The definition of southern Central America used here includes the territory of Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and (eastern) El Salvador while making brief mention of Colombia. Central America typically also includes Guatemala, Belize, and the western part of El Salvador, but the archaeology of these territories is tied more strongly to discussions on the Mesoamerican culture area. The prehistory of southern Central America comprises the Terminal Pleistocene and the Holocene period, from initial peopling of the region up to the period of European colonization in the first half of the sixteenth century. With some frequency, the region is defined as a corridor for human, animal, and plant dispersal. For the earliest Paleoindian period (11500–10,000 BP), the preceramic period (10000–4000 BP), as well as more recent prehistoric times, southern Central America is considered a key area for understanding human mobility,...
