1,300-year-old grave of a man buried face down on top of a woman with a legendary treasure of gold found in Panama
A recent excavation at El Caño Archaeological Park in Coclé province unearthed the remains of a powerful ruler of the region and a spectacular tomb complex made of gold pieces, ceramics and other materials.
The discovery, made this summer by a team from the Ministry of Culture and the El Caño Foundation, promises to shed new light on the Río Grande’s flourishing pre-Hispanic rule.
Linette Montenegro, the Ministry of Culture’s director of national heritage, explained that the campaign is part of a multi-year project initiated in 2022 to explore the indigenous cemetery at the archaeological site. The work was made possible by an agreement between both institutions.
In addition to numerous ceramic vessels typical of grave collections of the time, the team found extraordinary goldsmith’s pieces such as five breastplates, two belts made of spherical gold beads, four bracelets, three earrings with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic shapes, necklaces, plates and gold bells.
Bracelets made from dog teeth, earrings made from sperm whale teeth with gold sleeves and bone flutes were also recovered.
Julia Mayo, director of the El Caño Foundation and project leader since 2008, concluded that the objects likely belonged to a prominent adult male from the Río Grande cacique group, buried around 750 AD.
The grave has not yet been fully excavated, but it is believed that the person was buried face down on top of a woman, which was a common practice among the elites of the time. It is likely that other sacrificed people accompanied him to serve him in the afterlife.
El Caño served as a cemetery and ceremonial site between 700 and 1000 AD. In addition to the famous monoliths, there were wooden structures and mausoleums for rulers and their courts.
According to Mayo, these collective graves typically contained between 8 and 32 bodies, corresponding to dignitaries, who were buried alongside sacrificed servants during the funeral.
The exceptional state of preservation of the materials and the opportunity to study such aristocratic burial practices in detail give the discovery enormous significance.
The pre-Columbian treasure and future analysis of the skeletal remains will undoubtedly enrich our knowledge of the pre-Hispanic societies of the Isthmus.
Sources
Ministry of Culture of Panama
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