El Caño Archaeological Park, Archaeological site in Coclé Province, Panama.
El Caño Archaeological Park is a pre-Columbian funerary complex near the Río Grande in Natá district, Coclé province, about 176 km southwest of Panama City. Its 3.4 to 8 hectares hold carved basalt and tuff columns, earthen mounds, canals and burial grounds. Archaeologist Julia Mayo's team has excavated a necropolis with tombs dated roughly 700–1000 AD.
Excavations have uncovered pre-Columbian burial grounds here where people left behind pottery, tools, and ceremonial objects from different time periods. The finds suggest that populations inhabited this location across centuries.
El Caño lies in the Gran Coclé cultural region, and its name is used for the culture whose caciques ruled here. Archaeobotanical studies of charcoal from the site, published in 2007, showed which forest woods were burned in funerary rites, and these results were compared with early Spanish accounts and ethnobotanical work in nearby areas.
Visitors are guided through the burial areas and artifact displays to understand what has been found and why it matters. The grounds are generally accessible and flat, though comfortable shoes and sun protection are helpful for exploring.
Tomb No. 9 held a male leader buried face down on top of a woman, with up to 31 other individuals interred at the same time. The grave goods included crocodile-shaped earrings, whale-tooth earrings and bone flutes. About 20 tombs are thought to remain unexcavated.
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