanical
Microbotanical
Pollen diagram
PACIFIC OCEAN
PLANT USE IN GRAN COCLÉ
Early Preceramic
(8500-6000 BC)
Pearl
Islands
Coyol palm
Acrocomia vinifera
9.26%
ANCIENT PANAMÁ
LOWER CENTRAL AMERICA
GRAN COCLÉ
Coiba
Island
Azuero
Peninsula
Yagua palm
Attalea butyracea
9.57%
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Sitio Gandoca
del Toro
Sitio Drago Bocas
Archipelago
SE Maya Borderlands
Ficus tree
Ficus sp.
9.88%
CARIBBEAN SEA
(after Cooke 2005; Dickau 2010)
GRAN CHIRIQUÍ
BT-IC-10 BT-IC-23
BT-IC-20
F09 BT-IC-21
BT-IC-22
BOCA DEL
DRAGO
5 km
Major Archaeological Sites in Panamá
(boundaries approximate)
Ceramic Site
BT-IC-3
Archaeologists know little about the development and persistence (ca. AD 200-1500) of middle-range societies in Lower Central
America (LCA). Current models rely heavily on untested assumptions about political organization and subsistence economy1,2. Sitio
Drago, a village site located on an island along the Caribbean coast of Western Panamá, provides critical data that will begin filling
these analytical gaps3. This project seeks to establish a baseline of plant resource use in the region using archaeobotanical data.
Cultural Regions ca. AD 500
Archaeological Sites
Identified on Isla Colón
Maize
Zea mays
7.72%
Bactris palm
Bactris mayor
6.16%
Nance
Byrsonima crassifolia
5.56%
Macaw palm
Acrocomia aculeata
4.01%
CM
CM
FUTURE WORK
This project aims to expand upon previous paleoethnobotanical studies in the region by developing
a reconstruction of agricultural activities during the Late Ceramic period in Western Panamá. During
summer 2012, floral remains will be collected through vertical column sampling of units excavated
on Isla Colón. During the 2012-2013 academic year, I will identify macrobotanical remains, procure
radiocarbon dates to confirm stratigraphy of deposits, and conduct phytolith and starch grain
analysis of sediment samples and stone tool residue.
Results will test three hypotheses: (1) people at Sitio Drago
engaged in staple plant food production, (2) people at Sitio Drago
increased crop production of maize and/or tubers during the Late
Ceramic period, and (3) people in Central and Western Panamá
developed regional differences in subsistence strategy.
Understanding the development and persistence of LCA chiefdoms is
essential to addressing questions of emergent political complexity and
cultural continuity in the region. Sitio Drago may provide evidence of the first
large agricultural village located in Gran Chiriquí, thus enabling a more robust
comparison of Western Panamá villages with settlements located in
neighboring regions. Empirical reconstructions of farmers’ activities will
complement top-down theoretical frameworks addressing the development
of political, economic, and social organization in ancient Panamá.
Addressing the extent to which prehistoric villagers relied on food production requires quantitative
asessment of macrobotanical evidence. I began by analyzing previously identified floral remains
5
from 12 sites in Gran Coclé . This study produced a list of 26 plant types, many of which have known
economic value. Ubiquity values indicate importance of palms through time. Changes in ranking
order can indicate a preference for certain plant types in relation to each other. Maize becomes the
top-ranked plant resource in terms of ubiquity values during the Middle to Late Ceramic period,
concurrent with developments in ceramic technology, long-distance trade, and social inequality.
[1] Linares, O. F. and A. J. Ranere (eds). 1980. Adaptive Radiations in Prehistoric Panama. Peadbody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard Univ., Cambridge. [2] Sharer, R. J. 1983. Lower Central America as Seen from Mesoamerica. In The Archaeology of Lower Central America, ed. by F. W. Lange and D. Z. Stone,
pp. 63-84. School of American Research advanced seminar series. Univ. of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. [3] Wake, T. A., J. de Leon and C. F. Bernal. 2004. Prehistoric Sitio Drago, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Antiquity 78(300). [4] Cooke, R. 2005. Prehistory of Native Americans on the Central American Land-Bridge:
Colonization, Dispersal and Divergence. Journal of Archaeological Research 13(2):129-187. [5] Dickau, R. 2010. Microbotanical and Macrobotanical Evidence of Plant Use and the Transition to Agriculture in Panama. In Integrating Zooarchaeology and Paleoethnobotany: A Consideration of Issues, Methods, and Cases, ed.
by A. M. VanDerwarker and T. M. Peres, pp. 99-134. Springer, New York. [6] Wake, T. A. and T. Mendizábal. In press. Sitio Drago (Isla Colón, Bocas del Toro, Panamá): Un Aldea y Centro de Intercambio en el Caribe Panameño. In Mucho Más que un Puente Terrestre: Avances de la Arqueología Panameña y sus Implicaciones
en el Contexto Regional, edited by J. G. Martín and R. G. Cooke, pp. x-x. Patronato Panamá Viejo, Panama City.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr. Richard Lesure (UCLA) for supervising this project, Dr. Thomas Wake (CIOA-UCLA) for directing the field project,
Dr. Amber VanDerwarker (UCSB) for methodological guidance, and Dr. Jeanne Arnold (UCLA), Dr. Greg Schachner (UCLA), and the
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA for additional support. Dr. Ruth Dickau (University of Exeter) kindly provided access to data
and field notes. Michael Davis (Univ. of Kansas) provided maps of archaeological work on Isla Colón. Funding is provided by the
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, the UCLA Graduate Division, and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.