Abstract
It is a long bemoaned observation that the Isthmo-Colombian Area (or Intermediate Area) lacks the trappings of the state, including the large buildings and monuments which often command archaeological attention (Sheets 1992). As a result, Isthmo-Colombian archaeologists never needed to peek around palace walls to remember that the vast majority of the population lived somewhere else. The area lacks the myopia of the oikos, but it substituted its own issues. The archaeology of the Isthmo-Colombian Area contends with the weight of its culture-historical traditions, poor preservation, and scant funding. As a result, the area pioneered a unique, low-impact, and low-cost