Fishing, Curing and Smoking Fish at Cueva De Los Vampiros: a Contextual and Archeofaunal Evaluation of a Purported Pre-Columbian
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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY Fishing, curing and smoking fish at Cueva de los Vampiros: a contextual and archeofaunal evaluation of a purported Pre-Columbian fishing Camp near Parita Bay (Panama, Central Pacific). by Diana Rocío Carvajal Contreras A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY CALGARY, ALBERTA 2010 © Diana Rocío Carvajal Contreras 2010 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-69497-8 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-69497-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L’auteur conserve la propriété du droit d’auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protège cette thèse. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la thèse ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent être imprimés ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author’s permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformément à la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privée, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont été enlevés de thesis. cette thèse. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n’y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. ii Abstract This doctoral dissertation is a study of fish remains from a site on the Pacific coast of Panama. The objective is to determine through a study of the fish bones whether fish were subjected to preservative technologies at the site and whether the site may have served as specialized location to prepare fish to transport to settlements situated further inland. Fish and fish products are reported in ethnohistoric documents of Panama as important trade commodities among the chiefdoms of the region. Two rockshelters at Cueva de los Vampiros show evidence for having been used intensively for fishing and preparing fish between ca. 2200 and 1900 BP. Evidence is presented of human impacts on fish skeletons resulting from the in situ preparation of fish (i.e., gutting, cutting and smoking) providing the opportunity to compare the archaeofaunal data with two other sites, Sitio Sierra and AG-125, and with ethno- archaeological work conducted by Irit Zohar. Several lines of evidence: zooarchaeological (vertebrate and invertebrate remains), taphonomical (butchering patterns, postdepositional events), anthropic features (postholes, pits and hearths) and artefactual (pottery, lithic and shell tools) data, which in conjunction; support the hypothesis that Vampiros shelters were a place where Pre-Columbian inhabitants brought large numers of captured fish and prepared them for transport elsewhere. The high frequency of puffer fish here, in contrast with other sites in Central Pacific Panama, suggests that Pre-Columbian inhabitants at Vampiros were perhaps removing the skin, guts, tail and head of puffer fish animals and popping-out two dorsal fillets and exporting the fillets as a delicacy to Sitio Sierra during the dry season. Non fish vertebrate remains indicate that Vampiros inhabitants were not only exploiting and processing fish and gathering molluscs but they were engaged in other local activities in a highly modified coastal landscape. The evidence is insufficient to evaluate conclusively the role of the Vampiros shelters in the local and regional economy during the Middle Ceramic Period to provision inland sites like Sitio Sierra with inshore marine fish. However, it does demonstrate that the people of Panama, as early as early as 2200 BP, had developed techniques for preserving fish— techniques that later would be critical for thedevelop of regional trade in fish among the chiefdoms of Panama. Key Words Zooarchaeology, Fish, Mollusks, Taphonomy, Intermediate Area, Panama, Coastal Resources, Neotropics iii Acknowledgements Thanks to everyone who helped me with the completition of this project. First and foremost I would like to thank the member of my dissertation committee for their useful comments Dr Scott Raymond, Dr Brian Kooyman, Dr Geoffrey McCafferty, Dr Denise Brown (University of Calgary) and Dr Anthony Ranere (Temple University). The fieldwork and laboratory work of this investigation was possible thanks to a Smithsonian ten-week graduate fellowship and Smithsonian Pre-doctoral fellowship and the University of Calgary´s James Carter fund. Financial support for my doctoral studies was provided through a University of Calgary Graduate Research and Dean´s Entry Scholarships and Nicholls International Graduate Archaeology Scholarship. Permission to conduct fieldwork and to transport fish samples to Canada was provided by Department of Patrimonio Histórico at Instituto Nacional de Cultura (Panama) during my research. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to two persons: my supervisor Dr Scott Raymond for his counsel throughout my doctoral studies, his comments on numerous course papers, articles and drafts of the dissertation and Dr Richard Cooke who acted as my advisor during my research at the Smithsonian Tropical Research in Panama. He opened his laboratory, gave me Sitio Sierra and Ag-125 fish samples, trained me in faunal analysis and provided advice and comments throught this research. The radiocarbon dates to this project were iv funded by an annual research allowment made by the Smithsonian Institution to Dr Richard Cooke. I would like to thank everyone at Smithsonial Tropical Research Institute, in particular Máximo Jiménez, Alexandra Lara Kraudy, Aureliano Valencia, Lisbeth Valencia, Jaqueline Sanchez, Conrado Tapia, Felix Rodriguez and Adriana Bilgray for their assistance during my research and laboratory work. During the course of this dissertation, several people gave useful comments, theses and articles, particulary Dr Georges Pearson, Dr Irit Zohar, Dr Patricia Hansell, Dr Phillipe Bearez, Dr Anne Katzenberg, Dr Gerry Oetelaar, Dr German Peña, Pedro Jose Botero, Isabel Rivera M.A and Dr Christopher Gotz. To all those who assisted in the field in Panama, I express my sincere appreciation. I am particularly indebted to Ubencio Vargas, Lisbeth Valencia and Lourdes Castillero who worked with me as assistants. Others in Panama who deserve thanks are Luis Sánchez, for his contributions of drawings of pottery, and Dr Ilean Isaza, who provided information about Central Pacific Panama archaeology. I am extremely grateful to many people including Dr Jane Kelley, Dr. Len Hills, Dr. Latonia Hartery, Dr Julia Mayo, Larry Steinbrenner M.A, Laura Roskowski M.A, Ilicena Tapia, Nicole Ethier, Lilly Wong, Kitty Raymond, Angélica Lopez-Forment, Manuel Arturo Izquierdo, Fernando Astudillo, Alejandra Alonso, Sergio Gaytan, Anastasia Antonova, Shawn Morton, Meaghan Peuramaki- Brown, Guncha Byashiyeva, Marisha Shegda, Deepika Fernandez, Janet Blakey, Julie-Anne White, Juan Guillermo Martin, Paula Figueroa, and v Claudia Valderrama that made my stay in Panama and Canada confortable and enjoyable, and provided me with editorial comments, help, food, friendship and moral support. Finalmente y no por eso menos importante quiero agradecer con besos y abrazos a mi familia: mis padres Gloria y Nelson a quienes dedico esta tesis y mis hermanos Diego y Eduardo. Todos ellos me empujaron, animaron y apoyaron de todas las formas posibles a lo largo de esta tesis y mi carrera profesional. vi Table of Contents Approval Page ............................................................................................................................................ i Abstract ...................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. x List of Figures and Illustrations .......................................................................................................... xvii List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature ....................................................................xxviiii Appendices...........................................................................................................................................xxix