Gold from ancient Panama - the Coclé

For more than a thousand years, a cemetery on the banks of the Rio Grande Coclé in Panama lay undisturbed, escaping the attention of looters.

The river flooded in 1927 scattering gold beads along its banks. In 1940, Penn Museum archaeologist J. Alden Mason excavated at the cemetery, unearthing spectacular finds.

Human effigy pendant of gold, copper, silver alloy, Sitio Conte, Panama, ca. 700-900CE.

Large golden plaques and pendants with animal-human motifs were found, precious and semi-precious stone, ivory, and animal bone ornaments, and literally tons of detail-rich painted ceramics. It was evidence of a sophisticated Precolumbian people, the Coclé, who lived, died, and painstakingly buried their dead with their gold.

Long overshadowed by research on other indigenous Central and South American peoples, the Coclé, who lived from about 700 to 900 CE, remain mysterious.