In Panama two archaeological sites have been included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO in the last decade [1]. Both located near the sea, one is situated on the North Coast, exactly on the Caribbean Sea and it consists in military Spanish fortifications (XVII-XVII cent.), built in Portobelo and San Lorenzo areas, aimed at protecting the coasts and the transoceanic commerce from the pirate attacks (Fig. 1). The second one arises on the opposite littoral, just in front of the Pacific Ocean, in the downtown of Panama City (Fig. 2). Nowadays it is known as Panama Viejo and it is the first Spaniards settlement on the Pacific coast, founded in the 1519 A.D.. Archaeological excavations showed also the presence of a previous indigenous community, called Cueva, dating from 500 A.D. and representing a symbol of national identity [2-4]. At the beginning of the next year the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, (ISACCNR, Bologna), in collaboration with the "Panama Viejo Patronage" and the Department of Physics and Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara, will start a research project in Panama focused on the evaluation of the state of conservation and damage due to climate and pollution impact on the two sites described above. Specifically the selection of these two locations was done to compare a rural archaeological site with an urban one, both exposed to the same climatic conditions and located in adjacent areas of the Panama Canal.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ON UNESCO ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN PANAMA
CIANTELLI, Chiara;VACCARO, Carmela
2014
Abstract
In Panama two archaeological sites have been included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO in the last decade [1]. Both located near the sea, one is situated on the North Coast, exactly on the Caribbean Sea and it consists in military Spanish fortifications (XVII-XVII cent.), built in Portobelo and San Lorenzo areas, aimed at protecting the coasts and the transoceanic commerce from the pirate attacks (Fig. 1). The second one arises on the opposite littoral, just in front of the Pacific Ocean, in the downtown of Panama City (Fig. 2). Nowadays it is known as Panama Viejo and it is the first Spaniards settlement on the Pacific coast, founded in the 1519 A.D.. Archaeological excavations showed also the presence of a previous indigenous community, called Cueva, dating from 500 A.D. and representing a symbol of national identity [2-4]. At the beginning of the next year the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, (ISACCNR, Bologna), in collaboration with the "Panama Viejo Patronage" and the Department of Physics and Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara, will start a research project in Panama focused on the evaluation of the state of conservation and damage due to climate and pollution impact on the two sites described above. Specifically the selection of these two locations was done to compare a rural archaeological site with an urban one, both exposed to the same climatic conditions and located in adjacent areas of the Panama Canal.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
