Intermediate Area

The Intermediate Area is an archaeological geographical area of the Americas that was defined in its clearest form by Gordon R. Willey in his 1971 book An Introduction to American Archaeology, Vol. 2: South America (Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ). It comprises the geographical region between Mesoamerica to the north and the Central Andes to the south, including portions of Honduras and most of the territory of the republics of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. As an archaeological concept, the Intermediate Area has always been somewhat poorly defined.

Because it was not home to ancient state societies but was predominated by chiefdoms at the time of the Spanish conquest, it was sometimes regarded as a kind of "cultural backwater" that contributed little to the emergence of Pre-Columbian civilization in the New World. However, recent archaeological research has demonstrated that this part of the Americas had some of the earliest agriculture, pottery, and metallurgy in the hemisphere. It is likely to have played a critical role in the transmission of culture both to and between neighboring regions to the north and south. Recently, concepts such as that of the Isthmo-Colombian Area have been offered as an alternative to the Intermediate Area with the intention of creating a positive identity based upon unique characteristics, rather than one defined by the absence of traits.

References

Cooke, Richard (2001). "Gran Coclé". In Ember, Melvin; Peregrine, Peter Neal. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. 5 : Middle America. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, in conjunction with the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. pp. 239–256. ISBN 0-306-46259-1. OCLC 84088734.

Corrales Ulloa, Francisco (2001). "Chiriqui". In Ember, Melvin; Peregrine, Peter Neal. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. 5 : Middle America. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, in conjunction with the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. pp. 54–68. ISBN 0-306-46259-1. OCLC 84088734.

Hoopes, John W. (2001a). "Early Chibcha". In Ember, Melvin; Peregrine, Peter Neal. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. 5 : Middle America. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, in conjunction with the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. pp. 100–115. ISBN 0-306-46259-1. OCLC 84088734.

Hoopes, John W. (2001b). "Late Chibcha". In Ember, Melvin; Peregrine, Peter Neal. Encyclopedia of Prehistory. 5 : Middle America. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, in conjunction with the Human Relations Area Files at Yale University. pp. 239–256. ISBN 0-306-46259-1. OCLC 84088734.

Hoopes, John W.; Oscar M. Fonseca Z. (2003). "Goldwork and Chibchan Identity: Endogenous Change and Diffuse Unity in the Isthmo-Colombian Area" (PDF). In Jeffrey Quilter and John W. Hoopes (eds.). Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 9 and 10 October 1999 (PDF) (online e-text reproduction ed.). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 49–90. ISBN 0-88402-294-3. OCLC 54110115.

Quilter, Jeffrey (2003). "Introduction: The Golden Bridge of the Daríen" (PDF). In Jeffrey Quilter and John W. Hoopes (eds.). Gold and Power in Ancient Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 9 and 10 October 1999 (PDF) (online e-text reproduction ed.). Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. pp. 1–14. ISBN 0-88402-294-3. OCLC 54110115.