Decorated ceramics in Chontales, Nicaragua, have long stood within a research framework that centered their existence. However, up until the 1990s the biased approach to decorated ceramics...Show moreDecorated ceramics in Chontales, Nicaragua, have long stood within a research framework that centered their existence. However, up until the 1990s the biased approach to decorated ceramics emphasized macro-regional interaction without establishing a framework for local dynamics in Chontales. Without a local historical understanding, the ceramics solely became a part of a trend in narratives of cultural belonging and ethnic movement in Nicaraguan archaeology at large. As more recent approaches center on local human-environment interaction in the valley of Juigalpa, I have taken a similar approach in this thesis to reframe white slipped polychrome ceramics as a proxy for the regional exchange of ideas and finished goods. Here, I confirm the existence of (inter-)regional trade in finished goods in the form of white slipped polychrome ceramic vessels. Through a macroscopical and petrographic compositional approach, I analyze, and group 274 white slipped polychrome ceramics from the sites of Sabana Grande, Roberto Amador I and La Pachona. All three sites are in the valley of Juigalpa and have been dated to the period between 900 - 125o CE. Further interpretation through the criterion of abundance, communities and constellations of practice, and comparison to previous studies, allowed me to establish the presence of a local community of potters that produced white slipped polychrome ceramics in the valley of Juigalpa. This community is likely located within the Sabana Grande site cluster, and produced ceramics that make up about half of the white slipped polychrome ceramics recorded in the region. The ceramics are stylistically and compositionally most like the Pacific Nicaraguan Papagayo style. Non-local communities produced Vallejo, Pataky and Rivas-Ometepe complex polychrome styles that were traded into the valley of Juigalpa, inspiring the local potters and tying them into polychrome producing constellations.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
In central Nicaragua pre-Hispanic archaeological remains are visible throughout the rural landscape that is presently inhabited by farmers. However, no research has been done on whether these...Show moreIn central Nicaragua pre-Hispanic archaeological remains are visible throughout the rural landscape that is presently inhabited by farmers. However, no research has been done on whether these contemporary inhabitants perceive a continuity between the producers of the pre-Hispanic archaeological remains and themselves, nor how this is influenced by top-down national narratives on heritage and identity. Nevertheless this has important consequences for the way that heritage management projects could be effectively managed. Therefore, this thesis explores the role of the pre-Hispanic past in the construction of identity of the present-day inhabitants of rural central Nicaragua, and how national narratives on heritage and identity are related to this. Through anthropological methods including participant observation and structured and unstructured interviewing with the inhabitants of rural central Nicaragua, the role of the pre-Hispanic past in their construction of identity is investigated. Through literature research, the different ways in which the national narratives ascribe the role of the pre-Hispanic past in the formation of national Nicaraguan identity is explored. As such, this thesis can provide important information for future heritage management project.Show less
North Central Nicaragua has long been on the fringes of the researched world and this region is still largely underrepresented in discourses on Central American archaeology. These have...Show moreNorth Central Nicaragua has long been on the fringes of the researched world and this region is still largely underrepresented in discourses on Central American archaeology. These have traditionally put the emphasis on defining ethnic territories and boundaries across the isthmus, often obscuring local diversity. The existing knowledge on the pre-Conquest societies of North Central Nicaragua rely heavily on linguistic sources and biased colonial accounts. An archaeological effort to understand the pre-Conquest past of the region would not only contribute to the writing of local history, but also contribute to archaeological discussions on an interregional scale. Most of the archaeological data available for the Matagalpa and Jinotega departments are found in unpublished survey reports. These have been largely disregarded due to the non-systematic survey strategies used and lacks in a chronological understanding of the archaeological sites and finds. This thesis adopts a visual GIS approach that makes use of these data sources, in order to combine existing survey data and explore the pre-Conquest past in the Matagalpa and Jinotega departments of North Central Nicaragua. A flexible framework is used to analyse the survey data, accounting for its limitations and considering the particularly variable environmental zones that characterise this region. Considering different models of zonal complementarity and interregional exchange, the visual analysis seeks to gain an understanding of pre-Conquest interzonal interaction and exchange in the research area. The analysis reveals different patterns of interzonal interaction. Distributions of movable finds penetrate different environmental zones, indicating exchange between groups occupying different environmental zones. Finds linked to interregional networks are found in differing degrees of diversity in different parts of the research area, suggesting differing degrees of centrality and access to goods from outside regions. The available data supports interregional down-the-line trade models taking place in an environmentally and most likely also socially and culturally heterogeneous landscape. This thesis contributes to closing a knowledge gap on the pre-Conquest past both on a local and interregional scale. Combining existing archaeological data helps archaeology to participate more effectively in current discourses about pre-Conquest North Central Nicaragua. Interregionally, this thesis contributes by presenting a comprehensive data exploration in an underrepresented region through an environmental and geographical perspective. This perspective helps seeking new avenues in Central American archaeology that allow the consideration of local diversity without losing sight on interregional dynamics.Show less
In Nicaragua, the field of development aid has undergone a considerable change over the last decades. The donor landscape has become more diverse, and the types and compositions of aid have changed...Show moreIn Nicaragua, the field of development aid has undergone a considerable change over the last decades. The donor landscape has become more diverse, and the types and compositions of aid have changed. As a result of a radical new direction that was taken by the latest Nicaraguan government in which country ownership became a more central focus to development, many traditional aid donors have scaled down their aid to Nicaragua, while emerging donors, mainly Venezuela, have become increasingly involved as providers of largely unconditional aid. This paper researches how effective project aid, budget support and Venezuelan aid to Nicaragua have been in lowering poverty levels, by testing these on the factors of conditionality, alignment with the recipient government’s objectives, harmonisation and country ownership. On the basis of these four factors, this research finds that both project aid and budget support have generally had limited effects in Nicaragua, whereas Venezuelan aid seems to have had more significant effects on reducing poverty levels.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
closed access
The UNESCO World Heritage List is both growing in popularity and gaining criticism in the heritage discourse. Where a place on the list can lead to economic benefit for communities and more...Show moreThe UNESCO World Heritage List is both growing in popularity and gaining criticism in the heritage discourse. Where a place on the list can lead to economic benefit for communities and more adequate protection of heritage, problems can be found in a geographical bias of inscribed sites, preference of monumental heritage and promotion of national importance at the expense of local values. In Nicaragua there are problems concerning heritage in the sense that there is a cultural bias present that favours colonial heritage over pre-Hispanic heritage. Moreover, apart from the Pacific zone, hardly any heritage research has taken place in the country so far. In order to conquer some of these global and national problems and due to its archaeological significance, this thesis aims research the possibilities for a potential World Heritage Nomination for the pre-Hispanic site of Aguas Buenas, Chontales, Nicaragua. This site consists of 372 mounds that are spatially organized in a particular geometrical formation, accompanied by at least 150 petroglyphs. In order to answer the main question: “Does the pre-Hispanic site of Aguas Buenas, Chontales, Nicaragua have potential to be included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List?”, extensive literature research was carried out, accompanied by field work in the form of mapping and ethnographic interviewing. In this thesis, a landscape description is carried out and a preservation analysis is undertaken. It is also researched if Aguas Buenas adheres to UNESCO’s criteria for becoming World Heritage. Lastly, a stakeholder analysis and assessment is carried. The results provided in this thesis show that in terms of archaeological qualities there is a strong argument for a World Heritage inscription of Aguas Buenas. In addition, none of the stakeholders is by definition against a nomination and the majority of the people living in and around the site have expressed an interest in being involved in a potential heritage designation. However, due to the governmental dynamics of the country concerning archaeological heritage in the Chontales Province, there is no guarantee for an adequate protection and management of the property in practice, which is required by UNESCO. Therefore, even though the site is archaeologically significant enough for a nomination, problematics concerning governmental interests need to be solved first. A first step in solving these problematics can be found in offering information requested by the stakeholders and also showing people in Nicaragua on both a national and local scale the importance Aguas Buenas as both an archaeological site and a rural community can have for them.Show less
Na het eindigen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog in 1945 ontstond er een gevecht tussen twee supermachten, de VS en de Sovjet-Unie. Deze periode van de Koude Oorlog die tot de officiële ontmanteling van...Show moreNa het eindigen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog in 1945 ontstond er een gevecht tussen twee supermachten, de VS en de Sovjet-Unie. Deze periode van de Koude Oorlog die tot de officiële ontmanteling van de Sovjet-Unie in 1991 voortduurde, was een strijd waarin beide landen hun invloedssfeer ten alle tijden probeerden te beschermen en uit te breiden. Het gevolg was dat regio’s die voorheen wellicht minder aandacht kregen nu in het middelpunt van de belangstelling stonden. De regio rondom de Caraïbische zee kreeg tijdens Koude Oorlog vernieuwde aandacht toen onafhankelijke landen door middel van marxistische revoluties zich gingen afzetten van de VS.Show less
This thesis shall address the factors that influenced the development of Nicaragua’s revolutionary movement in order to assess whether the Nicaraguan case fell under the umbrella of the Domino...Show moreThis thesis shall address the factors that influenced the development of Nicaragua’s revolutionary movement in order to assess whether the Nicaraguan case fell under the umbrella of the Domino Theory, or whether it was a legitimate, autonomous national movement that sought national change. In order to best represent this, the National Nicaraguan Literacy Crusade of 1980 shall be employed as a case study, and the reasons behind its implementation and its political use shall be addressed in order to present that, despite foreign influence and the Cold War politics at the time, the revolutionary movement in Nicaragua was the result of an accumulation of national internal factors that resulted from the genuine revolutionary urge within the country.Show less
The effects of the globalization of the economy have been diverse and the fruits of liberalization have not been enjoyed by all. Neoliberal policies have opened up national markets to international...Show moreThe effects of the globalization of the economy have been diverse and the fruits of liberalization have not been enjoyed by all. Neoliberal policies have opened up national markets to international competitors. In Latin America the traditional cultivation of coffee by small farms started to become challenged due to the subjection to the competition with multinational enterprises. Farmers have set up cooperatives and the Fair Trade Organization have assisted them to obtain a fair access to the market. In addition, fair trade cooperatives intent to promote the development of the farmers’ living standards. The Fair Trade cooperative, Union of Indigenous Communities of the Isthmus Region in Mexico and Society of Small Producers for Coffee Export in Nicaragua, seem to have reduced the vulnerability of farmers to fluctuating market prices. Although, the Fair Trade cooperatives have offered farmers a platform of development and sustainability, the effects of Fair Trade and the cooperatives internal procedures are likely to be influenced by the social, economic and political context of each country. However, while limitations are present to the effects of Fair Trade, the organization has provided a positive step in the process of sustainable development and equitable international trade.Show less
The arrival of a Canadian mining company in the Nicaraguan village of Rancho Grande has been met with organised resistance by the local population. This thesis uses Gidden's Stucturation theory to...Show moreThe arrival of a Canadian mining company in the Nicaraguan village of Rancho Grande has been met with organised resistance by the local population. This thesis uses Gidden's Stucturation theory to examine how the mining company and the protest movement have interacted with existing village structures - changing them in the process. Furthermore, it examines how individuals have used their agency to use these changes to their advantage. In doing so it provides an illustration of the social effects that multinational mining companies can have on Latin American communities as well as analysing the relationship between structure and agency.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
The most characteristic feature of the archaeology of Chontales, Nicaragua, are the high amount of earthen and stone mounds present throughout the landscape. However, traditionally in the...Show moreThe most characteristic feature of the archaeology of Chontales, Nicaragua, are the high amount of earthen and stone mounds present throughout the landscape. However, traditionally in the archaeology of this region, the focus has predominantly been on building a ceramic sequence. This sequence is used to correlate the Prehispanic Chontales people to those of the Greater Nicoya region on the Pacific coast, and in its current state views ceramic types as representative of ethnic groups of people migrating from one region to the next. In this thesis, a new theoretical framework is used to argue that the relationship between ceramic style and ethnic identity is not straightforward. This warrants a reevaluation of the data that was used to build the sequence, in which the ceramics, mounds, and other archaeological features are analyzed together per site. The resulting site-complexes reveal a pattern of ethnic identity formation on a micro-scale, where contact with outside influences is predominantly visible in the material culture, rather than the habitus.Show less
This thesis is about the ceramics that were found during the field season excavation of May 2012 at the pre-Columbian site Aguas Buenas, Nicaragua, AD 400-1400. Aguas Buenas is situated in the...Show moreThis thesis is about the ceramics that were found during the field season excavation of May 2012 at the pre-Columbian site Aguas Buenas, Nicaragua, AD 400-1400. Aguas Buenas is situated in the Chontales province, Central Nicaragua, where there is not much archaeological research done. Linguistic and ethno historical research shows that the province was a cultural complex area in pre-Columbian times. Aguas Buenas is the largest known site in this province and so far only studies in surveys. The aim of the thesis is trying to say something about the identity of the people who build the site and regional interaction. During the field season of 2012 pottery was the most found material. The ceramics were studied using a modal analysis. The following modes were analysed: pot shape, lip shape, diameter of the pot, firing colour, colour, slip, decoration, and surface finishing. These results are compared with previous studies from Chontales and the Pacific region of Nicaragua.Show less
Rock art sites are the end result of constructive social and cultural processes. In this thesis, the social and cultural processes behind the formation of three petroglyph complexes, located in the...Show moreRock art sites are the end result of constructive social and cultural processes. In this thesis, the social and cultural processes behind the formation of three petroglyph complexes, located in the Circum-Caribbean area, will be reconstructed and compared. The first complex is located at Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe. The second and third complexes, Ometepe and Piedras Pintadas, are located in Nicaragua. The formative processes will be reconstructed on the basis of landscape analysis, used by the archaeologists of prehistoric north-western Europe. First of all, the concept of landscape will be discussed, followed by the archaeology of natural places, using the theory constructed by Bradley, Tilley and Scarre. Bradleys research yielded interesting questions which will be used, among other things, in answering the research question. The landscape analysis will focus on the stone material, landscape characteristics and spatial distribution of the three complexes, followed by an interpretation. The application of landscape analysis and landscape theory on rock art in the Circum-Caribbean will be evaluated in the discussion.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
The majority of studies of the Greater Nicoya area of Pacific Nicaragua and Costa Rica have relied heavily upon the assumption that large-scale Mesoamerican migrations took place sometime in the...Show moreThe majority of studies of the Greater Nicoya area of Pacific Nicaragua and Costa Rica have relied heavily upon the assumption that large-scale Mesoamerican migrations took place sometime in the Postclassic period, resulting in the similarity between some styles of pottery and iconography between the two regions. Recently, studies have shown that there is little archaeological evidence to link the two areas, besides the ethnohistorical data and the appearance of the aforementioned iconography. This study examines one of those icons, the quintessentially Mesoamerican figure of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, in order to look for evidence that might support either side of the debate.Show less
