A newly uncovered tomb at the El Caño archaeological site showcases lavish adornments made of pottery and gold. This burial site is dated to the period spanning 800 to 1000 CE, and according to Panama’s Ministry of Culture, the trove of funerary objects discovered renders the find “of great significance for Panamanian archaeology and the study of pre-Hispanic societies on the Central American isthmus.”
Knowledge of Tomb No. 3 initially surfaced in 2009, when an initial survey revealed a substantial quantity of ceramic and metal fragments. However, excavations were only launched this year, finally revealing its complete architecture and rich decorations. Inside are numerous grave offerings consisting of fine pottery alongside ornaments embellished with gold motifs, such as earrings, bracelets, and sizable pectoral pieces featuring bat and crocodile imagery—motifs characteristic of El Caño’s art and iconography.
This structure serves as a multi-burial site, centering around one principal individual accompanied by several others. The grave was intended for the elite of the Coclé culture, with the main interment belonging to a high-ranking personage from one of the chieftain or leader lineages. While Coclé chiefs amassed items of immense prestige, gold was not valued as a precious metal or currency within these tombs; rather, it held religious significance as an eternal material because its splendor resists tarnish or decay.
The El Caño archaeological park, situated 200 kilometers southwest of Panama City, functioned as a ceremonial center for the Coclé people. Earlier discoveries of opulent burials have already earned the area the moniker “Panama’s Valley of the Kings,” and a large portion of the necropolis remains unexcavated.
The findings obtained from Tomb 3 offer grounds to re-evaluate models concerning the emergence of complex chiefdoms across the isthmus, suggesting the presence of centralized polities operating between the eighth and eleventh centuries CE. These communities evidently possessed the capacity to organize extensive long-distance exchange networks and execute large-scale ceremonies, thereby establishing this location as one of the most crucial pre-Hispanic cemeteries in the area.
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