| Mollusc collection and salt production |
Figure 2. Map indicating the location of the three case study sites.
Case Studies
Nolasco, Camaronera and Pikin Guerrero, Nicaragua The Nolasco, Camaronera and Pikin Guerrero sites are situated in the departamento de Chinandega in north-western Nicaragua. These sites are located close to the Estero Real.( Brown et al. unpublished, 163). Because of their proximity( less than 300 metres), I would argue they were once different parts of one single site. Some overlap in the ceramic material from Camaronera and Pikin Guerrero does support contemporaneity between both sites and points towards a middle to terminal classic occupation. Due to destruction of the sites, Pikin Guerrero is composed only by one large mound which appears as an island in the middle of a shrimp farm. Camaronera only yields remains from bulldozed mounds within the walls of a shrimp pond. More interestingly, the Nolasco site shows two mounds.
The ceramic material in Camaronera is finer, while at Pikin Guerrero the material appears to be primarily utilitarian. At Nolasco, however, the ceramic material that was recognizable on the surface was exclusively briquetage. Interestingly, the mound with which this material was associated had a shell layer made of oyster shells. Locals confirmed that this mollusc most likely came from the Estero Real, which is only 2 kilometres away from this site, and most accessible by canoe through a network of streams. It is unclear if the mollusc layer observed in the mound is an architectural component or if the mound is in fact a shell midden. As the site still serves today as a natural harbour for fishermen’ s canoes, it is not unlikely that it might also have been used as such in the past.
Asanyamba, El Salvador Asanyamba is a site situated on the coast of El Salvador, inside the Gulf of Fonseca, within the estuary of Chapernalito( Valdivieso 2006, 119). In its early descriptions, the site was referred to as a“ puerto precolombino dedicado al comercio y productos del mar, especialmente sal”( Jorge Mejía, as cited in Valdivieso 2006, 119). It yielded a significant amount of lithic materials, ceramics and shell mounds with burials( Valdivieso 2006, 119). Due to modern agricultural activities, there are little more than 20 mounds observable( Valdivieso 2006, 119). Some of the structures incorporate a base of basalt; others consist almost exclusively of shells that were
2016 | INTER-SECTION | VOL II | p. 31