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Nothing is yet known about periods I - III in Diquis. We pick up the prehistoric thread well into the second half of Period IV with the Concepcion and Aguas Buenas archaeological complexes. For specific data on chronology, settlement patterns, and subsistence, it is necessary to extrapolate trom published work carried out in Panama, where highland valleys or upland ridges seem to have been preferred locations for villages, a pattern also observed in Diquis. With the exception of a possibly oval or rectangular house (suggested by postholes) at the Panamanian highland site of Pitti - Gonzalez no house forms are known. Larger, probably ceremonial sites like Barriles, in Panama, and Bolas, in Diquis, include stone-faced earthen mounds and terraces or platforms. Considerable uncertainty exists as to the spatial and temporal relationship of the Concepcion ("Scarified Ware") and Aguas Buenas ceramic complexes, which predominated in this zone from several centuries before Christ until c. 500-700 A.D.. Concepcion, known primarily from Chiriqui, is characterized by multiple-line incising or rough brushing on the naturally buff or brown clay exterior, giving the appearance of rough-edged, fine corrugation, hence "Scarified." Chimney-shaped and conical vessels, some with tripod feet, are typical.Clay roller stamps are known. Although featured prominently in the earliest archaeological monographs, very little of this pottery has since come to light.
 Aguas Buenas pottery may be red, brown, or red on buff; small recurved-rim dishes and ollas are typical, and zoomorphic modeled adornos are a frequent decoration. Certain very large urns were apparently used to house secondary burials. The unusual Carbonera figurines, reputedly from the tip of the Osa Peninsula, are suggestive of a style at once older and foreign. The Osa may have offered a convenient point of arrival for seagoing peoples, in this case from South America. Cobble metates, with and without tripod legs, open at one end and raised along the other three sides, are known from Aguas Buenas sites, as are many waisted, double-bitted axes of chipped stone. Some Barriles-like artifiacts have been recovered; carved stone barrels of andesite and granite, with low reliefs carved at either flat end, have been found near the Costa Rican town of San Vito. It is said that 15 were found around a huge petroglyph-bearing boulder called Piedra Pintada, where they may have functioned as seats. Also found in that region were fragments of stone figures, some with conical headgear like that known from the famous Barriles statuary. Shaft-and-chamber tombs at Barriles contained huge ellipsoidal metates, adorned along the edge with carved human heads and supported by four legs sculpted into detailed human figures. Missing in this region is intensive lapidary work in jade; although a very small amount has come to light, it seems that other materials available locally, like agate, were used.
Since maize, beans, palm nuts, and avocados have been recovered from late Period IV sites in Chiriqui, we may infer a similar subsistence for Diquis populations at that time. Root crops were almost certainly important as well, but they leave few macroscopically identifiable remains. Some Concepcion-phase tombs in Chiriqui, stone-lined and incorporating metates in the walls, suggest extended primary burials. Other Aguas Buenas tombs were simple oval pits, while Barriles had well-made shaft-and-chamber tombs, a form known early from Colombia and the Andean area. Urn burials are also reported. Burials are usually found beneath or around dwellings, but appear in a separate cemetery zone at Boquete, Panama. Next »
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Some archaeologists believe that the giant stone spheres of
Diquis began to be made at this time. Some spheres are over two meters in
diameter, yet vary from the perfectly spherical by a mere centimeter or two;
they are made of granite, andesite, and even sedimentary stone, and weigh up to
16 tons. Certain balls found on the Diquis Delta were apparently rafted and
hauled to their present location from places many kilometers distant. The
spheres have been found in alignments on the surface. some mounted on cobble
platforms. Although no burials have been found beneath them. the spheres are
often grouped in the vicinity of a cemetery zone.
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