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Photograph by David Coventry
Ornaments excavated from the site include a human-headed pendant about five inches tall.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
The personal treasures of a chief include a seahorse pendant about three inches tall, ear ornaments, part of a breastplate, a necklace, and plaques. All were buried in a bag studded with the surrounding stone beads, which scattered as the fibers decayed.
Artifacts courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
Near the cemetery at El Caño, stone monoliths rise to more than six feet. War captives may have been lashed to them before being sacrificed and buried with chiefs during funerals that involved days of feasting and dancing.
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Photograph by David Coventry
Under the direction of archaeologist Julia Mayo, standing at far left, the team at El Caño uncover gold ornaments in a chief's burial some 16 feet below ground level. In the background, the middle tier of a second tomb is being excavated.
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Photograph by David Coventry
Excavation director Julia Mayo, at left, works with members of her team to remove a breastplate from the remains of a supreme chief. Groundwater has seeped into the tomb, which lies 16 feet below the surrounding field.
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Photograph by David Coventry
Excavated ornaments include arm cuffs and a breastplate crafted for a warrior chief.
Artifacts courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
El Caño's only intact skull, wrapped in fabric for transport to the lab, belonged to someone sacrificed to accompany a chief to the next world. The head lay at an unnatural angle to the body, perhaps indicating a broken neck. Two tiny figures of gold and resin were found atop the lower jaw.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
A similar figurine with gold hands about an inch long (pictured), was buried with the chief, whose bones, like most at this site, decomposed long ago as a result of seasonal floods.
Artifacts courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
Working into the night, metal expert Kim Cullen Cobb draws the 389 gold beads that once armored and adorned the legs of a supreme chief. Finds are often recorded this way on archaeological excavations. "You study the object as you re-create it piece by piece," says Cobb. "The process reveals patterns that might not have been easily discerned otherwise."
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Photograph by David Coventry
The treasures of a third great chief came to light at the edge of the excavation pit during the 2011 season. Buried in a bag, they include an emerald pendant, a falcon of darkly colored stone, sombrero-shaped earrings, two mysterious gold figurines, a gold-tipped stone frog, and a tiny bell in the shape of a peccary's head (sitting on a circular plaque at lower right).
Artifacts courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
A stone pendant two inches tall in the shape of a falcon was found in a heap of other treasures in a chief's tomb. A woven bag probably held everything at the time of the burial but has long since decayed.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
A gold pendant about an inch tall depicts a two-headed bat. It hung from the neck of one of the warriors buried with a great chief.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
A warrior buried with a great chief wore these pendants: a gold-capped stone in the shape of a fang, almost two and a half inches long, and a solid gold two-headed human, about three-quarters of an inch tall, holding a conch-shell trumpet.
Artifacts courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
A chief's golden bell measures barely an inch from handle to snout. It rings with a tiny whisper as the ball strikes the inside of the peccary's mouth.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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Photograph by David Coventry
Statues of basalt once stood on the ritual plaza at El Caño. The headless statue at far left, about four feet tall, may show a war captive awaiting his fate—his hands are tied behind his seated body.
Statues courtesy Reina Torres de Araúz Anthropological Museum/DNPH, INAC
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Photograph by David Coventry
A winding river cuts through fields of sugarcane around El Caño, located in the grove of trees beneath the central mountain. The waterway's shores, perhaps considered sacred long ago, may hold many more graves yet to be discovered.
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Photograph by David Coventry
This gold pendant, almost five inches long, once belonged to a chief. It represents an imaginary creature and bears an emerald, likely from Colombia. It was found at Sitio Conte, about two miles from El Caño.
Artifact courtesy University of Pennsylvania Museum, no. 40-13-27; Photographed at Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Michigan
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Photograph by David Coventry
The spout of a ceramic pitcher from El Caño portrays a human face. Bold geometric patterns highlighting the facial features may represent tattoos, which were likely badges of rank.
Artifact courtesy National Heritage Office (DNPH), National Institute of Culture (INAC), Panama; Photographed at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
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