The Archaeological Site of Santa Isabel is an early Postclassic, Pre-Columbian center on the shores of Lake Nicaragua within the Rivas Region of Nicaragua. Interpretations of the site have included the influence of migrations from as far north as the central highlands of Cholula, Mexico and northern Costa Rica. Archaeological excavations of the site have documented numerous iconographic similarities within ceramic assemblages providing an interesting and complex occupational history of the site.

Excavation History

Santa Isabel was first excavated by Gordon R. Willey and Albert H. Norweb in 1959 and 1961.^[1] The primary purpose of the excavations was to establish a regional chronology of occupation based on stratigraphy excavated materials that relied heavily upon ceramic typology and seriation.^[1]

A regional survey completed by Karen Niemel in 2003 concluded that the overall range of the site exceeded 271 hectare, suggesting that the site represented the largest coastal site within the Sapoá (AD 800-1250) and Ometepe (AD 1250-1525) periods. The site's large size suggests the possibility that it may represent the historic Nicarao capital of Quauhcapolca, documented as the place of contact by indigenous people with the Spanish Conquistador Gil González Dávila in 1522.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The Santa Isabel Archaeological Project led by Dr. Geoffrey G. McCafferty of the University of Calgary was begun in 2000 to seek evidence of Nicarao and Chorotega migrants from central Mexico settling within Pacific Nicaragua.^[2]. It focused on recovering material from Postclassic domestic contexts in order to compare diagnostic ceramics with those of central Mexico.^[3] The project attempted to verify the chronology suggested by previous excavations and to use ceramics and other data to identify influences or occupations of specific ethnic groups.^[3] After our field seasons, the total material collected included over 400,000 objects, representing organic materials (floral and faunal remains) and ceramic and lithic artifacts.^[3]

Migration Theory

The Greater Nicoya Archaeological Subarea, originally conceived on the basis of temporal and spatial dimensions as a subdivision of the Mesoamerica culture area, encompasses parts of southwestern Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica.^[2] Its cultural chronology is defined by five chronological periods: Orosi (2000-500 BC), Tempisque (500 BC- A.D. 300), Bagaces (AD 300-800), Sapoá (AD 800-1350), and Ometepe (AD 1350-1522).^[2]

Traditional Perspective

On the basis of ethnohistoric accounts, it had been postulated that Oto-Manguean speaking Chorotegan populations occupied the area within the Sapoá period before the arrival of Nahuatl-speaking Nicarao populations during the Ometepe period. According to ethnohistorical accounts, the two groups are characterized as having cultural practices including a calendric system, language, religion, and political structure. ^[3] The Nicarao culture is classified by the presence of distinct diagnostic ceramic styles, which are used to create a chronological sequence. The Papagayo Polychome ceramic type is a distinct example of northern influence through the recognizable white slip with painted red, orange, or black images, and has been thought to correlated with the Chorotega arrival.^[5] This ceramic type also exhibits common zoomorphic motifs including a two-headed reptile, a man and jaguar, a feathered serpent, crustaceans, monkeys and scorpions.^[5] Vessel forms are usually either hemispherical bowls or pedestal-based cylinders. There has been much discussion on the origination of this polychrome type, but Paul Healy has attributed its manufacture to the Rivas Region in Nicaragua.^[5] The appearance of Papagayo Polychrome is thought to have represented influence from Mesoamerica.

Revised Perspective

A series of radiocarbon dates suggest the identification of a much earlier migration of Nicarao populations than previously identified as well as abandonment of the center well before the time of contact with Europeans. The implications of an earlier migration of Nicarao populations suggests the need to redefine the Sapoá Period of the Greater Nicoya as including "Late Sapoá" ceramic types that were previously assigned to the Ometepe Period.^[6] Clear stylistic and culturally defining changes were occurring within the area that includes Santa Isabel. However, the extent of Mesoamerican influence is less than expected. The cultural material documented at Santa Isabel represented a shift in stylistic variation with traces of Mesoamerican influence but in many regards lacks the central themes of iconography, subsistence, and domestic lifestyle characterized as Mesoamerican. Defining features that were absent include maize, dog imagery, Mesoamerican religion and deities, the comal, and ritual use of incense burners.^[2] McCafferty and others suggest the absence of clear Mesoamerican traits renders the "Out of Mexico" hypothesis problematic. The evidence now supports a model for gradual change of culture involving many ethnic groups within the area.^[2]

Domestic Practices

Architecture

The architecture observed at Santa Isabel is composed of a variety of artificial structures that are characterized as platforms of varying form and function. Their predominant functions, based upon identification of hearths or areas of ritualistic use, were to serve as elevations upon which simple habitation structures were erected.^[1] The structures constructed upon these living surfaces would have been built using a simple construction of wattle and daub.^[3] There were no occurrences of cut stone or adobe brick linking architectural styles with that of the complex societies in Mesoamerica.

Excavated Material

Archaeological excavation revealed domestic activity associating to food processing, food procurement, and weaving within the mounds at the site. The archaeological assemblages included faunal remains, macrobotanical remains including carbonized seeds, grater blades (raspaditas), manos, metates, and many ceramic vessels oriented towards cooking and storage, and tools used for spinning and weaving. ^[3]^[7] Macrobotanical remains of maize were absent from the archaeological record at the site. There was a variety of wild plants consumed including jocote and manioc.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Healy, P. (1980). Archaeology of the Rivas Region, Nicaragua. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McCafferty, Geoffery G. (2010) Ten Years of Nicaraguan Archaeology. Paper prepared for the 2010 Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, California.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h McCafferty, Geoffrey G. (2008). Domestic Practice in Postclassic Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Latin American Antiquity 19(1): 64-82.
^ McCafferty, Geoffrey G. and Carrie L. Dennett (2013). Ethnogenesis and Hybridity in Proto-Historic Nicaragua. Archaeology and Culture Meaning21(1): 191-216.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hoopes, John W. and McCafferty, Geoffrey. (1989). Out of Mexico: An Archaeological Evaluation of the Migration Legends of Greater Nicoya, Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, April 5-9.
^ McCafferty, Geoffery G. and Larry Steinbrenner (2005). Chronological Implications for Greater Nicoya From the Santa Isabel Project, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 16: 131-146.
^ McCafferty, Sharisse D. and Geoffery G. McCafferty. (2008). Spinning and Weaving Tools from Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 19: 143-156.

Bibliography

Healy, P. (1980). Archaeology of the Rivas Region, Nicaragua. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
Hoopes, John W. and McCafferty, Geoffrey. (1989). Out of Mexico: An Archaeological Evaluation of the Migration Legends of Greater Nicoya, Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, April 5-9.
McCafferty, Geoffery G. (2008). Domestic Practicein Postclassic Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Latin American Antiquity 19(1): 64-82.
McCafferty, Geoffery G. and Carrie L. Dennett. (2013). Ethnogenesis and Hybridity in Proto-Historic Nicaragua. Archaeology and Culture Meaning 21(1): 191-216.
McCafferty, Geoffery G. and Larry Steinbrenner (2005). Chronological Implications for Greater Nicoya From the Santa Isabel Project, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 16: 131-146.
McCafferty, Sharisse D. and Geoffery G. McCafferty. (2008). Spinning and Weaving Tools from Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 19: 143-156.
McCafferty, Geoffery G. (2010) Ten Years of Nicaraguan Archaeology. Paper prepared for the 2010 Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, California.

[Healy,_1980-1] Healy, P. (1980). Archaeology of the Rivas Region, Nicaragua. Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.

[McCafferty,_2010-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f McCafferty, Geoffery G. (2010) Ten Years of Nicaraguan Archaeology. Paper prepared for the 2010 Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Sacramento, California.

[McCafferty,_2008-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h McCafferty, Geoffrey G. (2008). Domestic Practice in Postclassic Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Latin American Antiquity 19(1): 64-82.

[McCafferty_and_Dennett,_2013-4] McCafferty, Geoffrey G. and Carrie L. Dennett (2013). Ethnogenesis and Hybridity in Proto-Historic Nicaragua. Archaeology and Culture Meaning21(1): 191-216.

[Hoopes_and_McCafferty,_1989-5] Hoopes, John W. and McCafferty, Geoffrey. (1989). Out of Mexico: An Archaeological Evaluation of the Migration Legends of Greater Nicoya, Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta, April 5-9.

[McCafferty_and_Steinbrenner,_2005-6] McCafferty, Geoffery G. and Larry Steinbrenner (2005). Chronological Implications for Greater Nicoya From the Santa Isabel Project, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 16: 131-146.

[McCafferty_and_McCafferty,_2008-7] McCafferty, Sharisse D. and Geoffery G. McCafferty. (2008). Spinning and Weaving Tools from Santa Isabel, Nicaragua. Ancient Mesoamerica 19: 143-156.

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