The subsequent Chiriquí Phases (AD 900-1500) witnessed the dissolution of the previous villages, and populations returned to ephemeral and spatially dispersed patterns.

A hypothetical AD 600 eruption of nearby Volcán Baru was thought to have devastated other archaeological settlements upstream from Barriles, prompting a movement into, and subsequent colonization of, the Caribbean watershed.

In the early 1970s, in the region (and other areas in Western Panama) became the focus of the multi-year Adaptive Radiations project led by the Panamanian archaeologist Dr. Olga Linares.

[19] The project involved several influential figures in modern Central American archaeology, including Dr. Richard Cooke, Dr. Anthony Ranere, and Dr. Payson Sheets.

Dr. Karen Holmberg (Brown University) sampled volcanic stata from this excavation,[21] though much of her work was ultimately conducted near the modern towns of Boquete and Caldera on the other side of the volcano.

Dr. Scott Palumbo (College of Lake County) recently conducted the most extensive work at the site by sampling different domestic sectors with hundreds of small excavations.

[22] His work suggested that Barriles contained a far denser residential population compared to other sites in the region, and that the activities which drew people to the village were likely ceremonial feasts, perhaps associated with funerary rituals.

The first is the ceramic styles and patterns of domestic organization studied at Barriles have identifiable and direct antecedents in the previous Concepción Phase, rather than representing an intrusive complex of artifacts introduced from elsewhere.

The final reason is that some of the statues' faces have been interpreted as reflecting possibly mutilated individuals[23] Pointing to poorly demonstrated trans-oceanic contacts is an example of a hyper-diffusionist theory.

Such theories often do not give proper credit to descendant indigenous groups for their ancient cultural achievements, a practice which may be interpreted as implicitly racist and colonial.

Another common myth is that the Barriles population was conquered by Mayan groups from Mesoamerica (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, parts of Honduras and El Salvador).

According to some, Barriles is believed to have been the seat of a small regional polity of settlements linked by ceremonial ties, warfare, and the production or exchange of polished stone axes, used for forest clearing and woodworking activities.

Barriles plays an important role in discussions of a Macro-Chibchan identity, based on genetic, linguistic and archaeological studies from elsewhere in Central America.