The significance of the river and this area is both national and international, as recognized by an early 20th century historian; “for four centuries the Chagres has been the bond of union between the two great oceans of the world, the way between the East and West, the key to the portal of the South Sea” (Anderson 1911:7). Another historian called it “the world’s most valuable river,” calculating value on its role as the source of the Panamá Canal’s fresh water, but also noting its rich history, including “seeing more gold” than all the world’s other rivers combined (Minter 1948:3, 5). This broad-based assessment of the Chagres’ history reflects the essential truth that while there are key events in the history of the project area, such as Columbus’ visit, the establishment of the Castillo de San Lorenzo, the pirate attack of 1671, the subsequent British assault of 1740, and the inrush of shipping and people during the California Gold Rush, the flow of human history here, like that of the river itself, is strong and reflects an essential continuity of purpose. We propose to contextualize that history – as represented in the physical record – as a “maritime cultural landscape.”

The concept of the maritime cultural landscape is at its most basic level the combination of archaeological resources related to maritime activity, whether they are on land and in or on the water. A maritime cultural landscape can encompass shipwrecks, and associated sites on shore, such as lighthouses, fortifications, docks and wharves, warehouses and shipyards, but it can also include “the natural geography…the details of roads, coasts, routes, harbours, (e. g. the steepness, shallow banks) and the directions of prevailing currents and winds” (Westerdahl 1991 and Westerdahl 1998:2).

Originally conceived by archaeologist Christer Westerdahl to conceptualize the maritime archaeology of Scandinavia, the idea of the “maritime cultural landscape” has been adopted by maritime archaeologists working on a variety of sites around the world, as a means of encompassing within a more holistic framework the complex interrelationship between human (maritime) activity and natural features as expressed in the material record.

The concept of the maritime cultural landscape provides an ideal framework for assessing the diverse and extensive collection of structures, sites and material culture of the project area. Collectively, the natural features, human modifications, structures, and associated remains such as discarded materials, and shipwrecks not only represent, but also tell the story of five centuries of maritime activity in and around the entrance to the Río Chagres. There is also a very real possibility, with the inclusion of pre-Columbian sites known to exist in the project area, to extend the scope of study and interpretation of the Chagres maritime cultural landscape to a 1,000 to 1,500-year span. While some aspects of that history are of particular significance, it is important to note that all aspects, and all traces of that history, as represented in the archaeological resources, have significance as a complete and collective record of maritime activity in one of the world’s most significant focal points for shipping, Panamá, and in particular, the entrance to the Río Chagres.