Diquís culture

The so-called Diquís culture originated in the area of today's Central American state of Costa Rica . Its archaeological evidence, which can be assigned to the Mesoamerican Pacific cultures , is one of the highlights of pre-Columbian art .

Cultural space

The cultural area of the Diquís culture is located along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, especially in the estuary of the Río Térraba , whose indigenous name in the Boruca language is Diquís , which means something like 'big water' or 'big river'.

history

The origin of the Diquís culture is controversial; its beginning is sometimes thought to be around 300 BC. And its heyday from around 700 AD to the time of the Spanish conquest (1530). Since worked stones and metals can only be dated on the basis of style criteria, the completely different finds can hardly be classified in terms of time. It is completely unclear where the Diquís culture got its artistic inspiration from - the closest Maya city is Tazumal, about 800 kilometers to the north-west, in what is now El Salvador ; the closest gold-processing cultures in South America were in Colombia, more than 1,000 kilometers away .

Finds

No architectural discoveries have been made - one must therefore assume that the people of the Diquís culture lived in simple huts made of wickerwork with reed or thatched roofs. Religious buildings such as temples or even temple pyramids did not exist or were built from the same simple materials. Many small finds come from chance discoveries and robbery excavations ; systematic archaeological excavations have hardly taken place so far. The finds range from massive, round-cut stone balls to small openwork stone figures to cast or embossed gold figurines. Stone steles or even script and calendar glyphs are not part of the artistic repertoire of the Diquís culture. The majority of the pieces found are exhibited in the Museo del Oro Precolombino in the capital San José .