The Zoned Bichrome Period in Northwestern Costa Rica

Coe, Michael D.; Baudez, Claude François

doi:10.2307/278738

Cited by 18 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(3 reference statements)

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“…40 d). Coe and Baudez (1961) maintain that a radiocarbon date of A.D. 90±200, obtained from a charcoal sample, aligns the Zoned Bichrome period in Costa Rica with the Formative in Mesoamerica and Peru. Tentatively they put the duration of this period between 300 B.C.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

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Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

Stone

Balser²

1965

Am. antiq.

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 69%

“…Outside of Linea Vieja and La Fortuna, Zoned Bichrome ware is known from the Nicoya Peninsula (Coe and Baudez 1961). According to Baudez and Coe (1962: 369), Zoned Bichrome is characteristic of Mesoamerica from the Middle to the Late Formative.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

Stone

Balser²

1965

Am. antiq.

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“…Tronadora Incised vessels are tecomates, incurving-rim bowls (cf. Rims thickness, about twice that of the vessel wall, plus broad lip surface markedly differentiate the vessels from Barraand Ocos-phase tecomates (Coe 1961;Green and Lowe 1967;Lowe 1975), whose rims are usually direct or tapered and relatively thin. Rims thickness, about twice that of the vessel wall, plus broad lip surface markedly differentiate the vessels from Barraand Ocos-phase tecomates (Coe 1961;Green and Lowe 1967;Lowe 1975), whose rims are usually direct or tapered and relatively thin.…”

Section: Ceramic Types Of the Tronadora Phasementioning

confidence: 98%

The Tronadora Complex: Early Formative Ceramics in Northwestern Costa Rica

Hoopes

1994

Latin Am. antiq.

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.The correlation of archaeological features with tephra stratigraphy and radiocarbon dates in the volcanic cordillera of northwestern Costa Rica has provided evidence for an Early to Middle Formative ceramic complex dating to at least 2000 B. C. ' Tronadora ceramics have been found in association with evidencefor early horticulture and sedentism. Stylistic comparisons with other early potteryfrom CentralAmerica have helped with the refinement of our chronology for the earliest sedentary societies in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Diffierences between Tronadora pottery and the earliest complexes of Mesoamerica and southern Central America indicate a high degree of regionalization in ceramic styles during the Early Formative period. Similarities also indicate, however, the common participation of northwestern Costa Rica and southern Mesoamerica in broad interaction networks at this time. Tronadora pottery does not represent an incipient technology or the result of a digusion of ceramic production from Mesoamerica or northwestern South America. Instead, it implies the existence of an earlier and still-unde.fined period of technological experimentation in the Central American isthmus.La correlacion de rasgos arqueologicos con secuencias estratigragicas de tefras y fechamientos radiocarbonicos en la cordillera volcanica del noroeste de Costa Rica ha proporcionado evidencia de un complejo ceramico Formativo Temprano a Medio con fechas de hasta 2000 A.C. Se ha hallado ceramica de la fase Tronadora en asociacion con evidencias de patrones horticolas y sedentarios tempranos. Se han llevado a cabo comparaciones estillsticas con otra cerdmica temprana proveniente de Centroamerica, hecho que ha ayudado al mejoramiento de la cronologia de las sociedades sedentarias en Costa Rica y Nicaragua. Las diferencias entre la ceramica Tronadora y los complejos mas tempranos de Mesoamerica y del sur de Centroamerica indican un alto grado de regionalizacion en estilos ceramicos durante el periodo Formativo Temprano. Sin embargo, las semejanzas tambien indican la participacion comun del noroeste de Costa Rica y el sur de Mesoamerica en amplias redes de interaccion durante esta epoca. La cerdmica Tronadora no representa una tecnologia incipiente ni las consecuencias de una difusion de produccion ceramica desde Mesoamerica o el noroeste de Sudamerica. En cambio, implica la existencia de un periodo mas temprano y aun no bien definido de experimentacion tecnologica en el istmo centroamericano. Archaeology in northwestern CostaRica has provided new information on the earliest ceramicproducing cultures of southern Central America. Tronadora pottery, present at sites on Lake Arenal ca. 2000 B.C., is the earliest dated c...

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“…Hartman's excavation yielded 16 burials in total, which could not be sexed, but many of which contained ceramic figurines as well as carved tripod metates, greenstone axe‐gods, and fine stone mace heads. Many of the ceramics have been identified as Early Polychrome, though the records of the figurine from Hartman's Burial 8 are inconclusive (Coe and Baudez 1961). They are interpreted as marking high status (Graham 1992:171).…”

Section: Engendering Elaborate Metates: a New Interpretationmentioning

confidence: 99%

4 Breaking Down Binaries: Gender, Art, and Tools in Ancient Costa Rica

Preston-Werner¹

2008

Archaeological Papers of the American

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Giant metate-like stone sculptures, found in all regions of Costa Rica, though in various forms, continue to fascinate researchers. Archaeologists contrast these sculptures with other, more utilitarian metates in order to determine their purpose and meaning. They create two groups-metates used by women for grinding subsistence foods and elaborate metates used by men for ritual purposes. This chapter challenges the binaries of tool/art, utilitarian/elaborate, and female/male that essentialize gender and homogenize historical variability. Figurine and burial data demonstrate women's connection to elaborate metates and ritual. In addition, ceramic figurines depict flexibility in gender roles at least within the stratum of ancient Costa Rican society that they depicted. This instance of stereotyped gender attribution and the absence of attention to the possible dynamism of women's lives shows the importance of a feminist approach to archaeology and the need to draw on multiple lines of evidence to answer archaeological questions. Keywords: figurines, metates, social status, gender, Costa RicaV aried in form and found in all regions of Costa Rica, giant metate-like stone sculptures have fascinated archaeologists for decades. Elaborate metates have been interpreted as having had functions that include grinding human flesh (Graham 1992), grinding ritual foods (Lange 1971), use in ritual performance to maintain control of productive land (Graham 1992;Lange 1992), and symbolic connotation of fertility (Balser 1955). Researchers contrast these artifacts with utilitarian metates, which are often correlated with women's domestic labor of preparing maize and other foods (Graham 1992). While archaeologists (Balser 1955; Graham 1992; Lange 1971Lange , 1992Lothrop 1963; Norweb 1961;Sheets et al. 1991; Snarskis 1992) split these artifacts into two groups-metates used for grinding daily subsistence foods and elaborate metates used for ritual purposes-both sets of artifacts retain an association of grinding and agriculture (Graham 1992:171). In pairing utilitarian metates with elaborate metates, researchers assign stereotypically dichotomous gender roles to their uses. For example, Graham (1992) argues that elaborate metates are a source of male power and that they demonstrate an appropriation of a female-associated tool for higher purposes.In this study, I challenge the stereotypical gender attribution present in the archaeological literature regarding Costa Rica's elaborate metates in order to show the importance of a feminist approach to archaeology. By reexamining the potential function of these artifacts, we can begin to break down the binary of utilitarian versus ritual that has been mapped so rigidly onto gender roles. In what follows, I present data that challenge the strict separation of women from the elaborate metates. This study uses multiple lines of evidence to address the dynamism of women's lives, which is a central goal of feminist archaeologists. I hope to provide evidence to begin to answer the follow...

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The Zoned Bichrome Period in Northwestern Costa Rica

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

The Tronadora Complex: Early Formative Ceramics in Northwestern Costa Rica

4 Breaking Down Binaries: Gender, Art, and Tools in Ancient Costa Rica

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The Zoned Bichrome Period in Northwestern Costa Rica

Cited by 18 publications

References 7 publications

Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

Incised Slate Disks from the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica

The Tronadora Complex: Early Formative Ceramics in Northwestern Costa Rica

4 Breaking Down Binaries: Gender, Art, and Tools in Ancient Costa Rica

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Product

Resources

About

4 Breaking Down Binaries: Gender, Art, and Tools in Ancient Costa Rica