Paths to Central American Prehistory

by Lange, Frederick W.

• ISBN13: 9780870814020
• ISBN10: 0870814028
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-01-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Colorado

Summary

This landmark volume brings together contributions by some of the most distinguished pioneers of Central American archaeology as well as those of younger scholars from North America, Europe, and Central America. This ambitious work demonstrates the parallel ongoing needs to pursue theoretical and methodological advances while dedicating equal efforts to filling in the blank spaces in the archaeological map of Central America, where even the most basic surveys and chronological sequences are lacking.
The contributions represent a range in specialties that include archaeology, precolumbian art history, new analytical techniques, and exploration of unknown geographical areas.
Paths to Central American Prehistory covers El Salvador and Honduras through Panama, from the Paleoindian period to the time of the Spanish invasion. It will have wide appeal to Mesoamerican and Central American archaeologists as well as to general readers with a serious interest in the archaeology of the area.

Table of Contents

Figures
Tables
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
The Saga of an Archaeologist: A Brief Glimpse Into the Life of Wolfgang Haberland	p. 5
Settlement, Subsistence, and the Origins of Social Complexity in Greater Chiriqui: A Reappraisal of the Aguas Buenas Tradition	p. 15
Stone Tools and Cultural Boundaries in Prehistoric Panama: An Initial Assessment	p. 49
A Ceramic Sequence for the Lower Diquis Area, Costa Rica	p. 79
The Archaeology of the Central Pacific Coast of Costa Rica	p. 93
The Bay of Salinas: Coastal Crossroads of Greater Nicoya	p. 119
Luna Polychrome	p. 143
Preliminary Research in Chontales and the Lake Managua Basin, Nicaragua	p. 177
The Ayala Site: A Bagaces Period Site Near Granada, Nicaragua	p. 191
The Nicoya Shaman	p. 221
Merchants and Metalwork in Middle America	p. 237
Prehistoric Coastal Subsistence in Northwestern Costa Rica: Geographical Diversity and Chronological Trends	p. 253
Precolumbian Obsidian Trade in the Northern Intermediate Area: Elemental Analysis of Artifacts From Honduras and Nicaragua	p. 271
El Salvador and the Southeastern Frontier of Mesoamerica	p. 285
Lower Central American Archaeology: Some Comments as of 1991	p. 297
Gaps in Our Databases and Blanks in Our Syntheses: The Potential for Central American Archaeology in the Twenty-First Century	p. 305
References	p. 327
Contributors	p. 369
Index	p. 371
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