There is no list of illustrations included in this book on the pottery of Central Panama, and that is probably just as well. The list of close to 1,000 images would have taken up several pages. Instead, the reader is treated to a visual spectacle without precedent in the archaeology of this key part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area. Central Panama, known to be rich in its Indigenous traditions of bichrome and polychrome pottery styles, is primarily anchored in the archaeological literature for the past and current field projects at Sitio Conte and El Caño in the Coclé province as well as a range of regional studies inspired by the impacting tutelage of Robert Drennan and the lifelong dedication of Richard Cooke, both of whom passed away in recent years. Specifically for the subject of this book, the polychrome pottery, the seminal publications by Lothrop and Mayo Torné are early and enduring anchors in the regional disciplinary knowledge.

This work, whose author had an academic career outside of archaeology, pushes for a truly comprehensive view of the regional potting traditions. The book includes, if more briefly, the earliest known pottery-making and leads into the explosion of aesthetic painting styles that marked the period from 200 BC up to the artistic practices during the early colonial period. The emphasis is on the decorative styles and their evolution, combined with vessel shape. Beyond occasional comments on overall ceramic quality, pottery technology is not a concern.

The iconographic observations offered by Grinnell are generally careful and suggestive rather than proclamatory. Existing analyses, principally those of Lothrop, Ichon, Labbé, and Cooke, are also frequently referenced, providing the analysis with a sense of comprehensiveness. Following a brief overview of Indigenous societies of Panama that is, rather unfortunately, based rather uncritically on early Spanish chronicles, chapters 2 to 4 provide a chronological overview of style developments in pottery decoration and shapes. This also includes the compelling but, as yet, unresolved deviation of the later decorative styles in the pottery of the Tonosí Valley from that of the rest of the Azuero Peninsula. Technical description is a strong point across these chapters, with the author showing proficiency in morphological terminology. This is also where the abundance of figures, most featuring newly commissioned professional photography, comes to full fruition. Between the lines, the reader can discern the enthusiasm and dedication to these spectra of Indigenous craftsmanship—clearly the communities of practice across Central Panama pushed themselves to great heights in making and designing. Chapter 5 is an overview of more rare forms of pottery, ranging from roller stamps to ocarinas and drums. Chapter 6 is a compendium of representations of the human form through certain vessel shapes.

Chapter 7 is where therianthropy—recurrent in the iconography—is discussed at length. More straightforward readings of signs and stylistic elements are complicated here by the fact that many of the vessels are perhaps less about meaning, instead having more to do with effect. I would suggest that the high technological skill in painting on display can indicate an emic view of an expert-potter’s links to higher forces, making these materials central to social interactions. Quite rightly, Grinnell eventually observes that a vessel’s “power was probably proportional to the skill and artistry” (p. 364). In other regional archaeologies, the term “agency” was much discussed about 20 years ago but surprisingly not so much in Central Panama. Apart from indicative references to imagery being “dramatic” or having “stunning design” as well as the suggestion that “pots were probably thought to be alive” (p. 358), Grinnell does not pursue this line of reasoning. However, it is worthy of exploration for future studies on this bedazzling corpus of ceramics. Not for nothing are both “Iconography” and “Art” in the subtitle.

Chapters 8 and 9 emphasize the thematically inclined imagery on the pottery, including an exploration of dualistic imagery and the dominant zoomorphic themes. Interestingly, floral themes and motifs are absent across the repertoires of Central Panama. Classic ethnographic studies are invoked frequently, if reference to recent work by Halbmayer and Niño Vargas is noticeably lacking. Chapters 10 to 12 present and discuss faunal representations, delving more into the sensory environments of Central Panama and emphasizing the impossibility of approaching represented faunal entities from a taxonomic point of view: in most cases, animals such as, for example, snakes and birds are at best serpent-like or bird-like. For one, Indigenous categorization was certainly not Linnean in focus, emphasizing other qualities of sentient creatures. Partly, this apparent “distortion” of realism may be attributed to associations with the trance-like states of ritual specialists, as is often suggested. Ambiguity is recurrently seen in past material culture, and the symmetry and the boldness in line and color that we see in Central Panama may well invite recognition as well as offer alternatives. We do not know what the sensory training of local Indigenous communities was, but the material world they crafted, through pottery, requires us to reconstruct this sensory gaze, rather than to try and see what we can recognize based on our own propensities. Finally, chapter 13 discusses possible emotions expressed through overt and hidden facial features.

Noteworthy is the absence of attention to looting that has severely impacted archaeological sites around Central Panama. Almost all images shown lack context, and what is discussed in terms of contexts links back to the excavations at Sitio Conte and El Caño. Consequently, the author is reduced to an understanding through the analysis of motifs alone. If, as alluded to throughout the book, matters of transformation and ritual practice are fundamental to these aesthetically complex objects, then the lack of context is a major frustration. Regrettably, the detailed work at El Caño seems to be an exception in a surrounding sea of lost contexts. A significant portion of the ceramic artifacts shows materials that are in private collections, and several images lack references.

This book will be a very useful selective database for those studying the complex aesthetics of Indigenous pottery practices around the Americas, in particular the Isthmo-Colombian Area, and it is a key contribution to the archaeology of Panama.