Identifying settlement variability in the Isthmo-Colombian Area: alternative models from the Upper General Valley of the Diquís archaeological subregion

Encompassing the southeastern portion of Honduras and extending down into northwestern Colombia and Venezuela (Figure 8.1), the Isthmo-Colombian Area (ICA) represents a complex biological and cultural landscape from which archaeologists are forming new hypotheses for interpreting social variability. Current research within one sector of the ICA-the Greater Chiriquí archaeological region (Figure 8.2)—is driving a reconsideration of earlier assumptions regarding site function and its implications for interpreting long-term regional settlement ecology and understanding local vs. macro-regional social and

ecological processes. This chapter presents new information from El Cholo, which is located in the northwestern end of the Upper General Valley in the Diquís archaeological subregion of Southern Costa Rica. El Cholo is a mound complex with an occupational history spanning the second to eleventh centuries ad, conforming to late Aguas Buenas (300 bc-ad 800) to Early Chiriquí (ad 800-1550) time periods (Table 8.1).