Cobble Circles And Standing Stones: Archaeology At The Rivas Site, Costa Rica Project Muse Upcc Books

Writing in the first person with a balance between informal language and academic theory, Quilter concludes that Rivas was a ceremonial center for mortuary rituals to bury chiefly elite on the Panteón. Through the use of his narrative technique, he provides the reader with accounts of discoveries as they occurred in fieldwork and the development of interpretations to explain the ancient refuse and cobble architecture his team uncovered. As his story progresses amid the enchantment of the Costa Rican landscape, research plans are adjusted and sometimes completely overturned as new discoveries, often serendipitous ones, are made. Such changing circumstances lead to new insights into the rise and fall of the people who built the cobble circles and raised the standing stones at Rivas a thousand years ago. In this lively tale of archaeological adventure in the tropical forest, Jeffrey Quilter tells the story of his excavation of Rivas, a great ceremonial center at the foot of the Talamanca Mountain range, which flourished between a.d. 900 and 1300, and its fabled gold-filled cemetery, the Panteón de La Reina. Beginning with the 1992 field season and ending with the last excavations in 1998, Quilter discusses Rivas’s builders and users, theories on chiefdom societies, and the daily interactions and surprises of modern archaeological fieldwork. In this first-person tale of archaeological adventure in the tropical forest, Jeffrey Quilter tells the story of his excavation of Rivas, a great ceremonial center at the foot of the Talamanca Mountain range, which flourished between A.D. 900 and 1300, and its fabled gold-filled cemetery, the Panteón de La Reina. Beginning with the 1992 field season and ending with the last excavations in 1998, Quilter discusses Rivas'builders and users, theories on chiefdom societies, and the daily interactions and surprises of modern archaeological fieldwork. Writing in the first person with a balance between informal language and academic theory, Quilter concludes that Rivas was a ceremonial center for mortuary rituals to bury chiefly elite on the Panteón. Through use of his narrative technique, he provides the reader with accounts of discoveries as they occurred in fieldwork and the development of interpretations to explain the ancient refuse and cobble architecture his team uncovered. As his story progresses amid the enchantment of the Costa Rican landscape, research plans are adjusted and sometimes completely overturned as new discoveries, often serendipitous ones, are made. Such changing circumstances lead to new insights into the rise and fall of the people who built the cobble circles and raised the standing stones at Rivas, a thousand years ago. The only book in English that focuses on a single archaeological site in Costa Rica, which continues to develop as a destination for archaeological tourism, Cobble Stones and Standing Circles will appeal to laypeople and professionals alike. In this first-person tale of archaeological adventure in the tropical forest, Jeffrey Quilter tells the story of his excavation of Rivas, a great ceremonial center at the foot of the Costa Rican Talamanca Mountain range, which flourished between A.D. 900 and 1300, and its fabled gold-filled cemetery, the Panteon de la Reina. The only book in English that focuses on a single archaeological site in Costa Rica, a place that continues to develop as a destination for archaeological tourism, Cobble Circles and Standing Stones will appeal to laypeople and professionals alike. Because of its focus on the ways in which research was carried out, the book will be useful in classes on archaeological method and technique. Getting There -- The 1992 Field Season -- Fieldwork In Operation E, 1993 -- Expanding Our Understanding Of The Site, 1994 -- Refining Our Knowledge Of Rivas, 1995-1997 -- The Panteón De La Reina And Beyond -- The Artifacts -- The Physical And Social Worlds Of Ancient Rivas. By Jeffrey Quilter. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [207]-214) And Index.