Music, singing and dance were common activities during the performance of the ceremonies and festivities within the pre-Columbian groups. The archaeological collection shows this musical communication by means of different sound instruments conserved such as ocarinas, maracas, whistles, flutes and rattles.
Deciphering the past
It’s a fun area where an archaeological excavation is represented, exposing the stratigraphic profiles, and the different occupations, by means of archaeological objects. There’s an explanation as to why objects at a greater depth are the most ancient, and successively until reaching the surface level ones, the more recent. Also, highlights the role of Archaeologists in the investigation and interpretation of the people occupying the territory of what is Costa Rica today.
This topic includes the roles and social position of women and men in the different stages of life (infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age), where gender roles and the masculine and feminine figures are highlighted in the different visions and forms, symbolizing the continuity of the social group, the day-to-day, the festive or the spiritual. The initiation rites to sexual life were important events in the community: parents or the elder persons taught the clan’s rules regarding sexuality to the young, as well as courtship dances and their obligations in their new role as adults.
The pre-Columbian apparel rescues the relevance the body had for these people, as they showed it naked or semi-naked or wearing dresses, bands, headgear, headdresses, tangas or pubic area bands; also as adornments or portable accessories (earmuffs, nose rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings or pendants manufactured in diverse materials); likewise shows different aspects of body adornment of the social group members.
Throughout this collection of objects, different fabrication processes may be appreciated for the pieces in stone, pottery, bone, shell, gold and other materials. It shows the different techniques used to fashion each piece according to its raw material.