A week in the life of an archaeologist...

One of the most important pieces of archaeological evidence is pottery. Particularly in Panama, where there were no great civilizations, the pottery styles help define prehistoric time periods. To begin to understand the different pottery styles of Panama we started with a lab in which we sorted through unidentified shards...

Learned how to determine the shape of the vessel based on its rim, shown in profile here...

Properly sketch the sherd (variant of shard particularly used in archaeology...to make them feel special?)...

Compare them to reference collections...

To finally identify it (in this case, the potsherd sketched above is from an open bowl in the Cubita style from the late Middle Ceramic period. I think that one might have the back legs of a frog on it? It can be hard to tell though.

Some of the pieces are particularly interesting, like this handle that is shaped like a frog's face:

Next, we actually went out into the field and did some surface surveys. First we went to La Mula-Sarigua, home to some early Panamanian pottery including the first polychrome (multicolored, red and black) pottery. We mostly walked around, noting interesting artifacts and features and noting the GPS coordinates to map the site.

The landscape.

It certainly didn't look very hospitable.

The vegetation was cactus, acacia trees, and lots of wild cotton.

We found a few signs of pottery...

 A considerable amount of petrified wood...

And some gorgeous rocks...

Including lots of jasper...

 Some of which had clearly been worked, leaving a "core", an unfinished point, and flakes, the byproducts.

Next we went to the type site of the very earliest pottery found in Panama, called Monagrillo. The dating is controversial, but the pottery seems to date from the 3rd or 4th millenium BC. Unfortunately, recent habitation has destroyed much of the site.

House atop the center of the Monagrillo site.

But there were some pretty parts...

Pattern emergence!

Evidence of a shell midden (trash dump)...

Modern pottery, and just one interesting sherd, possibly from the Monagrillo style, but difficult to identify.

The next day we did a more systematic survey of Cerro Juan Diaz, another important site, where the earliest metalwork in Panama was found. We didn't find any metal, but we found lots of pottery.

The hill of Cerro Juan Diaz.

The survey area.

A pile of pottery found at the surface in a circle of radius 1 meter.

Cubita style sherd. Typical parallel straight black lines.

A handle.

A Macaracas style rim with a typical alternating color paneling called "coral snake".

Next we went to a nearby site that is thought to have been a rival village to Cerro Juan Diaz, called Las Huertas. This site had clearly been looted considerably, but there were some really interesting things exposed.

Spout.

A complete handle.

More shells.

This was my favorite, a piece also from the Macaracas style. When I pulled it out it was caked in dirt like the earlier picture, but our professor had a brush and I spent a few minutes brushing it off to reveal this beauty. 

Isn't that purple pretty? And those swirls? The use of purple is limited to the Late Ceramic styles.

Again, the colored rim is diagnostic of the Macaracas style.

I haven't yet shared quite all of my adventures or pictures with you (there is, for example, some pictures of adorable owls coming), but the trip is drawing to a close. I have had a wonderful time, but am excited to head home.

Birds, birds, birds!

Chhaya and I went birding with Ioana (our bird-studying teaching assistant) the other day. She was wonderfully patient with all of our questions and helped us identify all the birds. We say at least twenty species of birds including...

Black Orapendula (Psarocolius guatimozinus). It has distinctive yellow tail feathers which splay out when it flies.

Chachalaca (Ortalis cinereiceps).

Chachalaca silhouette. Apparently Chacalacas display rather like turkeys, but I haven't seen it.

Blue-crowned Motmot (Momotus momota), remember the myth about their remarkable tail feathers?
Also see the avocados?

The avocados are different here. They don't taste as good by themselves, but they are yummy mixed in with beans and rice, as I had for dinner today.

Close up of the Motmot. See the blue head?

We saw this nest in the process of being built...

...by this bird, the Yellow-bellied Elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster).

Panamanian Flycatcher (Myiarchus panamensis)

The more dully colored, but very cute Streaked Flycatcher (Myiodynastes maculatus).

Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus).

Orange-chinned Parakeet (Brotogeris jugularis).

They blend in remarkably well; although they are flashily colored, the sun shines through the leaves and illuminates them to a similarly brilliant green.

Grooming time! This involved a careful chewing of feet as well as ruffling of feathers.

Red-legged honeycreeper (Cyanerpes cyaneus). I wish I could have seen it from the side as it's a flashy blue.

Common Tody-flycatcher (Todirostrum cinereum).

Yellow warbler (Setophaga petechia).

Blue-gray tanager (Thraupis episcopus)

Crimson-backed Tanager (Ramphocelus dimidiatus).

And my favourite...

Golden-hooded tanager (Tangara larvata).

Here you can really see the golden hood.

I also loved this impressive tree covered with epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants)...

And this gorgeous orchid...