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Introduction To Costa Rican Archaeology: In spite of its small size, Costa Rica can be divided into three general zones whose cultures produced artifacts of distinctly different styles, especially after c. 500 A.D. Natural boundaries, like the Cordillera Central and the Talamanca mountain range, with the contrasting climatic regimes that they create, were of considerable importance in the development of this cultural diversity. You may click on the names of these zones (listed to the left in the table above) to read about the particular characteristics of each zone. Click here for a short discussion of alternative names for these zones. The time periods listed across the top of the table are based on a scheme for Central America agreed upon by a School of American Research Seminar in 1980, whose divisions correspond approximately to cultural thresholds important throughout Nuclear America. There are very few data for the first three periods (Period I - approx. 12,000 B.C. to 8000 B.C.; Period II - 8000 B.C. to 4000 B.C.; and Period III - 4000 to 1000 B.C.) of this chronology in Costa Rica. The last three periods (Period IV - 1000 B.C. to 500 A.D.; Period V - 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D.; and Period VI - 1000 A.D. to 1550 A.D.) are discussed in detail. For a summary of findings, click here. You might also want to learn more about the archaeologists who have contributed to Costa Rican studies, as well as the tomb-robbers and collectors who have such studies more difficult. Next »
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