Cerro Juan Diaz
- Folder Type:
- Archaeology Site
- Primary Title:
- Cerro Juan Diaz
- Alternate Title: Abbreviation
- LS-3
- Summary Description:
- Cerro Juan Diaz, or, more correctly, LS-3, is a large (~150 ha) archaeological site located in the north-eastern corner of the Azuero Peninsula in central Pacific Panama. Cultural materials and low mounded features are found on both banks of the La Villa River, which rises in the mountains of the Azuero Peninsula ca. 120 km inland, and empties into Parita Bay. The site lies 2.5 km north of the township of Los Santos, formally founded by the Spanish crown in 1569 CE, but settled earlier. The active marine shore is now 4.3 km from LS-3; but coastal progradation from ca. 8000 BP onward has slowly distanced the site from the active marine shore. A multi-annual archaeological project (1992-2001) documented human occupation from about 2200 to 400 years BP or 200 BCE-1600 CE. A human presence in the vicinity (at La Mula-Sarigua and Vampiros-1) goes back to early Paleoindian (Clovis) times (ca. 13,000 ya). Most of the fieldwork conducted at LS-3 between 1992 and 2000 concentrated on the southern (Los Santos) bank of the La Villa River around a hill called Cerro Juan Diaz, which rises 42 m above the riverine plain, and is a prominent local landmark. For this reason, the archaeological site is best known in the literature as 'Cerro Juan Diaz'. The closest modern towns are Los Santos and Chitre. Most of the site's occupation corresponds to the Precolumbian period, which formally ended in Panama in 1502 CE when Columbus established a settlement at the mouth of the Belen River on the Caribbean coast. A small area around the central hill, however, contains scant remains of an early historic occupation, which archaeologists attribute to the ephemeral 'pueblo de Indios' of Cubita (active around 1575 CE). The locality is well known to local looters, called 'huaqueros', who targeted the site in search of polychrome pottery and gold-work to sell. Consequently, it has been severely damaged by random illegal digging. Since the archaeological project terminated in 2001, these activities appear to have ceased. The site was visited by French archaeologist during his research project in the southern Azuero Peninsula (1968-1972). Ichon designated designated it LS-3. In 1980 a Chilean archaeologist, Carlos Thomas Winter, conducted a field school here financed by the Organization of American States. The whereabouts of the materials collected is unknown.
- Identifier: Site ID
- LS-3
- Time Period: Excavation Dates
- Begin Date: 1992 End Date: 2001
- Place: Site Location
- Country: Panama Province: Los Santos and Herrera Location: Azuero Peninsula Place Note: The site lies 2.5 km north of the township of Los Santos, formally founded by the Spanish crown in 1569 CE, but settled earlier. The active marine shore is now 4.3 km from LS-3; but coastal progradation from ca. 8000 BP onward has slowly distanced the site from the active marine shore.
- Actor: Project Owner
- Richard Cooke
- Actor: Collaborator
- STRI
- Actor: Excavator
- Luiz Alberto Sanchez Herrera
- Actor: Excavator
- Adrian Badilla
- Actor: Sponsor
- Marcela Camargo Rios, Direccion Nacional de Patrmonio Historico del Instituto de Cultura
- Actor: Sponsor
- Panama's National Heritage Department at the Institute of Culture
- Physical Description: Site Description
- Southern (Los Santos) bank of the La Villa River around a hill called Cerro Juan Diaz Note: Large (~150 ha) archaeological site located in the north-eastern corner of the Azuero Peninsula in central Pacific Panama. Cultural materials and low mounded features are found on both banks of the La Villa River, which rises in the mountains of the Azuero Peninsula ca. 120 km inland, and empties into Parita Bay. The site lies 2.5 km north of the township of Los Santos, formally founded by the Spanish crown in 1569 CE, but settled earlier. The active marine shore is now 4.3 km from LS-3; but coastal progradation from ca. 8000 BP onward has slowly distanced the site from the active marine shore. Most of the fieldwork conducted at LS-3 between 1992 and 2000 concentrated on the southern (Los Santos) bank of the La Villa River around a hill called Cerro Juan Diaz, which rises 42 m above the riverine plain, and is a prominent local landmark.
- Condition: Site Condition
- damaged by looters Note: The locality is well known to local looters, called 'huaqueros', who targeted the site in search of polychrome pottery and gold-work to sell. Consequently, it has been severely damaged by random illegal digging. Since the archaeological project terminated in 2001, these activities appear to have ceased.
- Context: Historical
- Precolumbian Note: Most of the site's occupation corresponds to the Precolumbian period, which formally ended in Panama in 1502 CE when Columbus established a settlement at the mouth of the Belen River on the Caribbean coast. A small area around the central hill, however, contains scant remains of an early historic occupation, which archaeologists attribute to the ephemeral 'pueblo de Indios' of Cubita (active around 1575 CE).
- Measurements:
- Type:Site Size Value:150 Units:Hectare
| PID | Type | Title | Metadata | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| si_119267 | Map of Cerro Juan DÃaz, showing the location of excavations(operations),1992-1994 |
| Download | |
| si_119285 | Geographical location of archaeological site Cerro Juan Diaz |
| Download | |
| si_1287153 |  | Cerro Juan Diaz Project Report |
| Download |
| si_2756861 | | HuaquerÃa y Coleccionismo en Panamá |
| Download |
| si_2756899 | | Coetaneidad de metalurgia |
| Download |
| si_2764657 | | Stylistic analysis of two ceramic components of Cerro Juan DÃaz |
| Download |