Slate backs of iron-pyrite mirrors have been found in the southwestern United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, and Peru. Three engraved slate disks were recently excavated at two sites in Costa Rica, one at La Fortuna and two at Guácimo. Slate disks in this region are not unusual. Many have traces of the gum that was used for glue, and at least one fragment bears traces of the wooden frame. The significance of these three plaques lies in the designs they bear. These designs indicate that the disks were made between A.D. 435 and 500 in an area remote from lower Central America. Grave objects associated with the mirror backs include reworked jades; gold objects in Coclé, Quimbaya, and Guayas styles; and Incised Zoned Bichrome and Negative Painted Bichrome Incised wares. These disks and the objects associated with them provide insight into pre-Columbian interchange and trade routes in lower Central America, and they suggest that slate disks were important in commerce and perhaps served as ceremonial objects.
The finding of ceremonial bone and shell objects at Puntarenas Farm, Jalaca, southeastern Costa Rica, along with ceramics of known Chiriqui or Red and Black ware, has thrown new light upon the extent of pre-Columbian trade and the penetration of cult traits from northern South America into lower Central America. Although no radiocarbon date has been obtained as yet, it is known that the manufacture of Chiriqui or Red and Black ware was continued into post-Columbian times.The presence in this region of shells found only on the Caribbean coast of Central America and not on the Pacific, as well as artifacts of manatee (Trichechus m. manatus Linn.) bone, also associated solely with the Caribbean littoral, indicate the extent and importance of trade. In the same sense, the appearance of the alligator-serpent motif on both coasts of the Nicoya Peninsula and on the western coast with ware related to Ulua Polychrome types and with an Ulua style alabaster vase, places a new northern boundary with respect to the diffusion of this cult motif. The Ulua Polychrome types and the Ulua style alabaster vase put a time horizon covering from A.D. 1000 probably to the Spanish arrival. The alligator-serpent concept, so familiar in the Amazon and Andean regions, the “eagle” or “condor” concept, the feline, the monkey, and the frog all emphasize the common base of lower Central American religion. Likewise they point to San Agustin as a cultural center of great importance in lower Central America.From the artistic point of view, the bone objects represent some of the most intricate carving yet known in eastern Central America. Both the style and subject matter place these figures in a different category from bone artifacts associated with Mesoamerican cultures.
On the western end of the north coast of Honduras, the outstanding river is the Ulúa, whose basin is formed by the plain of Sula. In the south, the gradually descending steps of the Cordilleras with the open avenues of the Ulúa on the west and her tributaries, the Lindo due south and the Comayagua at the east, bring contact to the wet valley of Sula from the semi-arid interior. Eastward lies the low margin of coast and the lagoons and river systems of the Pijol range. West and southwest is mountain land with an important river valley, the Chamelicon, which merges into the Sula plain. At the north is the open sea, bringing to this region varied influences from many and distant places.
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