Preserve the El Cano Archaeological Park & museum

When studying an archaeological context and a culture, it is important to not only identify the artifacts recovered from the site but also the origins and methods of manufacture of the artifacts. This is necessary to understand the culture being researched andto adequately share information with the public. The members of Fundación El Caño (FEC) are conducting a long-term research project into the origins and manufacturing methods of artifacts recovered from the El Caño Necropolis focusing on emeralds, pyrite mirrors and gold artifacts. As some items discovered in El Caño are not native to Panamá, this research is helping to identify routes of exchange of goods. This project has been made possible through funding by the Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of Panama.  

In order to determine origins, the team is analyzing artifacts recovered from other sites in Panama as well as from other countries using a portable X-Ray spectrometer (pXRF) to identify the chemical make-up of the artifacts. This will enable the investigators to build a database of comparable items to assist in identifying where the El Caño artifacts originated and how they were created. Dino-lite microscopes were also used to identify and document tool marks.

Team members traveled to museums in the United States, specifically the Penn Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Dumbarton Oaks Museum in Washington D.C. They then traveled to the Museo Antropológico y de Arte Contemporáneo in Guayaquil, Ecuador and the Archaeology and Anthropology Museum in Cambridge, England. Arrangements were made in advance to study specific emeralds, pyrite mirrors and gold artifacts housed in the collections of these museums. FEC members worked with personnel at each of the museums where they photographed and analyzed the artifacts and took imprints of any tool marks identified.

All the information collected is being compiled and compared against the artifacts in the possession of the FEC. Once the research is completed the findings will be publicized. It is important to the FEC to meet with the public and make our research findings available to any interested parties.

As a part of the dissemination efforts, team members participated in various conferences, both in person and online. They also submitted “posters” to various conferences.

Two FEC team members, Julia and Mercedes, presented separate topics in a mixed format (online/in-person) conference titled "Jornadas de Arqueología Quimbaya: musealización y patrimonio" organized by the Museo de América in Spain. Julia´s presentation was titled "Considerations on the value of implementing stratigraphic excavation strategies and procedures in funerary contexts." Mercedes presented a topic entitled "The grave goods of the El Caño tombs (750-1020 CE). The importance of context in the interpretation of archaeological objects."

FEC members presented two posters at the XIX National Conference of Science and Technology, APANAC 2023. One was titled "Preliminary Results of the Elemental and Traceological Analysis of the El Caño Mirrors (750-1000 e.c.)" and the other was titled "PROVENANCE ANALYSIS OF A GROUP OF EMERALDS FOUND IN THE CAÑO (750-1000 E.C.).

At the Third Panamanian Congress on Education and Museums, organized by the Network of Museums and Visitor Centers of Panama, the FEC and Global Digital Heritage presented the poster titled "The 3D Digitization of the El Caño Archaeological Collection: Documenting for Conservation and Dissemination".

FEC also disseminated information about their ongoing research and interacted with the public though other activities such writing a review for the book “Much more than a land bridge: Advances in archaeology in Panama" and participating in the 2023 Annual International Book Fair held in Panama City, Panama.

The FEC continues to work with students from the various Panamanian institutes of higher learning. Recently, Antonio and Delvis, students of Geological Engineering at the Technological University of Panama, began a research internship focused on the petrographic identification of archaeological artifacts made with stone materials. They will be part of the research team of project PFID-FID-2021-166 "STUDY OF EXCHANGE SYSTEMS IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE ISTHMUS AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEX SOCIETIES". Their study fits in with the larger research project being conducted by the FEC.