Treasures from the past...

The oldest Panamanians

By David Mangurian, Panama City, Panama

Henry Morgan's buccaneers weren't satisfied just making off with gold and treasure. So as they plundered the city of Panama in their famous 1690 raid, they also set fire to the buildings. The city burned to the ground and was never rebuilt. All traces of life in what had been a jewel of the Spanish colonies were buried under the ashes.

Almost 310 years later, a team of archeologists is unearthing the hidden history of Panamá Viejo, as these seaside ruins on the edge of modern Panama City are known.

Among the first discoveries was the fact that Panamá Viejo's human history is older than anticipated. "We began by trying to find the original level of the city's plaza during colonial days," says Tomás Mendizábal, an archeologist with Patronato Panamá Viejo, a local nongovernmental agency. "But in the process we dug up six tombs that date from a pre-Columbian level."

The tombs, from the 5th century A.D., have added excitement to what Mendizábal calls the largest archeological project ever undertaken in Panama by national archeologists. Financed by the Patronato, which in turn is funded by public and private donations, the project employs three archeologists, seven assistants and five conservation technicians working in on-site laboratories.

"In this first stage, we've been basically buttressing buildings and doing 'band-aid' preservation to slow down decay," says Mendizábal. "Later on, we will carry out more conservation activities. We also hope to identify and dig down to all the original levels of the plaza as it was in the colonial era."

In the 1970s, a $7 million IDB loan helped finance basic tourist infrastructure in Panama Viejo as part of a broader effort to lure visitors to the country's historic and natural treasures. Today, the archeology project provides a new reason to visit the ruins.

For Mendizábal, who studied archeology at the University of Liverpool in England, the project is a dream come true. "Many of my friends from university weren't able to get jobs in archeology. This site is so rich, it has so many layers, that I and a number of archeologists could spend 30 years exploring it. I could retire here!"