Isthmo-Colombian Area

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Isthmo-Colombian
)

The Isthmo-Colombian Area is defined as a

Central American isthmus like eastern El Salvador, eastern Honduras, Caribbean Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and northern Colombia
.

Major cultural areas of the pre-Columbian Americas:
  Arctic
  Isthmo-Colombian
  Amazon
  Andes

Cultural area study and theory

It is a portion of what has previously been termed the Intermediate Area, and was defined in a chapter by John W. Hoopes and Oscar Fonseca Z[1] in the 2003 book Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia.[2]

The concept draws upon multidisciplinary perspectives, including linguistic reconstructions by Costa Rican anthropological linguist

Chibchan genetics by Costa Rican anthropological geneticist Ramiro Barrantes Mesén. It is currently being refined through ongoing studies of the linguistics. genetics, archaeology, art history, ethnography, and ethnohistory of this part of the Americas. This includes more recent study of the relationships between this area and the Antilles within a Pan-Caribbean
framework.

Cultural area archaeology

Archaeological knowledge of this area has received relatively little attention compared to its adjoining neighbors to the north and south, despite the fact that scholars such as

C. V. Hartman, and George Grant MacCurdy undertook studies of archaeological sites and collections here over a century ago that were augmented by further research by Samuel Kirkland Lothrop, John Alden Mason, Doris Zemurray Stone, William Duncan Strong, Gordon Willey, and others in the early 20th century. One of the reasons for the relative lack of attention is the lack of research by locals themselves into the ancestral monuments and architecture characteristic of communities such as those found in the neighboring culture areas of Mesoamerica and the Andes areas, and a long history of Eurocentric
perceptions by Western scholars of what represented civilization.

Sites and landmarks

Location map of the pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia

There are a large number of sites with impressive platform mounds, plazas, paved roads, stone sculpture, and artifacts made from

Spanish Conquest. Some of the best-known Isthmo-Colombian sculptures are the stone spheres of Costa Rica. Another area that has provided valuable archaeological information is the Gran Coclé region in Panama, largely coinciding with the modern-day Coclé Province
.

Indigenous peoples

The Isthmo-Colombian Area was and is still home to a wide variety of indigenous peoples. A large number of them were speakers of

Muisca
.

Non-Chibchan groupings include Misumalpan languages, Choco languages, Barbacoan languages, Lencan languages (also considered Mesoamerican), and certain Cariban languages.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hoopes & Fonseca 2003
  2. ^ Quilter & Hoopes 2003

References

  • Hoopes, John W.; Oscar Fonseca Z. (2003). Goldwork and Chibchan Identity:Endogenous Change and Diffuse Unity in the Isthmo-Colombian Area (PDF). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
    ISBN 0-82631-000-1. Archived from the original
    (Online text reproduction) on 2009-02-25.
  • Quilter, Jeffrey and John W. Hoopes, editors (2003). Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
    ISBN 0-88402-294-3. Archived from the original (Online text reproduction) on 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2019-09-08. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )