Abstract
ABSTRACTThe material evidence of human presence in the Chontales region of central Nicaragua spans from 1420 ± 30 BP, or cal AD 554–670 (±2σ) through to the present, as was recently established (Donner and Geurds 2018). This cultural chronology, divided into three main periods, contrasts with the one previously proposed by (Gorin 1990), who defined six different phases from 500 BC through AD 1600. Here, we report on 11 new radiocarbon (14C) assays, introducing an update to the cultural sequence, consisting of two considerable changes, while also providing further overall strengthening. First, the earliest traces of human groups are now placed at 1645 ± 25 BP, or cal AD 263–536 (±2σ); second, five different periods are established for the research area. A recalibration of Gorin’s dates identified their consistency with the results reported here, supporting the new cultural chronology of central Nicaragua. Additionally, this study achieved the complete temporal characterization of Aguas Buenas, the largest pre-colonial archaeological site in Nicaragua.
Highlights
Since 2014, the Proyecto Arqueologico Centro de Nicaragua (PACEN), under the direction of Dr Alexander Geurds, implemented a comprehensive research program to re-define the chronology of the valley of Juigalpa
A recalibration of Gorin’s dates identified their consistency with the results reported here, supporting the new cultural chronology of central Nicaragua
Research conducted by PACEN questioned the accepted cultural chronology (Geurds 2013), and produced data that allowed for its reformulation as three different periods ranging from 1420 ± 30 BP, or cal AD 554–670 (±2σ) (Beta-457282) to the present (Donner and Geurds 2018)
Summary
Since 2014, the Proyecto Arqueologico Centro de Nicaragua (PACEN), under the direction of Dr Alexander Geurds, implemented a comprehensive research program to re-define the chronology of the valley of Juigalpa. Located 25 km northeast of Lake Cocibolca and irrigated by the Mayales river, this valley was previously studied by Franck Gorin (1990) and Dominique Rigat (1992), who established a ceramic sequence comprising six different phases spanning from 500 BC to AD 1600 (Gorin 1990) This ceramic chronology was based on a limited number of four absolute dates and very few excavated contexts. New radiocarbon assays, in combination with a technological approach to ceramic analysis, point to an earlier human presence in the valley—though not as far back in time as Gorin’s proposal These dates were obtained in the context of a systematic high-intensity full-coverage surface survey, which was conducted in a 52 square kilometer area (Arteaga 2017; Donner et al 2018), together with the excavation of eighteen mounded sites between 2015 and 2016.
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