Changing boundaries in the Gulf of Panama: Contributions from Ceramic Instrumental Analysis of Punta Zancadilla Site (PGL-100), Pearl Island

Abstract

Throughout his career, Richard Cooke has had clarity about cultural boundary fluctuations in the cultural areas of Panama, proposing that various socioeconomic factors influenced the creation and variation of areas of interaction over time. This research seeks to frame Pedro González island, in Pearl Island, in that scenario of constant interaction and change. The results of petrography and X-ray diffraction analysis applied to ceramic samples from different phases of occupation (100 BC-AD 750) are presented here. Cultural affiliations and contacts between the peoples of Gran Coclé and Gran Darién cultural areas are discussed from the perspective of the pre-Columbian insular occupations.