Precolumbian Spheres in Costa Rican south : Culture and Power around stone technology

Abstract

This article seeks to articulate a reflection on culture and power, taking as object the Spheres produced by an ancient culture of America, in what is now the southern of Costa Rican territory. In the first part, we describe some of the symbolic dynamics of power in wich these enigmatic objects have been involved: as media spectacle, as a reinforcer of natio­nal identity, as the object of a banana community mobilization, with mention of the institutional pro­blems around archaeological heritage. In the second part, we develop a set of notes for interpretive aesthetic analysis of the spheres, using categories of critical historiography on findings of recent archeo­logy: historical setting and context (interpretive reconstruction, declassification, dialogue between different objects, social character of aesthetic practi­ce). It aims to highlight the dynamic web of meanings in which the Spheres have been involved from the mystery they contain.