Sitio Conte

Architectural features are few in number and include two rows of large, roughly shaped vertical stones that measured 2 meters in height.

These were associated with smaller stones with flat tops, which archaeologist Samuel Kirkland Lothrop[5] referred to as "altars".

A number of theories as to the function of the site have been offered, ranging from a "summer residence," to a shared burial ground.

[7] Archaeologists have a good understanding as to when the site was in use, ascertained by dates associated with the goldwork and polychrome ceramics in the graves.

[3] Around AD 900, the cemetery was abandoned; however, based on household refuse, it appears that domestic occupation of the site continued.

[6][8] Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the Rio Grande de Coclé changed course and began to cut through the western edge of the site.

In 1928, the Conte family excavated a pit, which revealed some of the large stone columns that Lothrop later referred to in his reports.

[10] Several of these objects found their way to the Peabody Museum of Harvard University, drawing the interest of then curator, Alfred M. Tozzer.

Tozzer and Earnest A. Hooten visited the site in that same year and made arrangements for excavations by the Peabody Museum.

[6] In 1930, when excavations began under the direction of archaeologist Henry Roberts, Sitio Conte became the "first site to receive scientific field study in Panama".

All three seasons of the Peabody excavations were successful, as 59 graves and 38 "caches" were discovered, as well as a large number of gold objects and polychrome ceramics.

In the late 1930s, the Conte family asked the Peabody Museum to return for further excavations, a request that was denied by director Donald Scott.

[17] His grave goods included a carved whale tooth pendant, stone mirror backs, gold or tumbaga greaves, cuffs, plaques and a helmet.

Some of the grave goods that are associated with the primary interment include gold or tumbaga plaques, cuffs, greaves, beads, carved whale teeth and manatee ribs, stingray spines and an emerald.

[25] Intact vessels and ceramic sherds lined the north and south ends of the burial, which continued down into the second level.

The most famous of the goods associated with these individuals is the cast gold composite effigy animal pendant with an emerald embedded in its back.

The iconography of the gold pieces varies from animals such as bats, deer, sharks, crocodiles, and saurians[31] to human and therianthropic figures.

They also include images of snakes, birds, turtles, crabs, insects, frogs, stingrays, armadillos and monkeys.