MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIAL-ORGANIZATION AT THE RIVAS SITE, COSTA-RICA

Results are reported of fieldwork conducted in 1992 and 1993 at the Ri vas site (SJ-148-RV), San Jose Province, Costa Rica. The investigation s have revealed a large site, over 2 km in length. Habitation areas si milar to those identified at other sites in the region were found. Cem etery areas with low status burials contrast with high status intermen ts at the adjacent site of Panteon de La Reina. In addition, a large c omplex of monumental architecture that is unlike anything found in the area for the time period (ca. A.C. 900-1500) has been identified. Con centrated deposits of fancy ceramics, including many examples of wares imported from the Atlantic Watershed and Central Valley regions, sugg est that Rivas was a major node in long distance exchange systems. The se various data suggest that the social system of the Rivas site was h ighly ranked or stratified and that the site itself was of great signi ficance in regional and inter-regional cultural dynamics.