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Excavations at an archaeological site in Panama have revealed the grave of a religious leader buried more than 1,200 years ago alongside a hoard of gold objects — and many other human remains.
Researchers discovered the ancient tomb in the El Caño Archaeological Park, a site in the province of Coclé known as a hotbed for pre-Columbian finds, especially impressive burial chambers. The new enclosure, built around 700, is the ninth tomb discovered at the park since excavation of the site began in 2008, according to a March 1 news release from Panama’s Ministry of Culture.
The tombs, including the latest to be uncovered, are resting places for people who had a higher status within their societies, said Dr. Julia Mayo, leader of the excavation and director of the El Caño Foundation, a group that study of the cultural heritage of Panama through research on the archaeological site. The research team believes that the person found lying in the middle of the grave had a higher status, which was reflected not only in his physical position but also in the gold and ceramic artefacts that surrounded the body.
The civilization of the region around El Caño at the time considered the site sacred and worshiped their “ancestors,” referring to those remembered for doing important things. “After the death of these people, it was believed (that there was) continuous communication between the ancestor and his descendants,” Mayo said. “Our study (of the tombs) shows a ritual death practice in funeral rites associated with (high) status.”
The newly discovered elite leader, dubbed the “Lord of the Flutes” by archaeologists, was probably a 30- or 40-year-old man because he was entombed alongside a set of animal bone flutes that were probably used for ceremonies. religious, she said.
As researchers continued to explore the tomb, they realized that the Lord of the Flute may have had a lot of company on his journey to the afterlife — perhaps as many as a few dozen companions found buried beneath the offerings that were around him.
‘Representation of social order’
The researchers found similar patterns among the tomb and the eight previously studied tombs that suggested the other bodies belonged to people who had been sacrificed to accompany the dead to the afterlife, Mayo said. . The newly discovered remains appear to have all been buried at the same time and also have signs of a burnt death, she said.
El Caño is divided into two sectors of burial chambers: a high-status sector that holds burial chambers containing multiple bodies, and a low-status sector that includes only one body per grave, Mayo said. The excavation is not complete, so it is not clear how many bodies are inside the newly discovered grave, but the other eight tombs have revealed anywhere from eight to 32 bodies.
Although the other tombs contained what researchers believe were military leaders, the Lord of the Flutes was probably a religious leader, as the body was “buried with flutes and bells and not, as in the case of the other lords received by the same. site, with axes, spears and objects made with the teeth of large predators. This draws attention to the importance of religion in this society,” Mayo said in an email.
The excavation of the ninth tomb is expected to be completed by this time next year.
Ancient burial practices
The archaeologists found the body of the supposed religious leader buried face down and on top of the body of a woman, the release stated. It is not known what relationship the man may have had with the woman, Mayo said.
“The face-down burial method was common at this time period in this region, but the position of the man is not above the woman,” said Nicole Smith-Guzmán, curator of archeology at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City. , via email.
However, she said other researchers have reported the discovery of human remains more than 1,000 years old buried in a similar location at a nearby site called Sitio Sierra, in the same province as El Caño. The researchers speculated at the time that the pair represented husband and wife, but the theory remains unconfirmed.
“However, there was probably some kind of social relationship between the two during life that was important to maintain in death,” said Smith-Guzmán, who was not part of either discovery.
Gold decorations cemented powerful alliances
Among the artefacts found scattered on top of the burial chamber and around the Lord of the Flutes were five pectores — a type of jewelery worn by the deceased — two belts made of gold beads, several gold bracelets and necklaces, as well as two rings in the form human figures, and a few pieces of jewelry made from animal teeth, including earrings made from sperm whale teeth, according to the release.
These “exotic” subjects were usually interpreted as the leader’s strategies in life to gain more prestige within their territories, Ana María Navas Méndez, an assistant professor of sociology and anthropology at Illinois State University, said in an email. Ancient Latin American chiefs would often establish political and economic relationships with the leaders of nearby communities, allowing for the exchange of precious goods and artisans with each other, she said.
Many of the artifacts found inside the tomb were “stylistically similar to those produced in the Quimbaya region (Colombia),” Mayo said, adding that this shows there was a lot of interaction and exchange of materials. “between the populations that lived in Colombia. the central region of Panama and northern South America.”
City of the dead
Experts believe El Caño served as a regional ceremonial center or necropolis (city of the dead) for elite members of society, Smith-Gúzman said.
There have been two attempts — the latest in 2021 — to find out who the various tombs found at the El Caño site once belonged to, Mayo said. But all attempts to pick up any DNA from the human bones have failed, likely because the region’s hot and humid climate is not suitable for preservation, she said.
“(This discovery) provides new evidence to continue studying the leaders in Panama that could be compared with previous results,” said Navas Méndez. “With this new evidence, archaeologists could ask new questions about the interactions between chiefs, about the political economy of pre-Columbian societies, about religious aspects, about gender, and so on.”
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