Rivas, Costa Rica

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Rivas is a modern hamlet located in the General River Valley of Costa Rica near the city of San Isidro. This town lies south of an active volcanic chain that ends with Mt. Irazú near San José. Rivas is postioned near the headwaters of the General River where the Rio Buenavista and the Rio Chirripò converge to form the ridge known as the Panteón de La Reina.

[edit] Archaeology

Originally discovered through site surveys of the region by Robert Drolet, Rivas is one of 15 Chiriquí Phase archaeological sites known within the river valley. Although the area is presently covered with agricultural plots, large standing boulders can be seen throughout the area signifying the presence of an archaeological site.

Excavations at Rivas began in 1992 under the direction of Jeffrey Quilter (formerly of Ripon College). These excavations were looking for structures similar to the ones found by Drolet at the site of Murciélago, Costa Rica.

Throughout the 6 year project at Rivas, Quilter discovered several habitaion areas. Construction of these structures consisted of selective round river cobbles aligned in circular patterns of various sizes, typically with adjoining rectangular patios. Additionally, numerous paths were observed that may have linked these individual areas.

It is unclear what function that these structures served within the broader context of the site as a whole. The majority of ceramic artifacts found in these area were shattered and found on the exterior of these structures. Ceramic sherds were rarely found on the interior. This suggests that many of these structures were living areas where refuse pottery was swept outside.

Two distinct cemeteries were found at the site that may have corresponded to specific habitation areas. Burials in these areas had no specific pattern with regards to their placement and were distinguished by carefully placed river cobbles within a defined area. The quality and quantity of grave goods within these burials indicates a possible status differentiation between the two cemeteries. No gold, however, was found in any of these tombs.

A seperate, possibly ceremonial, area was also found at the site. Researchers originally thought that this area was a cemetery site because of the tomb-like concentrations of river cobbles. However, excavations proved that it was neither a cemetery nor a habitaion area. A nearby staircase may have connected this portion of the site to the Panteón de La Reina on the overlying ridge. It was therefore concluded that this part of the site was probabaly an area where rituals were performed in preparation of burial on the ridge.

[edit] Artifact assemblage

Over 600,000 ceramic pot sherds were recovered at the site of Rivas. The research team focused on diagnostic peices, such as rims and body sherds with distict decorations, in their collection efforts. Further examination showed that 60% of the rims and 72% of the other sherds were decorated in the Buenos Aries Polychrome tradition. This pottery style is generally considered to be "fiesta ware" of the Chiriquí Phase in the chronology of Costa Rican art. The second-most represented ceramic style in the assemblage was clasified as Red Wares composed of Sangria Red Fine and Turucaca White-On-Red styles.

A total of 8,632 examples of stone artifacts were found at the Rivas site. Made primarily from andesite and basalt, all but 35 of these artifacts were chipped stone tools. The majority of these tools were classified as endscrapers and perforators. Ground stone artifacts were rarely found and consisted of one adze, 8 celts, and fractured remanents of manos and metates.

Several figurines made of solid clay and no larger than 7cm tall were also uncovered. These figurines generally depicted women in a seated position with their legs extended and open. Often times, these figures were found with the head broken off. This may entone that they were used in some type of fertility ritual and broken after the goal was met. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that they were normally found in ceremonial areas and rarely in cemeteries.

The excavations also discovered examples of ceramic musical instruments. One large fragmentary rattle was found in the ceremonial area and was shaped into the form of a squash blossom. A ceramic bead was encased in an open hollow of the instrument to create the desired musical affect. Two whistles were found at the site as well. One of them was in the form of a human head and was probably intended to be worn around the neck. The other whistle was in the form of a bird with folded wings and was one of the rare examples of animal figurines at the site.