NEW YORK, NY.- A major study of ancient Panamanian pottery is receiving renewed attention following a scholarly review that describes the book as both an extraordinary visual archive and an important contribution to the archaeology of the Isthmo-Colombian region.
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Painting the Cosmos: Art and Iconography of the Ceramics of Ancient Panama
By Alan Grinnell
Explore the ceramics of ancient Panama through art, iconography, mythic imagery, painted vessels, animal forms, and the cosmological imagination of the ancient Americas.
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Published by the University of New Mexico Press, Alan Grinnell’s
Painting the Cosmos: Art and Iconography of the Ceramics of Ancient Panama brings together decades of research into the richly painted vessels produced by Indigenous communities in Central Panama. The book examines ceramic traditions dating from approximately 200 BCE through the beginning of the colonial period, concentrating on the relationship between vessel forms, painted decoration, mythology and ritual practice.
In a review published in Latin American Antiquity, Alexander Geurds of Leiden University calls the volume a visual presentation without precedent in the archaeology of Central Panama. With close to 1,000 color and black-and-white illustrations, the book offers an expansive record of bichrome and polychrome pottery associated with regions including Coclé, the Azuero Peninsula and the Tonosí Valley.
The scale of the project is immediately apparent in its imagery. The vessels range from round jars and pedestal bowls to double-bodied containers, effigy vessels and plates covered with intricate geometric patterns. Some designs appear unmistakably animal-like, while others combine human, bird, reptile and mammalian features in deliberately ambiguous forms. The supplied images also show how ancient painters worked with sweeping curves, tightly controlled symmetry and strong combinations of red, black, cream and orange.
Rather than treating the ceramics simply as archaeological artifacts, Grinnell approaches them as sophisticated works of art that communicated ideas about the natural and supernatural worlds. The book proposes that recurring images of snakes, birds, bats, jaguars, monkeys, fish and other creatures reflected an animistic understanding of existence in which humans, animals and spiritual forces were closely interconnected.
Its chapters trace the development of regional pottery styles before turning to specialized objects, human effigies, shamans, animal imagery and what Grinnell describes as persistent conceptual and figurative themes. A later section considers humor, emotion and faces concealed within decorative compositions, suggesting that some designs may have been intended to transform as the vessel was turned or viewed from different angles.
Geurds praises the book’s chronological scope, technical descriptions and extensive use of specially commissioned professional photography. He also emphasizes the author’s visible admiration for the accomplishments of Central Panama’s ancient ceramic artists, whose skill in forming and painting vessels reached remarkable levels.
The review finds Grinnell’s interpretations generally cautious rather than overly definitive. This is particularly important because many of the figures resist straightforward identification. A painted creature may resemble a snake or bird without conforming to modern zoological categories, while human and animal characteristics frequently merge.
Geurds suggests that the impact of these vessels may have depended as much on visual effect as on a single fixed meaning. Their craftsmanship, bold lines and carefully organized patterns could have signaled the potter’s relationship with spiritual or social power. In this interpretation, the value of a vessel was closely connected to the skill and artistry demonstrated in its creation.
The review also raises significant questions about archaeological context. Geurds notes that looting has severely affected sites across Central Panama and that many illustrated objects are now held in private collections. Without secure excavation records, researchers are often left to interpret the vessels primarily through their shapes and painted motifs rather than their original placement, use or association with burials and ritual settings.
He additionally questions the book’s reliance on early Spanish chronicles for parts of its discussion of Indigenous societies and identifies areas where more recent research might have strengthened the analysis. These limitations, however, do not diminish his overall assessment of the book as a valuable research database and a key contribution to Panamanian archaeology.
The publication has also attracted recognition beyond academic archaeology. Painting the Cosmos was one of eight books selected for consideration for the 2025 Pierre Moos Prize, an international award created by Tribal Art Magazine in partnership with Parcours des Mondes and Christie’s. The prize recognizes excellence in French- and English-language art publishing devoted to the arts of Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. The supplied announcement identifies the book among a field that also included publications on African art, Oceanic sculpture and cross-cultural museum collections.
Grinnell has been associated with the University of California, Los Angeles since 1964 and is Distinguished Research Professor and Associate Dean of Life Sciences emeritus. His interest in ancient American cultures led to his appointment as a research associate at UCLA’s Fowler Museum in 1990.
By gathering hundreds of vessels into a single comparative study, Painting the Cosmos makes visible a body of artistic production that has often remained outside the better-known histories of pre-Columbian art. The book presents the ceramics of ancient Panama not as peripheral objects, but as evidence of an inventive and intellectually complex visual culture—one in which nature, ritual, identity and artistic virtuosity were inseparable.
