Abstract

COSTA, Philippe et al. Research in the rock art site Las Yegüitas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Trace (Méx. DF) [online]. 2023, n.84, pp.196-218.  Epub Dec 11, 2023. ISSN 2007-2392.  https://doi.org/10.22134/trace.84.2023.852.

Since 2018, the Guanacaste Archaeological Project (PRAG) has been studying the many rock art sites in the Guanacaste Mountain range, where the carved rocks in the open air dominate. In the north, we find the Pedregal, a major site of Central America. During the initial research period, the work team registered a rocky shelter with petroglyphs, less than 2 km away from Pedregal, named Las Yegüitas. In order to understand its chronology, its function, and due to the proximity to the Pedregal, the project conducted an archaeological survey there in 2019. The discovery of ceramic materials in context has made it possible to suggest a dating of the human presence in the shelter possibly during the Tempisque period (500 B. C.-300 A. D.), and more certainly during the Bagaces period (300-800 A. D.). In addition to its ritual character, Las Yegüitas could be used as a temporary shelter but in no case it served as a habitat.

Keywords : petroglyphs; rock art; chronology; excavation; iconography.

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