Javier Rivera Sandoval | Universidad del Norte - Barranquilla, Colombia (original) (raw)
Papers by Javier Rivera Sandoval
International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Colombian urban archaeology has been growing since the 1990s, particularly in Caribbean cities su... more Colombian urban archaeology has been growing since the 1990s, particularly in Caribbean cities such as Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta. The investigations generally respond to the need to comply with protection regulations of archaeological heritage in restoration projects of Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC, the Spanish acronym for Bienes de Interés Cultural), located in historic centers or urban infrastructure works. The results have allowed for the reconstruction of various aspects of daily life in these cities since their foundation, but they have also uncovered data on previous occupations of those same spaces during the pre-Hispanic period. There is still a need to consolidate adequate work strategies adjusted to the needs and particularities of these contexts, which increasingly require the execution of this type of archaeology project.
La arqueología del Bajo Magdalena ha sido importante para reconstruir procesos como el origen de ... more La arqueología del Bajo Magdalena ha sido importante para reconstruir procesos como el origen de la cerámica, la sedentarización, la domesticación de plantas y los procesos de complejidad social. Este trabajo presenta algunos de los resultados obtenidos en las exploraciones arqueológicas de la ampliación del par vial de la carrera 50 en el centro histórico de Barranquilla, en los que se precisa la cronología de ocupación del sitio y se ponen en discusión varios aspectos sobre la arqueología de las sociedades indígenas del Bajo Magdalena para el periodo Formativo Tardío. ENGLISH: New Data on the Chronology of the Lower Magdalena Peoples in the Late Formative Period: The Barrio Abajo Site, Barranquilla (Colombia). Archaeology in the lower Magdalena has been important to reconstruct processes such as the origin of ceramics, sedentism, domestication of plants and social complexity. This paper presents some of the results obtained from the archaeological explorations carried out along th...
Since the inauguration of the Panama Viejo Archaeological Project (PAPV) in 1996, a significant n... more Since the inauguration of the Panama Viejo Archaeological Project (PAPV) in 1996, a significant number of Pre-Hispanic and colonial funerary contexts have been excavated at the site. These excavations have shown the presence of two well differentiated types of burials within the protected area: on the one hand, a wide range of burial patterns have been found associated to the long Pre-Hispanic occupation of the site, which dates back to the Fifth century AD. In contrast, funerary evidences corresponding to the colonial period (1519-1671) show that a recurrent and limited number of inhumation practices tended to be used in that time. Because the human remains of the Panama Viejo site were recovered over many years of fieldwork, the collection had not been analyzed according to consistent standards so far. Thanks to the support of the National Secretariat for Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Republic of Panama – SENACYT- it was possible to find a solution to these analytical inconsistencies through the development a funerary archaeology project at the site. This article summarizes the results of this project, focusing on the bio-anthropological data obtained from the analysis of human remains in cultural contexts. Thus, this work offers a good idea of the scope and potential of this project within the context of bio-anthropological studies.
Maguaré, 2014
Durante las labores de restauracion de la iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, en Bogota, las... more Durante las labores de restauracion de la iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, en Bogota, las excavaciones arqueologicas mostraron ciertas particularidades de los contextos funebres del periodo colonial que, junto a los materiales recuperados y al analisis de los restos oseos de la poblacion sepultada alli, conformaron un panorama general sobre las condiciones de salud, enfermedad y muerte de los antiguos habitantes de Bogota. En total se recupero un minimo de 117 individuos. A pesar de las limitaciones que representan el estado de conservacion y los detalles de los contextos funebres, se obtuvo informacion sobre 102 individuos, lo cual permite una aproximacion a algunas caracteristicas demograficas y paleopatologicas de la poblacion en la Colonia.
Anuario de Estudios Americanos, 2020
Este trabajo analiza los diferentes tipos de violencia en la sociedad panameña de los siglos XVI ... more Este trabajo analiza los diferentes tipos de violencia en la sociedad panameña de los siglos XVI y XVII en perspectiva interdisciplinar. A través de la combinación de fuentes y métodos arqueológicos e históricos, se perciben unos patrones comunes que indican una tipología de violencia interpersonal cotidiana multiétnica y socialmente transversal. Las fuentes archivísticas y arqueológicas se complementan en esta investigación para dotar de mayor complejidad a una realidad social hasta ahora poco explorada, como es la de la violencia interpersonal en contextos coloniales tempranos.
El Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER) fue el primer esfuerzo del Banco de la Republi... more El Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER) fue el primer esfuerzo del Banco de la Republica para descentralizar la investigacion economica, la cual tenia como unico centro de operaciones la oficina principal en Bogota. Es asi como en 1997, se puso en marcha el primer centro regional en la sucursal de Cartagena. Inicialmente fue llamado Centro de Investigaciones Economicas del Caribe y luego, en 2001, se convierte en Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER), realizando estudios de todas las regiones del pais. En 2017, con motivo de la celebracion de los 20 anos de existencia del CEER, se decidio adelantar un proyecto en el que participarian un grupo de destacados investigadores y estudiosos de la realidad Caribe. El proposito de tal proyecto era realizar un balance de la evolucion y principales investigaciones durante las dos ultimas decadas en seis dimensiones en particular: Historiografia, Estudios Economicos y Sociales, Arqueologia, Estructuras Politicas, Cultura y algunos de los Carnavales y Festivales mas populares en la region.
Revista de Indias, 2018
Para la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII se hizo evidente la crisis financiera, administrativa y asi... more Para la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII se hizo evidente la crisis financiera, administrativa y asistencial de los hospitales de la América colonial. Como parte de las políticas de mejoramiento y control de los establecimientos financiados por la Corona española, se implementaron mecanismos de registro que tenían como propósito evaluar la situación por la que estaban atravesando estos centros asistenciales. El presente trabajo reúne la serie documental producida entre 1774 y 1777 por Fray Nicolás de la Concepción Delgado, visitador nombrado para los catorce hospitales de la Orden San Juan de Dios en la provincia de Nueva Granada, territorio que hoy ocupan las repúblicas de Colombia y Panamá. El objetivo principal del trabajo es brindar información sobre la situación que vivían estas instituciones a partir de las descripciones hechas en las visitas-reforma y la relevancia que adquiere para el gobierno peninsular la labor de registrar e inventariar los aspectos de la vida económica y so...
Forensic science international, Jan 10, 2017
Studying bone collections with known data has proven to be useful in assessing reliability and ac... more Studying bone collections with known data has proven to be useful in assessing reliability and accuracy of biological profile reconstruction methods used in Forensic Anthropology. Thus, it is necessary to calibrate these methods to clarify issues such as population variability and accuracy of estimations for the elderly. This work considers observations of morphological features examined by four innominate bone age assessment methods: (1) Suchey-Brooks Pubic Symphysis, (2) Lovejoy Iliac Auricular Surface, (3) Buckberry and Chamberlain Iliac Auricular Surface, and (4) Rouge-Maillart Iliac Auricular Surface and Acetabulum. This study conducted a blind test of a sample of 277 individuals from two contemporary skeletal collections from Universal and San Pedro cemeteries in Medellin, for which known pre-mortem data support the statistical analysis of results obtained using the four age assessment methods. Results from every method show tendency to increase bias and inaccuracy in relation...
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2020
Intentional dental modification is a widespread practice in both ancient and modern populations. ... more Intentional dental modification is a widespread practice in both ancient and modern populations. In Panama, the modern practice is restricted to the Ngäbe indigenous people inhabiting the western provinces. Several researchers have posited that Ngäbe dental modification evidences cultural transfer of African origin due to the absence of post-contact records of this practice in the region, and based on the chipping technique used to create a pointed tooth shape. In this paper, we collate bioarchaeological data from human remains recovered from precontact and early colonial period contexts in Panama to evaluate this hypothesis. The results of our study found no evidence for intentional dental modification among the pre-contact sample, but several instances of artificially modified incisor teeth among the early colonial sample. The latter pertained exclusively to individuals of African ancestry, and whose teeth had been chipped to points in the same manner as reported from Ngäbe communities. Isotope data revealed that one individual was a first-generation immigrant who likely originated from the African continent. Based on these results, as well as an exhaustive review of the ethnohistorical and modern ethnographic literature, the original hypothesis of a late introduction of African origin for the practice of dental shaping among the Ngäbe was upheld.
Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, 2011
Panamá Viejo, a coastal site in the Panamanian Pacific, was occupied from ca. AD 850 to 1200 and ... more Panamá Viejo, a coastal site in the Panamanian Pacific, was occupied from ca. AD 850 to 1200 and from the arrival of the Europeans in AD 1519 to 1671. This paper describes the bone anomalies observed and recorded in the pre-and post-contact skeletal series from the site. The bone anomaly frequencies were calculated, taking their observability into account. A number of changes were found between the two periods, concerning MSM (Musculoskeletal Stress Markers), DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease), porotic hyperostosis and trauma, as well as changes that are classified as 'cultural'. However, these differences were significant only in the case of porotic hyperostosis and the 'cultural' anomalies. Further investigations using an enlarged series should clarify the impact of European contact in this region. To cite this journal: Bull. Mém. Soc. Anthropol. Paris 23 (2011).
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been b... more The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been based on chronicles and archival documentation. The present analysis reassesses the historical information about diet in this colonial enclave based on microbotanical, isotopic and bioanthropological evidence obtained from the ex- cavations within and outside the remains of the old city’s Cathedral in two locations and four chronological periods to complement and contrast written sources. The ensuing data sets, once integrated, point to the con- sumption of native plants, particularly maize, among people of different ancestral origins from the settlement’s earliest years, as well as the consumption of wheat – which could not be grown in the region – plantains and rice, whose cultivation was introduced successfully. Stable isotope evidence indicates a shift from dietary strategies based on maize, seafood and terrestrial animal meat in pre-Hispanic and early colonial times to diets featuring more C3 plants, including rice, wheat, and plantains, as well beef and dairy products during the later colonial period. This gradual shift in dietary strategies appears among individuals of Indigenous American, African, European and mixed origins and ancestries, probably influenced by the nutritional and epidemiological stress registered in all of these populations.
Las particularidades del proceso de conquista y colonia en América generaron nuevas formas de cot... more Las particularidades del proceso de conquista y colonia en América generaron nuevas formas de cotidianidad que, sin embargo, mantuvieron muchos de los elementos culturales de lo indígena y lo africano. La alimentación no fue ajena a ello y aunque hubo un interés por reproducir los estilos de vida europeos en el Nuevo Mundo, en realidad se generaron procesos de transculturación que permitieron la confluencia de saberes, tradiciones y productos de diversos orígenes. En este trabajo se expone a través del análisis de la arqueofauna excavada en el Hospital San Juan de Dios de Panamá Viejo, como el elevado consumo de fauna foránea (res, cerdo y gallina), contrasta con un consumo también alto en moluscos locales, en el que varios grupos de la población colonial panameña participan en la construcción del modelo alimenticio en el istmo.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been b... more The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been based on chronicles and archival documentation. The present analysis reassesses the historical information about diet in this colonial enclave based on microbotanical, isotopic and bioanthropological evidence obtained from the excavations within and outside the remains of the old city’s Cathedral in two locations and four chronological periods to complement and contrast written sources. The ensuing data sets, once integrated, point to the consumption of native plants, particularly maize, among people of different ancestral origins from the settlement’s earliest years, as well as the consumption of wheat – which could not be grown in the region – plantains and rice, whose cultivation was introduced successfully. Stable isotope evidence indicates a shift from dietary strategies based on maize, seafood and terrestrial animal meat in pre-Hispanic and early colonial times to diets featuring more C3 plants, including rice, wheat, and plantains, as well beef and dairy products during the later colonial period. This gradual shift in dietary strategies appears among individuals of Indigenous American, African, European and mixed origins and ancestries, probably influenced by the nutritional and epidemiological stress registered in all of these populations.
Open Research Europe
Panama, founded in 1519, became one of the most important sites for the Spanish Crown, consolidat... more Panama, founded in 1519, became one of the most important sites for the Spanish Crown, consolidating itself as an economic center that connected the trade routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. This situation produced a convergence of people of different origins (indigenous, African, and European) in the city, generating a strong process of biological as well as social and cultural mixture, which impacted daily life during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These processes were addressed by the research project: An ARTery of Empire (ARTEmpire) (European Research Council, Consolidator of Grant [CoG] 648535), which included archaeological excavations at the two sites occupied by Panama's main temple: one to the south-east of the Main Square (1519-1541) and the other where the cathedral was installed from 1542 until the city’s destruction in 1671. This article presents the results of the bioarchaeological study of 175 individuals recovered during the aforemention...
Fronteras De La Historia, 2013
DNA analysis in pre-Hispanic populations remains has allowed approaching the genetic origins of i... more DNA analysis in pre-Hispanic populations remains has allowed approaching the genetic origins of inhabitants in present-day Colombia. In this work, we complemented the archaeological results on the Malambo tradition, originated 3000 years B.P. in Lower Magdalena, with genetic studies of bone remains of four individuals associated with this population. We extracted DNA from bone samples and purified and amplified them by PCR for further sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. We identified the B2j haplogroup in all individuals as characterized by a G16361A mutation, as well as a 9-pb deletion and diagnostic mutations of haplogroup B. This same haplogroup was recently described in an individual in Venezuela suggesting genetic maternal filiation and continuity in northern South America.
SUMMARYThe recently enriched genomic history of Indigenous groups in the Americas is still meagre... more SUMMARYThe recently enriched genomic history of Indigenous groups in the Americas is still meagre concerning continental Central America. Here, we report ten pre-Hispanic (plus two early colonial) genomes and 84 genome-wide profiles from seven groups presently living in Panama. Our analyses reveal that pre-Hispanic demographic changes and isolation events contributed to create the extensive genetic structure currently seen in the area, which is also characterized by a distinctive Isthmo-Colombian Indigenous component. This component drives these populations on a specific variability axis and derives from the local admixture of different ancestries of northern North American origin(s). Two of these ancestries were differentially associated to Pleistocene Indigenous groups that also moved into South America leaving heterogenous footprints. An additional Pleistocene ancestry was brought by UPopI, a still unsampled population that remained restricted to the Isthmian area, expanded local...
Article Archaeogenomic distinctiveness of the Isthmo-Colombian area Graphical abstract Highlights... more Article Archaeogenomic distinctiveness of the Isthmo-Colombian area Graphical abstract Highlights d Ancient Isthmian genomes address anthropological questions on pre-contact burials d The comparison with modern Panamanians highlights genomic structure on the Isthmus d A genomic component drives the Isthmian groups on a distinctive variability axis d A previously unknown Pleistocene ancestry identified in the Isthmo-Colombian area
International Journal of Historical Archaeology
Colombian urban archaeology has been growing since the 1990s, particularly in Caribbean cities su... more Colombian urban archaeology has been growing since the 1990s, particularly in Caribbean cities such as Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta. The investigations generally respond to the need to comply with protection regulations of archaeological heritage in restoration projects of Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC, the Spanish acronym for Bienes de Interés Cultural), located in historic centers or urban infrastructure works. The results have allowed for the reconstruction of various aspects of daily life in these cities since their foundation, but they have also uncovered data on previous occupations of those same spaces during the pre-Hispanic period. There is still a need to consolidate adequate work strategies adjusted to the needs and particularities of these contexts, which increasingly require the execution of this type of archaeology project.
La arqueología del Bajo Magdalena ha sido importante para reconstruir procesos como el origen de ... more La arqueología del Bajo Magdalena ha sido importante para reconstruir procesos como el origen de la cerámica, la sedentarización, la domesticación de plantas y los procesos de complejidad social. Este trabajo presenta algunos de los resultados obtenidos en las exploraciones arqueológicas de la ampliación del par vial de la carrera 50 en el centro histórico de Barranquilla, en los que se precisa la cronología de ocupación del sitio y se ponen en discusión varios aspectos sobre la arqueología de las sociedades indígenas del Bajo Magdalena para el periodo Formativo Tardío. ENGLISH: New Data on the Chronology of the Lower Magdalena Peoples in the Late Formative Period: The Barrio Abajo Site, Barranquilla (Colombia). Archaeology in the lower Magdalena has been important to reconstruct processes such as the origin of ceramics, sedentism, domestication of plants and social complexity. This paper presents some of the results obtained from the archaeological explorations carried out along th...
Since the inauguration of the Panama Viejo Archaeological Project (PAPV) in 1996, a significant n... more Since the inauguration of the Panama Viejo Archaeological Project (PAPV) in 1996, a significant number of Pre-Hispanic and colonial funerary contexts have been excavated at the site. These excavations have shown the presence of two well differentiated types of burials within the protected area: on the one hand, a wide range of burial patterns have been found associated to the long Pre-Hispanic occupation of the site, which dates back to the Fifth century AD. In contrast, funerary evidences corresponding to the colonial period (1519-1671) show that a recurrent and limited number of inhumation practices tended to be used in that time. Because the human remains of the Panama Viejo site were recovered over many years of fieldwork, the collection had not been analyzed according to consistent standards so far. Thanks to the support of the National Secretariat for Science, Technology, and Innovation of the Republic of Panama – SENACYT- it was possible to find a solution to these analytical inconsistencies through the development a funerary archaeology project at the site. This article summarizes the results of this project, focusing on the bio-anthropological data obtained from the analysis of human remains in cultural contexts. Thus, this work offers a good idea of the scope and potential of this project within the context of bio-anthropological studies.
Maguaré, 2014
Durante las labores de restauracion de la iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, en Bogota, las... more Durante las labores de restauracion de la iglesia Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria, en Bogota, las excavaciones arqueologicas mostraron ciertas particularidades de los contextos funebres del periodo colonial que, junto a los materiales recuperados y al analisis de los restos oseos de la poblacion sepultada alli, conformaron un panorama general sobre las condiciones de salud, enfermedad y muerte de los antiguos habitantes de Bogota. En total se recupero un minimo de 117 individuos. A pesar de las limitaciones que representan el estado de conservacion y los detalles de los contextos funebres, se obtuvo informacion sobre 102 individuos, lo cual permite una aproximacion a algunas caracteristicas demograficas y paleopatologicas de la poblacion en la Colonia.
Anuario de Estudios Americanos, 2020
Este trabajo analiza los diferentes tipos de violencia en la sociedad panameña de los siglos XVI ... more Este trabajo analiza los diferentes tipos de violencia en la sociedad panameña de los siglos XVI y XVII en perspectiva interdisciplinar. A través de la combinación de fuentes y métodos arqueológicos e históricos, se perciben unos patrones comunes que indican una tipología de violencia interpersonal cotidiana multiétnica y socialmente transversal. Las fuentes archivísticas y arqueológicas se complementan en esta investigación para dotar de mayor complejidad a una realidad social hasta ahora poco explorada, como es la de la violencia interpersonal en contextos coloniales tempranos.
El Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER) fue el primer esfuerzo del Banco de la Republi... more El Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER) fue el primer esfuerzo del Banco de la Republica para descentralizar la investigacion economica, la cual tenia como unico centro de operaciones la oficina principal en Bogota. Es asi como en 1997, se puso en marcha el primer centro regional en la sucursal de Cartagena. Inicialmente fue llamado Centro de Investigaciones Economicas del Caribe y luego, en 2001, se convierte en Centro de Estudios Economicos Regionales (CEER), realizando estudios de todas las regiones del pais. En 2017, con motivo de la celebracion de los 20 anos de existencia del CEER, se decidio adelantar un proyecto en el que participarian un grupo de destacados investigadores y estudiosos de la realidad Caribe. El proposito de tal proyecto era realizar un balance de la evolucion y principales investigaciones durante las dos ultimas decadas en seis dimensiones en particular: Historiografia, Estudios Economicos y Sociales, Arqueologia, Estructuras Politicas, Cultura y algunos de los Carnavales y Festivales mas populares en la region.
Revista de Indias, 2018
Para la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII se hizo evidente la crisis financiera, administrativa y asi... more Para la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII se hizo evidente la crisis financiera, administrativa y asistencial de los hospitales de la América colonial. Como parte de las políticas de mejoramiento y control de los establecimientos financiados por la Corona española, se implementaron mecanismos de registro que tenían como propósito evaluar la situación por la que estaban atravesando estos centros asistenciales. El presente trabajo reúne la serie documental producida entre 1774 y 1777 por Fray Nicolás de la Concepción Delgado, visitador nombrado para los catorce hospitales de la Orden San Juan de Dios en la provincia de Nueva Granada, territorio que hoy ocupan las repúblicas de Colombia y Panamá. El objetivo principal del trabajo es brindar información sobre la situación que vivían estas instituciones a partir de las descripciones hechas en las visitas-reforma y la relevancia que adquiere para el gobierno peninsular la labor de registrar e inventariar los aspectos de la vida económica y so...
Forensic science international, Jan 10, 2017
Studying bone collections with known data has proven to be useful in assessing reliability and ac... more Studying bone collections with known data has proven to be useful in assessing reliability and accuracy of biological profile reconstruction methods used in Forensic Anthropology. Thus, it is necessary to calibrate these methods to clarify issues such as population variability and accuracy of estimations for the elderly. This work considers observations of morphological features examined by four innominate bone age assessment methods: (1) Suchey-Brooks Pubic Symphysis, (2) Lovejoy Iliac Auricular Surface, (3) Buckberry and Chamberlain Iliac Auricular Surface, and (4) Rouge-Maillart Iliac Auricular Surface and Acetabulum. This study conducted a blind test of a sample of 277 individuals from two contemporary skeletal collections from Universal and San Pedro cemeteries in Medellin, for which known pre-mortem data support the statistical analysis of results obtained using the four age assessment methods. Results from every method show tendency to increase bias and inaccuracy in relation...
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2020
Intentional dental modification is a widespread practice in both ancient and modern populations. ... more Intentional dental modification is a widespread practice in both ancient and modern populations. In Panama, the modern practice is restricted to the Ngäbe indigenous people inhabiting the western provinces. Several researchers have posited that Ngäbe dental modification evidences cultural transfer of African origin due to the absence of post-contact records of this practice in the region, and based on the chipping technique used to create a pointed tooth shape. In this paper, we collate bioarchaeological data from human remains recovered from precontact and early colonial period contexts in Panama to evaluate this hypothesis. The results of our study found no evidence for intentional dental modification among the pre-contact sample, but several instances of artificially modified incisor teeth among the early colonial sample. The latter pertained exclusively to individuals of African ancestry, and whose teeth had been chipped to points in the same manner as reported from Ngäbe communities. Isotope data revealed that one individual was a first-generation immigrant who likely originated from the African continent. Based on these results, as well as an exhaustive review of the ethnohistorical and modern ethnographic literature, the original hypothesis of a late introduction of African origin for the practice of dental shaping among the Ngäbe was upheld.
Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, 2011
Panamá Viejo, a coastal site in the Panamanian Pacific, was occupied from ca. AD 850 to 1200 and ... more Panamá Viejo, a coastal site in the Panamanian Pacific, was occupied from ca. AD 850 to 1200 and from the arrival of the Europeans in AD 1519 to 1671. This paper describes the bone anomalies observed and recorded in the pre-and post-contact skeletal series from the site. The bone anomaly frequencies were calculated, taking their observability into account. A number of changes were found between the two periods, concerning MSM (Musculoskeletal Stress Markers), DJD (Degenerative Joint Disease), porotic hyperostosis and trauma, as well as changes that are classified as 'cultural'. However, these differences were significant only in the case of porotic hyperostosis and the 'cultural' anomalies. Further investigations using an enlarged series should clarify the impact of European contact in this region. To cite this journal: Bull. Mém. Soc. Anthropol. Paris 23 (2011).
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been b... more The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been based on chronicles and archival documentation. The present analysis reassesses the historical information about diet in this colonial enclave based on microbotanical, isotopic and bioanthropological evidence obtained from the ex- cavations within and outside the remains of the old city’s Cathedral in two locations and four chronological periods to complement and contrast written sources. The ensuing data sets, once integrated, point to the con- sumption of native plants, particularly maize, among people of different ancestral origins from the settlement’s earliest years, as well as the consumption of wheat – which could not be grown in the region – plantains and rice, whose cultivation was introduced successfully. Stable isotope evidence indicates a shift from dietary strategies based on maize, seafood and terrestrial animal meat in pre-Hispanic and early colonial times to diets featuring more C3 plants, including rice, wheat, and plantains, as well beef and dairy products during the later colonial period. This gradual shift in dietary strategies appears among individuals of Indigenous American, African, European and mixed origins and ancestries, probably influenced by the nutritional and epidemiological stress registered in all of these populations.
Las particularidades del proceso de conquista y colonia en América generaron nuevas formas de cot... more Las particularidades del proceso de conquista y colonia en América generaron nuevas formas de cotidianidad que, sin embargo, mantuvieron muchos de los elementos culturales de lo indígena y lo africano. La alimentación no fue ajena a ello y aunque hubo un interés por reproducir los estilos de vida europeos en el Nuevo Mundo, en realidad se generaron procesos de transculturación que permitieron la confluencia de saberes, tradiciones y productos de diversos orígenes. En este trabajo se expone a través del análisis de la arqueofauna excavada en el Hospital San Juan de Dios de Panamá Viejo, como el elevado consumo de fauna foránea (res, cerdo y gallina), contrasta con un consumo también alto en moluscos locales, en el que varios grupos de la población colonial panameña participan en la construcción del modelo alimenticio en el istmo.
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2021
The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been b... more The study of food consumption during the colonial period in Panama Viejo traditionally has been based on chronicles and archival documentation. The present analysis reassesses the historical information about diet in this colonial enclave based on microbotanical, isotopic and bioanthropological evidence obtained from the excavations within and outside the remains of the old city’s Cathedral in two locations and four chronological periods to complement and contrast written sources. The ensuing data sets, once integrated, point to the consumption of native plants, particularly maize, among people of different ancestral origins from the settlement’s earliest years, as well as the consumption of wheat – which could not be grown in the region – plantains and rice, whose cultivation was introduced successfully. Stable isotope evidence indicates a shift from dietary strategies based on maize, seafood and terrestrial animal meat in pre-Hispanic and early colonial times to diets featuring more C3 plants, including rice, wheat, and plantains, as well beef and dairy products during the later colonial period. This gradual shift in dietary strategies appears among individuals of Indigenous American, African, European and mixed origins and ancestries, probably influenced by the nutritional and epidemiological stress registered in all of these populations.
Open Research Europe
Panama, founded in 1519, became one of the most important sites for the Spanish Crown, consolidat... more Panama, founded in 1519, became one of the most important sites for the Spanish Crown, consolidating itself as an economic center that connected the trade routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. This situation produced a convergence of people of different origins (indigenous, African, and European) in the city, generating a strong process of biological as well as social and cultural mixture, which impacted daily life during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These processes were addressed by the research project: An ARTery of Empire (ARTEmpire) (European Research Council, Consolidator of Grant [CoG] 648535), which included archaeological excavations at the two sites occupied by Panama's main temple: one to the south-east of the Main Square (1519-1541) and the other where the cathedral was installed from 1542 until the city’s destruction in 1671. This article presents the results of the bioarchaeological study of 175 individuals recovered during the aforemention...
Fronteras De La Historia, 2013
DNA analysis in pre-Hispanic populations remains has allowed approaching the genetic origins of i... more DNA analysis in pre-Hispanic populations remains has allowed approaching the genetic origins of inhabitants in present-day Colombia. In this work, we complemented the archaeological results on the Malambo tradition, originated 3000 years B.P. in Lower Magdalena, with genetic studies of bone remains of four individuals associated with this population. We extracted DNA from bone samples and purified and amplified them by PCR for further sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. We identified the B2j haplogroup in all individuals as characterized by a G16361A mutation, as well as a 9-pb deletion and diagnostic mutations of haplogroup B. This same haplogroup was recently described in an individual in Venezuela suggesting genetic maternal filiation and continuity in northern South America.
SUMMARYThe recently enriched genomic history of Indigenous groups in the Americas is still meagre... more SUMMARYThe recently enriched genomic history of Indigenous groups in the Americas is still meagre concerning continental Central America. Here, we report ten pre-Hispanic (plus two early colonial) genomes and 84 genome-wide profiles from seven groups presently living in Panama. Our analyses reveal that pre-Hispanic demographic changes and isolation events contributed to create the extensive genetic structure currently seen in the area, which is also characterized by a distinctive Isthmo-Colombian Indigenous component. This component drives these populations on a specific variability axis and derives from the local admixture of different ancestries of northern North American origin(s). Two of these ancestries were differentially associated to Pleistocene Indigenous groups that also moved into South America leaving heterogenous footprints. An additional Pleistocene ancestry was brought by UPopI, a still unsampled population that remained restricted to the Isthmian area, expanded local...
Article Archaeogenomic distinctiveness of the Isthmo-Colombian area Graphical abstract Highlights... more Article Archaeogenomic distinctiveness of the Isthmo-Colombian area Graphical abstract Highlights d Ancient Isthmian genomes address anthropological questions on pre-contact burials d The comparison with modern Panamanians highlights genomic structure on the Isthmus d A genomic component drives the Isthmian groups on a distinctive variability axis d A previously unknown Pleistocene ancestry identified in the Isthmo-Colombian area
20 años de estudios sobre el Caribe colombiano, 2020
La arqueología en el Caribe colombiano ha tenido una prolongada trayectoria, desde inicios del si... more La arqueología en el Caribe colombiano ha tenido una prolongada trayectoria, desde inicios del siglo XX, debido a que es una región clave para entender los intrincados procesos relacionados con adaptabilidad y complejización social (Mason, 1939; Angulo, 1955, 1981, 1983, 1988; Reichel-Dolmatoff, 1954, 1955, 1965, 1991; Reichel-Dolmatoff y Dussán, 1956; Plazas y Falchetti, 1981, 1988; Oyuela-Caycedo, 1987, 2006; Oyuela-Caicedo y Rodríguez, 1995). La diversidad de procesos sociales identificados y estudiados en el Caribe se relacionan en buena medida con la variabilidad en las condiciones ambientales que la región ofrece. Los enfoques paleoecológicos, fundamentados en la paleobotánica y la arqueozoología (Betancourt y Rangel, 2012; Oyuela-Caycedo, 1996; Peña, 2001; Ramos y Archila, 2008; Ramos, 2014), han ofrecido una nueva perspectiva sobre los cambios ambientales con una perspectiva de larga duración. A ello se suman la geoarqueología (Butzer, 1989) y los análisis de paisaje, que han precisado las transformaciones que este ha sufrido debido a la prolongada presencia humana en la región.
Este capítulo ofrece una breve síntesis de lo que hasta la fecha se ha venido generando en la región Caribe, incluyendo el desarrollo de la arqueología histórica y urbana, la arqueología subacuática y el papel de los museos arqueológicos como piezas fundamentales en la difusión de estos conocimientos.