Preserve the El Cano Archaeological Park & museum

One of the major projects that Fundación El Caño was involved in this quarter was a project with Global Digital Heritage (GDH). GDH is a not-for-profit private research and education organization that uses technology such as 3D virtualization, geospatial informatics to document and preserve global and natural heritage. They provide 3D models and digital data to governments, regional institutions, museums, local scholars and the public. GDH worked with the FEC to image artifacts recovered from the El Caño Necropolis.

In preparation for the project, members of FEC worked on selecting and cleaning the artifacts that will be imaged. Along with team members, students from the University of Panama and the University of Alcalá, Spain, assisted in preparing and cleaning the artifacts.

The equipment GDH uses includes Canon Cameras 5D Mark IV with Canon lenses of various types and sizes. In addition to the cameras, they use an Artec Leo and Artec EVA-S (Space Spider) Scanners. The artifacts are mounted on Foldio360 turntables that are set up in light boxes and the cameras are mounted on Manfrotto go190 tripods. The cameras are set to take continuous photos as the artifacts rotate on the turntables. The scanners are handheld to allow for continuous image capturing of the artifacts. 

The images and photographs are all processed in various computer programs that allow for the creation of 3D models. Once all the images are completely processed, which will be in a few months, they will be made available to the public thought both the Global Digital Heritage platform and the El Caño Foundation repository of data. GDH was able to scan and photograph 720 artifacts in 11 days.

In addition to the project with GDH, team members continued to present the advances and findings of their ongoing research. Dr. Carlos Mayo presented a research paper at the Museo Antropológico Luis Montane in the context of the international scientific convention Saber UH organized by the University of Havana. He presented the investigation titled “DIACHRONIC ANALYSIS OF THE SEXUAL DIVISION OF HANDICRAFT LABOR IN THE ANCIENT COCLE (VIII-XVII CENTURY) AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY.”

Dr. Carlos Mayo, along with Jesús Herrerín, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Alcalá de Henares, Spain, Yadixa Mayin Mayin del Valle Guardia, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural del Pueblo Guna and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama, published a companion article to what he presented in Havana, titled “FINGERPRINTS AND CERAMICS: IDENTITY APPROACH OF POTTERS IN ANCIENT COCLÉ (780 - 1020 AD)” in the magazine Scielo.

Dr. Carlos Mayo also presented “Analysis of a group of translucent green stones found at the El Caño site, Panama” in a virtual conference hosted by the Jade Museum in Costa Rica.

Ongoing activities at Fundación El Cano included the restoration and conservation of the artifacts. Many of the ceramics recovered from the El Caño Necropolis fractured into pieces over time due to the weight of the soil and the movement of the internal structure of the tomb. While most of the pieces of a ceramic artifact may be recovered, reconstructing it is a detailed, time-consuming process. Pieces are fitted back together and then a compound adhesive used to hold the ceramic pieces together.

Gabriel, a first-year student in the anthropology program at the University of Panama, spent time with team members at the Fundación El Caño-Centro de Investigaciones Antropológicas del Istmo learning about packaging and labeling of archaeological artifacts. Gabriel and Katherinne, the student from the University of Alcalá, were also shown the correct procedure in taking imprints of tool marks from different artifacts using acetate tape.

The Fundación El Caño (FEC) team continuously works on the cleaning, drawing and restoration of archaeological materials. Various ceramic jars and bowls were cleaned and restored. These artifacts had no record in the project’s online data repository of the project (ODA), so new records were opened for them in the system.

Additionally, 107 artifacts were selected to be digitized by the Global Digital Heritage Foundation (GDH) in 2023. Work has been done to clean and restore part of the selected artifacts. The breast plate assigned registry number AU13285 found in unit UE509 of tomb T9 was one artifact selected for this project. The breast plate is bent and to rescue the design on it a measured drawing was made. It was then vectorized with the free software Inkscape, developed by Inkscape Developers, GNU General Public License, Copyright © 2022. Vector illustration allows you to create designs and illustrations with exact precision. It also allows you to increase, decrease and modify the size and color of illustrations without losing sharpness. The breast plate was also cleaned using the 40KHZ ultrasonic cleaner. The cleaning was done with water at room temperature, power setting 1, for 1 minute. During the ultrasonic cleaning the equipment transmits ultrasonic waves to separate the soil that is adhered. After washing, the breast plate was dried with a conventional hair dryer.

The FEC purchased an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (XRF) with funds from the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT). An XRF spectrometer analyzes the elemental composition of materials such as stones and metals, among others. This tool will be used to analyze artifacts recovered from the necropolis of El Caño to scientifically identify the findings and their provenance. The training was given by Mr. Gómez, representative of Orgoma S.A., distributor of Bruker products for Panama, to members of the team and Mr. Ceballos, a biologist from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI).

In preparation for the 2023 excavation campaign manual workers were hired who were tasked with removing the water from the excavation, cleaning the surroundings, the roof, the water channels and downspouts of the roof. In addition, they removed some of the sacks that had been placed inside the excavation in April 2022 in order to protect its walls. The bags of earth are being placed close to the excavation since they could be useful at the end of the campaign for when the area will have to be backfilled. In addition to working on the excavation, they scraped, resurfaced and painted the El Caño Museum with the help of the museum staff.

This year the water table was much higher than in previous years. It was located at 3.60 meters from the surface. The tomb burial we were working on this year is below that level, at a point where the ground is saturated with water. In order to excavate it, we had to lower the water table, something that we achieved, temporarily, by making a drainage well next to it and removing the water out of it using a pump. We say temporarily because once we stop pumping, the water will return to the previous level.

During this year´s excavation season three university students worked in El Caño with the FEC team. These students, Tiara, a student at the Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquì, Facultad de Humanidades, Licenciatura Geografía e Historia, and Gabriel and Josué, both students of Licenciatura Geografía e Historia at the Universidad de Panamá, spent time learning about ceramics and cleaning protocols, human bone cleaning and identification methods, photographing and documenting all of the findings and excavation-related protocols.

During the 2023 excavation season we had the pleasure of receiving more than two thousand visitors and students from various schools and universities, organizations and news media. During the visits we shared information about the excavation, finds and contexts, as well as excavation protocols and procedures.

Work was completed to close the excavation in anticipation of starting a new campaign at the beginning of the next dry season. The FEC team will now return to work in the laboratory at the Ciudad del Saber. There we will clean, conserve and analyze this season's findings. In the laboratory our work is focused on conservation and reconstruction of the artifacts in addition to academic research.

Links:

• web page for Fundacion El Cano

Over the past months the team at the El Caño Foundation (FEC) have been busy with their continued research of materials recovered from the El Caño necropolis and the dissemination of information about their findings.

Research continues regarding the pyrite mirrors recovered from tomb T7 and tomb T4. One objective was to identify the materials the mirrors were made from. A sample of what appears to be remains of tesserae (small polygonal-shaped lamellar plates) adhered to the mirror was analyzed from both mirrors. The mirrors are composed of a sandstone base which are fragmented. Adhered to them was a very oxidized cream-colored material with shiny golden dots that in some points appears to be tesserae.

As in the case with the other El Caño mirrors analyzed previously, the samples of what appear to be tesserae remains contain high amounts of sulfur and iron, in addition to other compounds such as carbon. The carbon can be analyzed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), which can date very small samples of material.

Another investigation involves researchers working on replicating ancient pottery making techniques using local clays. One technique the researchers used to replicate ceramics was the the coiling technique. This was used to replicate a Guácimo type vessel, more than 1000 years old, found at the El Caño site. Other manufacturing techniques used to recreate ceramics included warping or hollowing.  These techniques were used to create a small group of ceramic replicas of the forms found in El Caño, such as long-necked globular jars or small pots with a curved rim

After creating various replicas, the next step consisted of firing the ceramic pieces. Before firing, the ceramics must go through a drying process whose time depends largely on the environmental conditions of humidity and temperature. The pre-Hispanic ceramics found in archaeological sites such as El Caño were not fired in kilns, firing was done in the open air. These techniques are still used today in nearby pottery communities in Coclé, such as in El Cortezo.

To fire the ceramics a small bonfire is made with very dry wood to facilitate combustion. The ceramics are placed around the fire to dry the pieces well and avoid a sudden thermal shock that causes breakage and spoil the samples. Once the flames die down, the pieces are placed directly on the bed of embers and ash: More wood is then added to the fire by stacking it directly on top of the ceramics and making sure that the combustion is as homogeneous as possible. Once the firing is done, which takes approximately four hours, the pieces are left to cool and are removed from the pyre and cleaned.

Petrographic analyses were carried out on sculptures from the MARTA Museum that are in temporary custody for analysis at the El Caño Foundation. The analyses were carried out with the technical collaboration of Dr. Eric Gutierrez, an expert in petrology and professor at the Technological University of Panama (UTP). More than thirty years ago, Dr. Gutierrez worked, together with Roberto Miranda, geologist, and employee of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), in the analysis of the rocks of the stone alignments of El Caño.  The sculptures originally came from El Caño. Two of them are in the shape of people, and the other two are animals (an armadillo and a feline) placed on a pedestal. The results of the analysis indicate that, in all cases, the sculptures are made from dacite, a volcanic igneous rock with high iron content that can be found in the area surrounding El Caño.

The FEC team, including interns Katherinne and James, participated in interviews, conferences and made presentations to discuss the investigations being conducted by the El Caño Foundation.

Dr. Julia Mayo was interviewed with two other female Spanish scientists working in Panama for the magazine, “España”, which is published by the Spanish Embassy. In the interview Dr. Mayo discussed how she began working in El Caño in 2008, her work and the findings she and her team have made since.

Dr. Carlos Mayo participated in the "IV Congress of Science: Research Contributions for the Sustainability of the Science, Technology and Innovation System", presenting the paper entitled "Archaeometric characterization of the pigments used in the decoration of pre-Hispanic ceramics from the site of El Caño (8th-10th century A.D.)". The congress is organized by the "Universidad de Panamá" and the "Vicerrectoría de Investigación y Postgrado" at the regional university center of Los Santos. The lecture, given by Dr. Carlos Mayo, coordinated this interesting research on pigments, with the support of Geraldín Martinez and Rolando Gittens (INDICASAT-AIP collaborators) and Matthieu Ménager of the Center for Mexican and Central American Studies.

Both Doctor Julia Mayo and Doctor Carlos Mayo are members of the National Investigation System (SNI) of the National Secretariat of Science, Technology, and Innovation (SENACYT). They participated in a meeting hosted by SENACYT for the recognition of the SNI investigators and a forum for an exchange of information and ideas.

FEC intern James Chaves, a student at the University of Panama, Humanities Faculty-Anthropology School, successfully defended his undergraduate thesis “Characterization of manufacturing processes in late ceramics from El Caño (780-1020 A.D.)” during a presentation at the University of Panama.

As a part of science week, James also made a presentation about El Caño and other archaeological sites in Panama to an audience of students at the International School of Maria Inmaculada. The students heard about anthropology and archeology, learning about the most important archaeological sites in the country and current research in archeology currently under development.

Katherinne Guerra, who is currently studying for her master’s degree at the University of Alcalá in Spain, participated in a virtual conference hosted by the “Laboratory of Osteological Materials Eh-Usac”. Katherinne presented “Use and unction of the perforated teeth of El Caño (775-1015 AD), Coclé, Panama”.

As a part of their community outreach, members of the FEC participated in a weekend Urban Market at the City of Knowledge where the FEC laboratory is located. Members were present to meet the general public, answer questions about El Caño and the investigations the group is conducting, as well as general questions about archaeology. Items produced by the FEC, such as the most recent book “El Caño: Memorias de Excavación” were also available for purchase.

An ongoing task and responsibility of any archaeological organization is the maintenance and control of the archeological materials in their custody. Recently the FEC has been reviewing the status of the materials and their packaging.  This project includes examining the condition of the storage bags and checking the labels that identify each artifact. Alexa Hancock began this work with the human bones excavated from tomb T1. Where labels or bags were in poor condition, they were replaced. New, thicker “ziplock” bags were purchased and used to repack the remains to reduce the possibility of the bones tearing the bags. Where possible, the bags are then packaged in hard plastic containers that better protect them and reduce the storage space required. If materials without proper identification are found, Alexa identifies them whenever possible and updates the information on the label and in the central registry. All materials are also photographed to document the current condition of the bones before repacking.

Since the excavation season ended, the El Caño Foundation (FEC-CIAI) has undertaken a series of tasks leading to the analysis and conservation of materials that is expected to be completed in December. With respect to the analysis of materials, work is being carried out on a project called PATMA (Traceological Analysis of Archaeological Materials Project), whose purpose is to analyze the manufacturing traces (marks) on the objects found in El Caño to determine the tools and techniques used in their manufacture.

The FEC-CIAI acquired two Dino-Lite digital microscopes, two illuminators, and two stands in order to conduct this project. The handheld digital microscopes with a built-in coaxial light, meet the needs of brightfield observation with superior image quality at 700~900x magnification. By using the flexible LED control (FLC), they can not only switch between brightfield and darkfield freely, but also mix the fields to have more possibilities to highlight details. In addition, this microscope offers automatic magnification readouts (AMR), designed to optimize the measurement.

The project is aimed at locating and characterizing the manufacturing traces of the objects from El Caño in order to characterize and recognize technological styles and therefore the human group or groups that produced them. This type of study is based on the assumption that the use of a particular work tool, made of a certain material, used in a specific way and under certain conditions, will leave well-defined features which are different from those made by other tools.

Four techniques are being used: Refractive Transformed Imaging (RTI), Optical Microscopy, Digital Microscopy, Microphotogrammetry and the technique known as Secondary and Electro-scattered Eletrons (SE/BSE). All four techniques were used in a study of worked sperm whale teeth recovered from tombs in the El Caño necropolis conducted by two interns.  The interns, Katherine and Arturo, are both working on their master´s degree in anthropology.

A second project is an Experimental Archaeology Project (PAE), which consists of simulating the way archaeological artifacts may have been made by experimenting with different materials, tools and manufacturing techniques. The two projects go hand in hand because an important part in the recognition of traces and technological styles is the comparison of archaeological traces with experimental traces. The PAE involves studying the behavioral processes of the material remains of the past, through an experimental reconstruction, so that hypotheses can be extracted for subsequent contrast with archaeological data. Research through experimentation is based on simulation, that is, the realization of a series of activities oriented to the verification or observation of anthropic or recreated processes on materials that simulate situations, events or processes of these past societies.

Using these techniques, FEC aims to learn about the raw materials used by ancient Cocle artisans in the decoration of ceramics. The research focuses the analysis on the pigments used in the decoration of the beautiful polychromatic ceramics found in the archaeological site of El Caño dated between 700 and 1520 AD. The results of this research, in addition to providing data on the origin of the pigments, will yield valuable information on the origin of the pigments and on the importance of ceramics in the economy of the ancient chiefdoms of Río Grande, Cocle.

As part of the PATMA -PAE, we drilled a fragment of fired pottery using a hand drill on the tip of which was placed a chalcedony flake that was previously carved to give it an elongated and pointed shape. It was drilled on one side only, so the resulting perforation has a conical section.

In addition to working on the PATMA and PAE projects, the El Caño Foundation team continued to on share the information pertaining to their research with the general public. On June 20, 2022, Dr. Carlos Mayo participated in the seminar "Natá 500 Years after its Foundation", organized by the University of Panama Coclé Regional University. He presented the segment "Much More than 500 Years of History: Notes on Pre-Hispanic Natá".

On August 9, Arturo, student at the School of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Panama,, defended his thesis "The technological styles of worked sperm whale teeth found in the necropolis of El Caño, Antiguo Coclé (750 A.D. - 1100 A.D.)". This was open to the general public.

James, a student at the School of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Panama, and Dr. Carlos Mayo of the El Caño Foundation, have published a preliminary study of the manufacturing processes of El Caño ceramics in the journal Contacto titled "Preliminary study of the manufacturing processes in archaeological ceramic samples from El Caño by means of radiological imaging".

2022 has started out as a busy year for The El Caño Foundation - Center for Archaeological Research of the Isthmus, FEC-CIAI (Fundación El Caño-Centro de Investigaciones Arqueológicas del Istmo). Three students are working with the Foundation for the 2022 field season. James and Arturo, both students of the Faculty of Humanities, School of Anthropology of the University of Panama and Katherine, a student at the Autonomous University of Chiriquí. These students are learning how to conduct field work and also developing the practical skills needed in their academic and future professional lives. For example, when working at the lab of the FEC-CIAI one morning, the subject of digital signatures came up. Dr. Carlos Mayo explained to James and Arturo that a digital signature is a cryptographic mechanism that allows the receiver of a digitally signed message to identify the originator of the message (authentication of origin and non-repudiation), and to confirm that the message has not been altered since it was signed by the originator.  They learned the uses of digital signatures and how they can obtain one. 

In January, a new agreement was signed between the FEC-CIAI and the Panamanian Ministry of Culture which guarantees the continuity of the excavations at the El Caño Archaeological Park through 2024. With part of the funds received through this agreement, the Foundation purchased a "Total Station” that will be used to document the topography of the site and its contents. La Casa del Topografo, where the equipment was purchased, offered researchers and students of the FEC-CIAI a course on its proper use. A "Total Station” is a piece of topographic equipment that combines an electromagnetic instrument to measure distances and an electronic theodolite to measure angles. At El Caño they are used to draw the contours of the stratigraphic units (archaeological contexts) and to accurately mark the position of artifacts found in the tombs. This enables researchers to later reconstruct the site virtually.

The FEC-CIAI have been doing some repairs at the archaeological park to facilitate visitor access to the museum and the excavation site. A handrail has been installed on the stairs leading to the museum in order to make the stairs safer. This is particularly important as we have not yet been able to raise the funds to build a ramp. At the excavation site the old perimeter fence has been replaced by a new one. The purpose of the fence is to ensure visitors do not walk into an unstable area of the excavation and potentially injure themselves. Additionally, we made repairs to the bathrooms to ensure their usabilty for both the staff and visitors.

The FEC-CIAI reprinted the two large visitor information panels at the El Caño Archaeological Park because over the years they had weathered, loosing their color. They were also relocated. One of them, with general information about the site and other cultural, geographic, and archaeological context data, has now been placed near the entrance. The other one, with information about the tombs, is located in the viewing area of the excavation.

In February, we began habilitation work in the area proposed for this season’s excavation. As no excavations had taken place for two years the area had to be assessed and organized for the 2022 field season. This work included activities such as replacing dirt filled bags to secure the walls and building platforms for accessing the lower areas of the excavation. This season’s initial work was on tomb T3. Working with the students, we drew the outline of the excavation and lines to delimit the area where the bags, with which T3 and its surroundings were covered last year, would be extracted. The team was concerned about the stability of the roof canopy over the excavation site. The roof supports are anchored in concrete footings and excavation might have undermined them. We drew the outline of an unstable fill to the north of the excavation and the footings to measure the distance between them. Some of them are very close to the northern edge of the fill and a gully located to the east. As work continued, another tomb, T9, was identified. This tomb was even closer to, and eventually identified as exceeding, the area under the roof where we already had safety concerns. So a decision was made to remove two of the roof supports and replace them with an "A” frame. 

During this time, students Katherine, Arturo, and James worked with the Total Station to draw a plan of the site's stone structures. They also worked with the team archeologists, receiving training on subjects such as ceramic identification and reconstruction, bone identification, stratigraphy, and excavation structure practices.

Teachers from the School of Spain visited the Archaeological Park of El Caño. As part of our continued outreach program, Drs. Julia Mayo, Carlos Mayo, and Miguel Ángel Hervás presented a copy of the two volume box-set book "El Caño: Memorias de Excavación" for the school´s library.

The field season ended the last week of April due to the arrival of the rainy season. Work will continue in the laboratory to document and conserve all of the artifacts recovered during the 2022 season.