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Dear Cosmic Travel,

Dear Jenny, As always, you have been very prompt and helpful. I, and my traveling companions want to thank you for all of your assistance in making our visit to Peru so wonderful. There was a lot we missed like Lake Titticacca, the waterfalls and the Read more...

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First settlers
The presence of humans in the Americas was a much later phenomenon than on other continents. The first humans are barely dated to around 40,000 to 50,000 BC, and some even suggest a later date. In any case, the concentration of ice over the continents during the last Ice Age caused the oceans to recede by about 120 meters (400 feet), allowing groups of hunters from northeast Asia to move eastward in pursuit of great herds of animals. The traveled to North America and settled there in several waves, and over the course of several millennia and through successive generations, the descendants of these hunters spread out throughout the Americas and her neighboring islands.
There is archaeological evidence that places the arrival of the first humans to Costa Rica between 7,000 and 10,000 BC. In the valley of Turrialba sites have been found in areas where quarry and tradesman tools such as bifaces were manufactured. It is thought that these first settlers of Costa Rica belonged to small nomadic groups of around 20 to 30 members bound by kinship, which moved continually to hunt animals and gather roots and wild plants. In addition to the species that still exist today, their usual prey animals included the so-called mega-fauna such as giant armadillos, sloths and mastodons.

Mesolithic Period
Around 8000 BC climatic changes brought about the end of the last Ice Age. The increase in temperature caused substantial changes in vegetation and saw the extinction of the mega-fauna, through either the disappearance of the plants they consumed, excessive predation by hunter or a combination of both. The hunter-gatherers had to develop strategies to adapt to new conditions, and they continued by hunting smaller species such as tapirs, zainos (dark-haired horses) and deer. The new wealth of tropical vegetation, moreover, helped them to survive through all times of year.
It is thought that human groups remained small, about 30 to 100 members, organized in nomadic or semi-nomadic bands devoted to hunting and gathering. However, the knowledge of the local environment allowed them to plan their travels though different areas based on the periodic ripening of certain fruits and the growth of familiar plants (that would later form the basis of agriculture) as well as the availability of other resources. Along these familiar paths they could find temporary shelter under rock ledges, or establish outdoor camps with tapavientos (windbreaker walls based on the cipresillo tree) or other temporary structures.
Tradesman work areas, campfire pits and other fragmentary evidence of life in these groups have been found in the Turrialba valley and in various spots around Guanacaste. The manufacturing of specialized tools for various activities continued, and artifacts from this era such as scrapers, knives and spear tips display differences in form and size relative to those of the mega-fauna hunters.

Neolithic Period
By 5000 BC it became common to farm tubers and corn, as well as cultivate fruit trees and palm trees. Agriculture emerged slowly, stemming from knowledge of the annual cycles of nature and the progressive domestication of familiar plants. This development occurred over thousands of years and coexisted with traditional hunting and gathering, but it afforded a certain amount of stability. To ensure subsistence of these groups there had to exist forms of collective work and property, as well as egalitarian relationships.
Between 2000 BC and 300 BC, some communities of early farmers became egalitarian societies. The development of agriculture prompted changes in the relationship between humans and nature, and allowed them to feed many more people. Furthermore, the ever-growing dependence on agriculture compelled human groups to establish permanent settlements around agricultural fields. This led to stable villages of huts that had to be erected in clear areas of the forest. The agricultural system most likely employed was slash-and-burn: The forest would be cut with stone axes and spades then burned to prepare it for planting crops. Agricultural practices included vegeculture, semiculture or a combination of both.
Vegeculture (cultivation of plants on stakes) came about by farming tubers (yucas, yams, sweet potatoes) and diverse palms and trees (avocados, nances), in combination with hunting and fishing. This activity was very stable, since it demanded few nutrients from the soil, rarely caused erosion and could be developed in hilly areas. By such means, societies based on vegeculture would change very slowly.
In contrast to vegeculture, semiculture (cultivation of plants from seeds) had a greated effect on the environment, because it required more nutrients from the soil and caused greater erosion. In return, this system had a big advantage: it make food easier to store so that it could be made available all year, not just around harvest time. This led to larger societies where functions would be diversified. The primary semicultural activity was the production of corn, as well as associated plants such as beans and ayotes (a type of gourd related to the pumpkin).
Throughout the 2nd millennium BC there existed in Costa Rica small, disperse villages, non-nomadic agricultural communities that used ceramic bowls and utensils, and tools made from wood, bone and stone for agricultural tasks and food preparation. The oldest of these agricultural village communities (2000-500 BC) has been found in the province of Guanacaste. More recent ones (1500-300 BC) have been discovered in the Turrialba Valley, the coastal region of Gandoca, the northern plains, Sarapiquí Basin, Barva, Herradura, the Térraba River Basin, the Coto Colorado River Basin and Isla del Caño.

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