Early European travelers and archaeological collections in Lower Central America

Abstract

This article uses the discoveries and hypotheses of the first European scientific explorers who visited Lower Central America (Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua) to provide a brief summary of current thinking on the archaeology of the region. It is mainly a historical inventory of the large collections that are the product of the findings of important archaeological excavations in the area, on the one hand, and an up-to-date bibliographical summary on the subject, on the other.